Packer Central

One Final 53-Man Packers Roster Prediction

Cutdown Day is nearly here, and the Green Bay Packers have some work to do to trim their roster to 53 players on Tuesday. We take our best guess at who will make the team.

Jacob Westendorf

Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur, left, and general manager Brian Gutekunst.
Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur, left, and general manager Brian Gutekunst. / Mark Hoffman / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

With the preseason complete, the Green Bay Packers will shift their focus to the regular season. The first order of business? Cutting the roster to 53 players by 3 p.m. Tuesday.

Some players know their fate. The Packers rested 38 players for Saturday’s preseason finale against the Baltimore Ravens. With the exception of a few injured players, the vast majority of those players have clinched their spot on the 53-man roster.

The bubble players are the ones that are going to sweat out the coming hours. Some will realize their ultimate dream of making the roster. Others will have their dreams shattered and start back at square one.

Bo Melton knows what it’s like to be cut.

"I've never made a 53 before," said Melton, a seventh-round pick by the Seahawks in 2022 who was released by Seattle as a rookie and by the Packers in 2023.

"To be able to make a team, that’d be my first time being in the league three years making a team. That’s a milestone."

Coach Matt LaFleur recently said that one play here or there will not determine who makes a roster, but rather the body of work.

With an attempt to keep that in mind and realize the crunch at some roster spots, here’s our best bet at who will be the last men standing.

Quarterback

Jordan Love, Sean Clifford

It’s hard to imagine the Packers cutting Sean Clifford after just one season. He had some tough moments in camp but also some bright spots.

Michael Pratt is talented and worth developing, as well.

With the crunch around the rest of the roster, the Packers could look to sneak Pratt through waivers and onto the practice squad.

The reality is neither backup quarterback separated themselves much from their competition, and the Packers could look to add from outside of the organization.

After the preseason wrapped up on Saturday, LaFleur was asked if he felt the team had a quarterback who could win a game if Jordan Love were to miss time.

“We’ll see. I think it’s similar to the kicking competition.” LaFleur said.

The kicking competition, like the backup quarterback competition, provided more questions than answers.

Running Back

Josh Jacobs, Emanuel Wilson, AJ Dillon

IR MarShawn Lloyd

The first interesting decision could come at this position. Emanuel Wilson looks explosive again this preseason. Remember, he earned snaps in last year's postseason.

The Packers clearly like him, and it looks like injuries are going to help him secure a spot on the 53-man roster.

Josh Jacobs is a roster lock. Ditto for MarShawn Lloyd, but he missed the last two weeks of camp with a hamstring injury that could linger into the regular season.

AJ Dillon also is close to a lock to make the roster, but he is recovering from a stinger injury that can be unpredictable, as well.

The guess is one of the running backs ends up on IR, and it’s possible that the other could end up there, as well.

Wide Receiver

Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks, Bo Melton, Malik Heath

Grant DuBose, Malik Heath and Bo Melton competed for a spot on the back of the roster. With as many quality receivers the Packers have, there’s a chance Brian Gutekunst could swing a trade for a player at a position of need.

DuBose had the strong start to camp and has made improvements, but Heath finished stronger, including catching a touchdown in Saturday’s preseason finale.

Heath was a role player as a rookie last year, and the guess is they go with the familiarity of both Heath as a player and his role that he can fill.

Tight End

Luke Musgrave, Tucker Kraft, Tyler Davis

Going heavy at one position requires you to go light at another. If Tyler Davis is ready for a full workload when the season starts, he is one of their best special teams players.

Musgrave and Kraft are going to get most of the snaps in the regular season, which could put Ben Sims in a tough spot. He excelled as a blocking tight end as a rookie last season, but are there any snaps available? He could find his way back to the practice squad as a potential call-up for special teams and short-yardage situations.

Offensive Line

Rasheed Walker, Elgton Jenkins, Josh Myers, Jordan Morgan, Zach Tom, Sean Rhyan, Andre Dillard, Jacob Monk, Travis Glover

Injuries have put this position in flux a little bit, and the Packers have liked to go heavier on the offensive line due to the nature of that position suffering so much attrition.

In this case, the Packers take two of the players battling for the swing tackle competition to the regular season. Caleb Jones and Kadeem Telfort could be practice squad candidates. The depth is not as good as it was in the past, but the Packers have a good starting group in front of Love.  

Defensive Line

Preston Smith, Kenny Clark, TJ Slaton, Rashan Gary, Lukas Van Ness, Devonte Wyatt, Karl Brooks, Kingsley Enagbare, Colby Wooden, Brenton Cox

No real surprises here.

While Arron Mosby had a really strong finish with an interception and forced fumble against the Ravens, Cox provided plenty of pressure as a pass rusher.

The Packers bet on Cox’s talent a season ago. The bet here is that Cox will get another shot to try and realize his potential.

Linebacker

Quay Walker, Eric Wilson, Isaiah McDuffie, Ty’Ron Hopper, Edgerrin Cooper, Kristian Welch

Wilson ran ahead of the two rookies, Cooper and Hopper, throughout training camp. Hopper had a strong Family Night. He missed the preseason opener with an ankle injury and return with a couple up-and-down performances.

Welch was a playmaking machine at the end of the preseason, and is one of the team’s better players on special teams. With the 4-3 base defense the Packers are set to employ, they could go heavier at linebacker than they have traditionally.

Cornerback

Jaire Alexander, Eric Stokes, Carrington Valentine, Corey Ballentine, Keisean Nixon, Kalen King

Kalen King showed some great instincts early in camp, and rode that momentum to the end of the preseason when he forced a fumble in Green Bay's 30-7 win over the Baltimore Ravens.

He was the last man on the roster in this exercise.. He'll earn an opportunity to make more plays both on defense and special teams, where the Packers will likely try to use him early in his career.

Safety

Xavier McKinney, Javon Bullard, Evan Williams, Kitan Oladapo, Anthony Johnson Jr.

The safety position has been overhauled, and it seems pretty clear cut who will make the roster. Oladapo, a fifth-round draft pick, did some nice things on defense when he was able to return to the lineup from a broken toe sustained at the Scouting Combine.

Bullard and Williams should be prime contributors. They were part of the 38 inactives in Saturday’s game, meaning the Packers are counting on them.  Johnson had a nice camp and was singled out by LaFleur and defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley during camp as someone who had taken a second-year jump.

Specialists  

LS Matt Orzech, P Daniel Whelan, K Anders Carlson

The Packers’ kicking situation is a mess. Just when you think Anders Carlson has turned a corner, he takes two steps backward.

Carlson made a 54-yard field goal against the Ravens and looked like he could ride that momentum into winning the job over Greg Joseph, who wobbled down the stretch of training camp.

Instead, Carlson missed a 32-yard field goal wide to the right, reminding you about the inconsistencies that plagued him a year ago.

Flip a coin at kicker. They could keep either one, but also could look to the waiver wire trying to find someone more consistent.  

LaFleur’s response seemed to be pretty telling about their confidence in both guys that are currently in house.

“That’s not even a question for me to be honest with you,” LaFleur said. “We’ve got a really good sample size and then we’ll see what happens just around the league. Certainly, there were some really good moments. Both those guys went in there and hit a 54-yarder and a 55-yarder, and then there’s a poor moment when we missed a chip shot.”

That sounds like someone who is not very confident in either option that has been given to him. .

More Green Bay Packers News

Roster cuts tracker | 53-man Packers roster projection | Kristian Welch makes push to stay with home-state team | Winners and losers | Quarterbacks fail to make final statement |Receivers make final statement | Who’s the kicker? |Where’s Love in QB Tiers? |  Roster Lock-O-Meter | Seven surprises | All-Oneida Team | Six best players of training camp

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Jacob Westendorf
JACOB WESTENDORF