Most Important Packers – 65-69: ‘Exponential’ Improvement

Part 3 of our 90-to-1 countdown of the Green Bay Packers’ roster includes two safeties who played last season and African import Kenneth Odumegwu.

Green Bay Packers defender Kenneth Odumegwu goes through drills during last year's joint practices at the Cincinnati Bengals. / Cincinnati Enquirer-USA TODAY Sports

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers will take a 90-man roster to the field for the first practice of training camp on July 22.

Here is Part 3 of our ranking of the most important players on the Packers’ roster. This isn’t just a listing of the team’s best players. These rankings consider talent, importance of the position, depth at the position, salary and draft history. More than anything, we hope you learn something about each player.

No. 69: DE Kenneth Odumegwu

Last year, Odumegwu was assigned to the Packers via the NFL’s International Pathway Program. He stuck with the team throughout last season via a practice-squad exemption. With a year to learn the game, his immense potential will be worth watching during training camp.

“Just to see a guy progress from not knowing nothing about football from last year to this year progressing so far and picking up on the game so easily, guys work a long time just to get to where he’s at,” 10th-year pro Preston Smith said during minicamp.

“Just to have that experience and be playing at the level he’s playing at, it’s really exciting to see Kenneth out there doing a lot of good things and making a lot of good plays.”

Odumegwu, a native of Nigeria who had never played in an organized football game until last preseason, had a “sack” during a 2-minute drill during minicamp.

“It’s amazing,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “We were talking about that a couple weeks ago in one of the team meetings. I would say it’s exponential how much he’s improved, which is to be expected when you’ve never played football before. He is a joy to be around. He’s a great dude. He can definitely light up the room. He’s a little quiet at times, but I think all the guys love him in that locker room.”

Odumegwu will vie for a spot on the 53-man roster during camp. If he falls short, the Packers once again can keep him with a practice-squad exemption.

No. 68: S Benny Sapp

Sapp was one of the great stories last season. After a career derailed by one major injury after another, Sapp had a game-saving interception in the preseason game vs. Seattle to help land a spot on the practice squad.

He wound up playing in five games; his first game as an official member of the 53-man roster came at Minnesota, which is where his father played.

“It gave him time to learn,” the elder Sapp told Packer Central. “It gave him time to take care of his body. It gave him time mentally, spiritually. Everything happens for a reason. God ain’t going to give you nothing that you can’t handle. He’s going to give it to you right on time when you deserve it.”

No. 67: S Zayne Anderson

The Packers claimed Anderson off waivers from the Bills at the end of training camp last year. After missing the first seven games due to injury, he played 127 snaps on special teams during the final 10 games and had four tackles.

Anderson went undrafted out of BYU in 2021. He spent his first two seasons in Kansas City, where he played in seven games.

In 17 career regular-season games, he has played zero snaps on defense – though he did get some action toward the end of the playoff romp at Dallas.

Anderson had three interceptions during the first minicamp practice. Just like Benny Sapp, Anderson will be challenged to break through at a position group in which the team added veteran Xavier McKinney and three draft picks. Special teams, of course, will be critical.

“It’s a very competitive room, so you have a day like that, it’s a big confidence boost,” Anderson said of the interceptions. “But it’s also, ‘On to the next.’ You get three big plays, then it’s on to the next. That’s kind of how this league goes. Put the past in the past and get ready for the next one.”

No. 66: OL Luke Tenuta

A sixth-round pick by the Bills in 2022, Tenuta is back for his third year with the Packers after originally joining the team off waivers in October 2022.

He played in three games in 2022, with seven snaps on offense and 18 on special teams. Last year, he suffered an ankle injury during the preseason and spent most of the season on injured reserve, though he did practice for a few weeks at the end of the year.

Tenuta comes from an athletic family. His father, Jon, played college football at Virginia and is a longtime coach. His mom, Dori, played college basketball at Virginia. An older brother, Matt, is a pitcher in Mexico. Another brother, Zach, got into coaching after playing at Marshall.

“It was cool,” Luke Tenuta said. “Everyone played sports. My mom and pops played sports at Virginia, and my two older brothers, one played college football and the other one’s still a professional baseball player,” he said. “Sports were everything. As much as we moved with my pops being a college coach, sports helped us make friends and all that good stuff. So, it was awesome growing up with an athletic, competitive family.”

Tenuta played right tackle and right guard during the offseason practices.

No. 65: OL Kadeem Telfort

The Packers took a shot on Telfort as an undrafted free agent in 2023. Will they be rewarded?

Telfort opened his collegiate career at Florida in 2017 but was arrested along with a few teammates for credit card fraud. He landed at Garden City (Kan.) Community College in 2018 and Highland Community College in Freeport, Ill., in 2019. From there, he got a shot at UAB. In three years with the Blazers, he started 28 games and was a first-team all-conference left tackle in 2022.

He also earned his degree.

“It means a lot, because I’m the first to graduate high school in my family, and I’m the first to graduate college,” he told 1819News.com. “I have one older sister, eight little sisters. Just me graduating high school did a lot for my little sisters, and me graduating makes them want to go to college. Now, they have something to look forward to.”

At 6-foot-7 1/2 and 322 pounds with 36-inch arms, he’s got terrific size but lacks preferred athleticism; his Relative Athletic Score was just 1.58.

Telfort mostly played right tackle and right guard during the offseason, though he also got some reps at left tackle. 

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