Assessing the Roster

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Quarterback: Nothing has changed in regards to the starter, but obviously the Packers have made a splash at this position. Love upgrades the depth, certainly, and will be a fun player to track moving forward.
  • Aaron Rodgers
  • Jordan Love
  • Tim Boyle
  • Jalen Morton
Running Back: With both of the main pieces of the backfield entering a contract year, the Packers made a big (literally) addition to the position. Presumably, we will see a lot of Jones and Dillon in 2020, and he will provide them leverage and a backup plan in dealing with Jones regarding an extension.
  • Aaron Jones
  • A.J. Dillon
  • Jamaal Williams
  • Tyler Ervin
  • Dexter Williams
  • Patrick Taylor
  • Damarea Crockett
  • Elijah Wellman (FB)
  • Jordan Jones (FB)
Tight End: With Lewis back and Deguara drafted, there's lot of variety here. Lewis is the traditional Y, Sternberger will move into the F role, and Deguara is the H. It will be interesting to see how Tonyan has progressed and how he fits into the picture. He's the only true backup at the position, as the other three players are really "first string" in their respective roles.
  • Jace Sternberger
  • Marcedes Lewis
  • Josiah Deguara
  • Robert Tonyan
  • Evan Baylis
  • James Looney
Wide Receiver: Devin Funchess is really the only significant addition since last I wrote the roster up. He's a nice value considering what he could be, however it's very possible that he and Lazard are competing for the same snaps. This is still a position that could see an addition, and I predict that it will at some point (perhaps once there's a little more clarity on whether gameplay will happen in 2020).
  • Davante Adams
  • Allen Lazard
  • Devin Funchess
  • Marquez Valdes-Scantling
  • Equanimeous St. Brown
  • Jake Kumerow
  • Reggie Begelton
  • Darrius Shepherd
  • Malik Taylor
  • Darrell Stewart
Tackle: The Packers have swapped Bryan Bulaga for Rick Wagner. That's a downgrade, though obviously one that comes with some considerable savings. Technically they added a tackle in Jon Runyan Jr., but he is looked at almost exclusively as an interior player in the NFL. Wagner starting for a year at RT should be OK, but they could look to improve the depth here. Yosh Nijman is one to watch in camp, as he came in last year as a really toolsy player in need of a lot of attention from the OL coach.
  • David Bakhtiari
  • Rick Wagner
  • Alex Light
  • Yosh Nijman
  • John Leglue
  • Cody Conway
  • Travis Bruffy
Guard: Not much has changed here, and big change was not really needed. 6th rounders Runyan and Stepaniak will improve the competition and the depth, and I would keep an eye on Runyan as a future starter. Otherwise, guard is stable. Lane Taylor remains on the roster, but I would look for him to be released or traded before the season starts.
  • Elgton Jenkins
  • Billy Turner
  • Lane Taylor
  • Jon Runyan Jr.
  • Cole Madison
  • Simon Stepaniak
  • Zack Johnson
Center: Having kept Linsley, extended Patrick, and drafted Hanson, the pivot is stable and fairly deep in Green Bay. Deep enough, in fact, that I would not be surprised to see Linsley released over the summer in the same way that Mike Daniels was a year ago. I don't think they would do it without reason, as Linsley isn't injured the way Daniels was. However, if they need some space to make another move possible, don't be surprised.
  • Corey Linsley
  • Lucas Patrick
  • Jake Hanson
Interior Defensive Line: This position didn't get the love that many thought that it would. I initially thought it would be an area to address, but over the off-season I changed my mind. In a two iDL defense, it doesn't make sense to make a large investment when you have Clark in one spot and Z. Smith eating up a bunch of the pass rush snaps at 3T. But recently they've added Treyvon Hester, who some people seem to actually really like as a 3T role player. I think Keke is the guy to watch here this season. He was miscast as a big edge for Texas AM, but as an interior player he's a super high end athlete with a lot of potential remaining. Would still not be surprised to see an addition or two here. They could use a situational, early down player, and just generally, 7 guys isn't a lot for going through an entire camp.
  • Kenny Clark
  • Dean Lowry
  • Tyler Lancaster
  • Kingsley Keke
  • Treyvon Hester
  • Montravius Adams
  • Willington Previlon
Edge: The Packers really didn't need to do much here given the investments of the previous off-season. So it's just been an exercise in adding depth. Garvin is a talented addition who could outplay his draft position is he takes to coaching. Galeai, similarly, has traits to replace Fackrell's role in the defense if he develops.
  • Za'Darius Smith
  • Preston Smith
  • Rashan Gary
  • Jonathan Garvin
  • Tipa Galeai
  • Tim Williams
  • Randy Ramsey
  • Greg Roberts
  • Delontae Scott
Linebacker: Kirksey has been the big addition here. The Packers spend most of their time in dime, with only one true LB on the field. If Kirksey can stay healthy, they upgraded from Martinez. If he can't, the depth is somewhat questionable, with little experience to be found. The book isn't closed on Oren Burks, but it's getting close. Hear tell Kamal Martin was a much more impressive prospect in '18 than in his most recent, injury shortened campaign. Perhaps they found a bargain in the 5th round.
  • Christian Kirksey
  • Oren Burks
  • Kamal Martin
  • Ty Summers
  • Curtis Bolton
Cornerback: The starters are fine, but this position as a whole is in something of a precarious position. Tramon Williams is still a FA, and nothing has been done to replace him. Options remain, but they won't last forever. I would hope/expect a move to be made over the summer to shore up the slot before all the likely candidates are gone. Stanford Samuels was added via FA. If his story from the combine is true and he's a lot faster than he tested, then he could turn out to be something.
  • Jaire Alexander
  • Kevin King
  • Chandon Sullivan
  • Josh Jackson
  • Ka'Dar Hollman
  • Stanford Samuels
  • Kabian Ento
  • Deshaun Amos
  • Marc-Atoine Dequoy
  • Will Sunderland
Safety: The Packers are in pretty decent shape here, with a good starting tandem and some experience down the depth chart. We may see players from this position filling in as linebackers in dime quite often.
  • Darnell Savage
  • Adrian Amos
  • Will Redmond
  • Raven Greene
  • Vernon Scott
  • Henry Black
  • Frankie Griffin
Biggest Needs Remaining:
  • WR: They could really afford to diversify the skill set of the WR corps with an acquisition here. My favorite candidate: Kenny Stills, Houston-- Stills shouldn't be cost prohibitive to acquire in terms of the trade and his salary, is still a very reliable deep threat, and showed some ability in the short game last year for the Texans too.
  • OT: Unless a Max Light or Yosh Nijman really impresses in camp, the Packers will need to find a better backup play at the position. My favorite candidate: Jared Veldheer, Green Bay-- It seems that Veldheer wants to continue playing, he already knows the offense, and he remains unsigned.
  • LB: They could end up adding both a base ILB a la Goodson last season, as well as competition for Burks and Greene at dime backer. My favorite candidate: Clayton Geathers, Indianapolis-- a safety for Indy, Geathers is a strong run defender who I think could fit in a dime linebacker role.
  • CB: The inexperience after Alexander and King is startling. They currently lack a good answer for playing the slot. My favorite candidate: Darqueze Dennard, Cincinnati-- a tough slot for the Bengals, Dennard was snapped up relatively early in FA by the Jaguars, but the deal fell through for financial reasons.
 
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The roster is a good news bad news situation. The Packers are very strong at QB, RB, OLB, Safety NT. Pk, and 4/5 of the o line. The rest of the roster is quite weak and offers oppossing coordinators lots of opportunities. The weakest link is d line. The Packers were just manhandled in the run game last season and Gute did nothing to fix it.
 

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The longer Veldheer is out there the more I think he will be back, he raved about our locker room and unless it was all Bulaga which made him love it here I for sure think he'd come back. Between him and Wagner I fully trust that RT position for sure. Will make hiding a younger potential future guy on practice squad a tad bit more difficult but hey you cut Linsley, Taylor or both to free up some cash and it becomes easier. I'll say this much I would much rather have Veldheer on the bench waiting than Taylor. Nothing against Lane, but I feel between Patrick/Runyan/Hanson or another we can absorb interior issues, it is exterior issues like you outlined which Veldheer instantly makes me not as worried about.
 

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In some ways the Packers have a very unique roster. They have elite players at the critical positions like OT, QB, pass rusher and Alexander is turning into an elite CB. On the other hand, they have glaring holes in the roster stocked by NFL vagabonds at ILB, DL, WR and TE. My opinion is that there have been way too many high draft pick busts in the past 7 to 8 years, leaving the roster riddled with players that oppossing coordinators salivate at the chance to exploit. No team has a roster of stars but the good teams at least have serviceable players at starting positions that don't leave a glaring hole in the roster. Given the Packers elite talent, all it would take is to make a concerted effort to fix the glaring holes on the roster and the Packers would be a Super Bowl contender. The Niners showed that the Packers aren't contenders with the current roster.
 
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In some ways the Packers have a very unique roster. They have elite players at the critical positions like OT, QB, pass rusher and Alexander is turning into an elite CB. On the other hand, they have glaring holes in the roster stocked by NFL vagabonds at ILB, DL, WR and TE. My opinion is that there have been way too many high draft pick busts in the past 7 to 8 years, leaving the roster riddled with players that oppossing coordinators salivate at the chance to exploit. No team has a roster of stars but the good teams at least have serviceable players at starting positions that don't leave a glaring hole in the roster. Given the Packers elite talent, all it would take is to make a concerted effort to fix the glaring holes on the roster and the Packers would be a Super Bowl contender. The Niners showed that the Packers aren't contenders with the current roster.

Christian Kirksey is a good starting caliber NFL linebacker, and he's 27.

Kenny Clark is an elite interior defensive lineman.

Davante Adams is a top 10 NFL wide receiver.

I know we're all concerned with the depth at those positions, but let's not just ignore the very good performers that they do have at those spots.
 
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The Niners showed that the Packers aren't contenders with the current roster.

The Packers matched up terribly with the Niners but the roster was good enough to be considered a contender last season. I'm not convinced Gutekunst did well enough this offseason to keep the team in that position though.
 

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Christian Kirksey is a good starting caliber NFL linebacker, and he's 27.

Kenny Clark is an elite interior defensive lineman.

Davante Adams is a top 10 NFL wide receiver.

I know we're all concerned with the depth at those positions, but let's not just ignore the very good performers that they do have at those spots.
Kenny Clark is elite. I consider him to be a NT and distinquish him from the rest of the d linemen who I think are way below average. While Kirksey may be an upgrade over Martinez, the team still has a glaring hole at the other ILB position. I agree Adams is elite. It's the huge drop off to the rest of the WR corp that I think is the big problem. In today's NFL, if you don't have two really good WR's then a team needs an elite TE to make up the difference.
 
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Kenny Clark is elite. I consider him to be a NT and distinquish him from the rest of the d linemen who I think are way below average. While Kirksey may be an upgrade over Martinez, the team still has a glaring hole at the other ILB position. I agree Adams is elite. It's the huge drop off to the rest of the WR corp that I think is the big problem. In today's NFL, if you don't have two really good WR's then a team needs an elite TE to make up the difference.

This is true, but that's really a 25-30% snap position.

But yeah, I'm not disputing the depth. I just think that if you're assessing the roster as a whole, you have to acknowledge the top end too.
 

tynimiller

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This is true, but that's really a 25-30% snap position.

But yeah, I'm not disputing the depth. I just think that if you're assessing the roster as a whole, you have to acknowledge the top end too.

Not if my intent is to be negative :) or only focus on the glass being half full :)
 

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