Acme Packing Company
With the final preseason game around the corner, let’s take a look at the roster bubble players who have the most to gain or lose for the Green Bay Packers before roster cutdowns on August 26th. While we’re going to be pairing players positionally for this analysis, this doesn’t necessarily mean it’s an either/or situation for the pairs. The team might end up keeping two extra defensive ends, or neither, for example.
Considering that the Packers have 13 players who are too injured to practice right now, the roster is still very fluid. The number of players who eventually go on the injured reserve, either on the day of cutdowns or the day after, will impact how the roster is shaped.
So let’s dive in.
WR Malik Heath
WR Mecole Hardman
There’s no reason for the Packers to keep more than a sixth receiver on the roster, especially with Christian Watson (ACL) likely to be called up from the physically unable to perform list by around midseason. The two candidates for this (possibly temporary) sixth receiver job are Malik Heath, who made the 53-man roster last year, and Mecole Hardman, who was signed as a free agent before the draft.
These two receivers couldn’t be more different.
Heath does the dirty work, playing in an Allen Lazard-like role as an outside/slot receiver who specializes in blocking. Beyond his contributions on the offensive side (head coach Matt LaFleur LOVES good blockers on the perimeter), Heath is also one of the few receivers whom special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia has ever trusted on the kick return unit as a blocker.
Meanwhile, Hardman signed with the Packers when they had real questions about where speed would come from at the receiver position following Watson’s injury. Since then, Green Bay has added Matthew Golden (4.29-second 40-yard dash) and Savion Williams (4.48-second 40-yard dash) as top-100 picks in April’s draft. Based on how the offense has deployed Hardman with the first- and second-team units this summer, the offense’s plan for Hardman seems to be to use him as a reserve slot receiver, a role that Jayden Reed starts at and Golden, Dontayvion Wicks and Heath all receive snaps at.
So is Hardman’s upside as a punt returner alone worth the nod over Heath? In three return attempts this preseason, Hardman has earned just 10 yards, which included a muffed ball. It’s getting harder and harder to justify a roster spot for that type of production, rather than just having Reed handle punts again.
TE Ben Sims
Prior to the injuries elsewhere on the roster, it was difficult to imagine that Ben Sims, who was slowly worked out of the lineup last year by mid-season pickup John FitzPatrick, could make this team as a fourth tight end. Depending on how many players get added to the injured reserve over the next week, though, he’s got a chance to come back to the 53-man roster.
No one is expecting much from Sims on the offensive side of...
