Acme Packing Company
It’s been a couple of weeks, so let’s take another stab at the Green Bay Packers’ 53-man roster. We’re now armed with information from the Packers’ first two preseason games, including the depth chart rotations and individual players’ performances.
This time, instead of treating everyone as if they’ll be healthy by Week 1, we’re going to be conservative on the injury front. We’ll be adding two players to the injured reserve with the designated to return label and keep all the players currently on the physically unable to perform list right where they’re at.
In that scenario, here’s what the Packers’ roster could look like.
Quarterback (2)
I’m not going to justify this. The third-string quarterback against the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday was an undrafted rookie from Canada. Malik Willis’ job is safe.
Running Back (3)
With MarShawn Lloyd dealing with a hamstring injury that will make him “miss some time,” he’s a prime injured reserve candidate. Under NFL rules, teams can place two players on the injured reserve at the cutdown deadline with the “designated to return” condition, which avoids those players being subject to waivers. For the year, teams are allowed to bring eight players off the injured reserve during a single season.
Before Lloyd’s injury, there was a real question whether or not the team would end up keeping three or four backs, and which backs would make up the three if they chose the former. Chris Brooks contributes significantly to special teams and is the Packers’ preferred choice on third downs on offense, which gives him an edge. Due to Lloyd’s draft status and the fact that he got into preseason looks much earlier than Emanuel Wilson, Wilson’s status was in danger.
In this scenario, Lloyd would have to miss the first four games of the season, but he would be allowed to practice with the team for 20 days before the squad had to promote him to the active roster, whenever the Packers want to start that clock. By that point, Green Bay should have a better feel for which one of Lloyd or Wilson the squad wants to keep long term.
Receiver (6)
Romeo Doubs, Matthew Golden, Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks and Savion Williams are essentially roster locks, as they all either contributed to the team last year or are top-100 rookie selections. The only real question at receiver is if Malik Heath or Mecole Hardman will be the team’s sixth receiver, a position that will probably be displaced from the 53-man roster whenever Christian Watson is activated off the physically unable to perform list later this season.
Right now, the Packers have leaned into playing Heath over Hardman with the first-team offense this summer. Heath is a contributor on the...
