Winners and Losers From Packers’ Preseason Win Over Ravens

With plenty riding on the preseason finale, some players rose to the occasion and others did not. Here are the Green Bay Packers’ winners and losers from Saturday.

Green Bay Packers RB Emanuel Wilson capped the preseason with a bang against the Ravens on Aug. 24. / Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

GREEN BAY, Wis. – For the Green Bay Packers players on the roster bubble, Saturday’s preseason game vs. the Baltimore Ravens was the last opportunity to state their case for a spot on the 53-man roster or even a slot on the practice squad.

With coach Matt LaFleur resting 38 players who were roster locks or nursing injuries, there were ample opportunities.

General manager Brian Gutekunst, who will be tasked with cutting the roster to 53 players on Tuesday, watched from the sideline. At one point, he struck up back-to-back conversations with the young quarterbacks, Sean Clifford and Michael Pratt.

“When I’m not calling the game, it definitely frees you up to kind of have some conversations in-game,” LaFleur said after the 30-7 victory. “I personally thought it was really beneficial, to be honest with you, especially when you’re talking about who you want to see in the game. It was a pretty good collaboration there.”

Here were the winners and losers from Saturday.

Winners

RB Emanuel Wilson

Emanuel Wilson ended the preseason by rushing 11 times for 52 yards vs. the Ravens, a solid 4.7-yard average. By our count, he forced three missed tackles. A week after gaining more yards after contact than he gained total against the Broncos – in other words, Wilson got no help from the offensive line whatsoever last week – he had 37 yards after contact vs. the Ravens.  

He added 26 receiving yards, including a 20-yarder in which he absorbed a big hit by a Ravens defender as if he were a brick wall that had just been hit by a toddler.

“Honestly, I saw two guys,” Wilson said. “I really (thought about) saving my body but they always get on me about finishing runs. That’s what I tried to do. We stood up at each other. He thought he did something. I’m like, ‘I’m here. I’m still here.’”

Wilson led the NFL in preseason rushing last year. With a couple preseason games to be played on Sunday, Wilson was second in rushing yards, second in missed tackles and first in yards after contact.

WR Malik Heath

Malik Heath had one of the more startling plays of the joint practice by running past Ravens first-round pick Nate Wiggins, whose 4.28 in the 40 at this year’s Scouting Combine is one of the fastest of all-time, for a long gain.

On Saturday, it was the more mundane work with four catches for 39 yards and a touchdown. It was a strong closing statement in a heated position battle.

“Just keep stacking days, you know what I mean?” he said. “Just trying to do what I can to make this team. Do what I can to help this team get a championship this year. That’s all I can do. Control what I can control.”

OT Kadeem Telfort

Kadeem Telfort, an undrafted free agent last year, entered the game on the roster bubble for perhaps the last spot on the offensive line. In 18 pass-protecting snaps against the Ravens, he allowed zero pressures. He also drove his man down the line a couple times to set up cutback runs.

“I feel like I did everything I could,” he said. “I made a huge, huge leap from last year to this year.”

DT Colby Wooden

Wooden and the No. 2 defensive line got throttled at Denver last week but Wooden was a menace against the Ravens. His two tackles in 18 snaps both came on first down, limiting the Ravens to gains of 3 and minus-1.

DE Arron Mosby

Mosby capped a solid training camp with a sack/strip and interception in just 17 snaps.

“This is going into my third year (and) I would say it finally paid off,” Mosby said. “Just stick to it. You never know how this NFL thing will go, so keep going forward. For any young guy or anybody who watches this, just keep pushing forward because eventually you’ll have a breakthrough.

“I would say this game, it wasn’t my breakthrough, but it was a great game for me. I’m happy about what I did, going forward, I’ve just got to stack it. Now I have a standard I have to reach or go above every game now.”

LB Kristian Welch

Welch dropped an interception but made up for it with another. He also tied for the team lead with five tackles.

In three preseason games, Welch tied for the team lead with 16 tackles and led the team with two interceptions and three passes defensed. In fact, Welch tied for the NFL lead with two interceptions.

Even with an excellent preseason on defense, special teams is Welch’s NFL calling card. Against the Ravens, he had one tackle in punt coverage and downed a punt at the 14.

“I think I’ve hopefully done enough” to make the team, he said. “I just try to take advantage of each opportunity that I get. You can’t control a lot of those opportunities. Every time on the field, just have the right mindset and try to make the plays.”

LB Chris Russell

On his ninth day as a member of the Packers, Chris Russell tied for the team lead with five tackles. That includes a fourth-down stop and a tackle for loss.

Will that be enough for Edgerrin Cooper’s former teammate to remain his current teammate with a spot on the practice squad?

S Anthony Johnson

There wasn’t much doubt that Anthony Johnson was going to make the team, but the second-year safety put an exclamation point on things with his fumble-recovery touchdown and a couple physical tackles.

“I had a couple big hits,” Johnson said with a big smile. “Had some good angles coming off the post, coming off the half. I was proud of what I was able to do and put on tape today.”

Losers

QB Sean Clifford

Little by little, Sean Clifford’s lead over Michael Pratt as the No. 2 quarterback slipped away this summer. On Saturday, LaFleur rotated the quarterbacks every two series so they’d play with and against similar competition. There’d be no reason to do that if Clifford’s spot on the depth chart was secure.

Pratt wasn’t great, either, but Clifford started the game 1-of-7 passing with a fumbled shotgun snap.

According to Pro Football Focus, Clifford when under pressure during the preseason was 3-of-12 passing – including 0-for-5 vs. the Ravens – and 1-of-6 on passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield.

TE Joel Wilson

Joel Wilson’s long-shot roster bid died when he dropped one of Clifford’s passes and gave up a quarterback hit.

S Kitan Oladapo

After a promising defensive debut at Denver, fifth-round safety Kitan Oladapo wasn’t as impactful against the Ravens. In a total of 37 snaps (26 on defense, 11 on special teams), his only statistical contribution was an illegal-blindside block on Welch’s interception return.

K Anders Carlson

With the kicking job all but wrapped up, Anders Carlson missed a 32-yard field goal during the fourth quarter.

The “Year 2 jump” is talked about so much by coaches and general managers that it’s joined death and taxes as the three certainties in life. However, Carlson’s field-goal accuracy this summer almost exactly matched his from last season, when he ranked 23rd out of 31 qualifying kickers.

“We’ll see what happens around the league,” LaFleur said.

In other words, Carlson might make the roster on Tuesday but there’s a possibility he won’t be on the team on Wednesday.

More Green Bay Packers News

While the rest of us wonder who will emerge as the #Packers' backup quarterback(s), Sean Clifford is already getting ready for the Eagles and Colts. ⬇️https://t.co/ncZUIBabAy

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 25, 2024

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