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Green Bay Packers 53-Man Roster Predictions
20 Plays1 day ago
Aloha and welcome to another episode of OPE! In this exciting episode, we dive deep into our NFL predictions as we make our 53-man roster predictions for the Green Bay Packers. From the easy picks to the tough cuts, find out what we expect the starting roster will look like this season. Join us as we break down our thoughts and insights on the players who will represent the Pack on the field this year!
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Transcript
Introduction and Agenda
00:00:01
Speaker
Aloha and welcome back to another episode of the Ohana Packers Edition podcast. Today, Iowa Joe from Green Bay is I are going to be going over our 53-man roster predictions.
00:00:11
Speaker
We'll see if Joe's hotel internet holds out we get through this. So we're going to try and snap through this one as quick as we can, but giving as much insight as we can as well. Joe,
Weather Impact on Plans
00:00:22
Speaker
first off though, I know that one of the things you're concerned about was the weather. How it been in Green Bay?
00:00:29
Speaker
It's held out pretty good. was really worried about this past Tuesday, but the rain seemed to be like an early morning thing, and then it kind of cleared out after that.
00:00:40
Speaker
Yesterday, i just, I didn't. i had no ambition to go to the game just because i the back was hurting me so i didn't feel like climbing any of the stairs and that so i i just vegged in the hotel room all day watch matter of fact i was so freaking beat from my lack of sleep that i ended up sleeping through the game and having to watch it watch a replay of it so you know it's been a fun trip up here i love coming up here And even if the weather is shit, I mean, it got pretty hot.
00:01:12
Speaker
the people could see, they could see I got kind of red on a couple of days, even though I was putting the sunscreen on pretty heavily. But yeah, weather held out.
00:01:28
Speaker
I think we'll save the rest of my complaints for another episode because I don't know how the... Internet's going to hold out right now. It's doing pretty good, but I have had some touch and go here and there.
00:01:39
Speaker
Yeah,
Game Recap and Strategy
00:01:39
Speaker
we'll just briefly recap the game. Honestly, outside of the four turnovers and Golden's big reception, you didn't miss much, really, be totally honest. Basically, once Dobbs the touchdown for the first team offense, the quote-unquote first team offense, LaFleur did whatever was the equivalent of sim to end in a preseason game. It really just felt like they...
00:02:06
Speaker
They kind of were, you know, as much going through the motions kind of thing. Like he was calling a lot of run plays, not many passes, you know, between the three quarterbacks, they threw the ball 23 times, know, 27 dropbacks because they were sacked four times.
00:02:21
Speaker
Yeah.
Play Calling Operations
00:02:23
Speaker
And nothing really exciting. I will say that it did seem like their play calling operations seemed to go a lot smoother than it had been the past couple games. I do think that we saw um a progression of ironing out any sort of kinks and wrinkles out of the system. So that's good to see.
00:02:43
Speaker
But otherwise, I mean... Love wasn't playing, so you weren't going to learn too much. I did think Willis' interception was more shit luck than it was like a bad decision on his part. Like, it wasn't the greatest throw, but also like weird things kind of just happened on that play.
00:02:58
Speaker
And it's one of those, you we keep going back to it, but it's the try a new pitch in the training camp for starting pitchers kind
Defense vs Seattle Discussion
00:03:05
Speaker
of thing. And I didn't have too much issue with it. The defense basically got the ball right back and... It was good to see the defense make plays, but this Seattle O-line, we played against their starters last regular season, and it wasn't great. And
Roster Predictions Debate
00:03:20
Speaker
they were playing a lot of their backups, and they're obviously not great. So it's good to see guys convert opportunities, but
00:03:29
Speaker
And of course, like clockwork, it is not the
Willis' Performance and Running Plays
00:03:32
Speaker
Joe, as I was saying before, my internet cut out, not the crappy Green Bay Wi-Fi internet. So those were my quick thoughts on the game. How did you feel about it?
00:03:42
Speaker
I thought Willis was playing pretty good. i do agree that the play calling seemed to have been a little bit more aggressive and more...
00:03:52
Speaker
open, even though it was a a ton of running. But I do understand why they were running it a lot more because they're trying to see what
Running Backs Roster Predictions
00:04:02
Speaker
backs they want to keep. Obviously, Josh Jacobs is the starter, the man, the whatever you want to call him.
00:04:09
Speaker
There's no way that he gets beat out by anybody, but it's after that. We know what a a Emmanuel Wilson can do. We kind of know what Chris Brooks can do, but then you got the long list of other guys that are in there amar amar johnson is he ab and i always screw up his friggin ah ah bonnie bonnie conda uh and i love that guy i i've loved him since uh the 2023 draft but you've got all those guys in there the
00:04:41
Speaker
you know, to, to fill maybe two open spots, maybe one open spot for running back, you know, depending on how they feel about Wilson and, uh, uh, Brooks, but, and I can't throw Marshawn Lloyd in there because we don't know quite where he's at with his injury recovery.
00:05:03
Speaker
I know they keep saying it's ah ah a hamstring or a soft tissue issue, know ah How long is it going to keep them out? Do they just throw them on IR and call it good? do What do they do with it?
00:05:13
Speaker
I'm so confused about how the rules are with that stuff anymore. Because it used to be that if they IR'd you before final cuts, you were done for the season. But now it's something like you can be IR'd, but...
00:05:26
Speaker
yeah you return in four weeks or something like that. Yeah. You have to be designated immediately or something like that. They, they keep adjusting it. I do. I do like the,
Offensive Line Depth Concerns
00:05:37
Speaker
the adjustments they've made to it, but you're right. It does make keeping track of what's going on with that a little bit of a bear. Cause it's like, what, what, what's the rule now?
00:05:46
Speaker
Yeah. And then there's a lot of open spots along the offensive line that I guess, uh, Banks has some kind of injury, so that's why he's been kind of held out of things.
00:05:59
Speaker
So how long is that going to, you know, and hold him out? So who's, you know, they were kind of showing yesterday what their plans would be, which is Walker at left tackle and Morgan at left guard.
00:06:12
Speaker
But, you know, if Banks is out for any long period of time, then who's your backup and all that other stuff. But, Defense looked decent.
00:06:24
Speaker
Again, preseason is hard to tell a lot of that of things just because of vanilla play calling and stuff like that. But, you know, I thought it was pretty decent. Everything, for the most part, looked good. There were some things on the defense that probably, if it was a regular season, I would be a little bit more worried about. But being that they were the fringe bubble players,
00:06:51
Speaker
I'm not overly concerned, but it just kind of sucks when it comes down to, you know, I was stressing over my prediction on the
Breaking Down Roster by Position
00:06:59
Speaker
53 man. I can just imagine what LeFleur and Goody are going through make the actual decisions.
00:07:06
Speaker
Yep. So on that note, let's just dive in. Let's, let's, let's just kind of get rolling with it. So quarterbacks, Okay. How do you want to do this? Do you want to go position by position? Do you want to do a off the bat count of what you got at each position or you want to just, we can just go position by position with, you know, obviously there's going to be some spots that are and like with quarterbacks right
Quarterback Roster Predictions
00:07:33
Speaker
now. It's, it's obviously Jordan love and Malik Willis.
00:07:37
Speaker
There may be a question of keeping a third, but I think it's going to be a practice squad guy, unless, uh, I, I, Here's my prediction on quarterback.
00:07:49
Speaker
Clifford's gone. Gersma is the guy on the practice squad unless he gets claimed. If he gets claimed, then it'll obviously be Clifford on the practice squad with Jordan Love and Malik Willis as your active quarterbacks.
00:08:07
Speaker
No dispute there. Running backs is kind of the same way. Josh Jacobs, again, is your main guy. I've got it as Jacobs, Emmanuel Wilson, and Chris Brooks.
00:08:19
Speaker
And that's how I see it. And Lloyd on Yeah, with Lloyd going to or you know however they've got to do that. And then, of course, a guy like a Bonnie Konda or Amar Johnson on the practice squad.
00:08:34
Speaker
I think they'll try to stash both of them. Honestly, they they running back is a position they I feel like tended to double up on the practice squad at. So
Running Backs and Fullback Considerations
00:08:42
Speaker
I agree unless they keep a Bonnie Konda around for his special teams play.
00:08:46
Speaker
Right. And so I agree with you that they're only keeping three running backs. This is a position where it gets into that hole. Like you said, for the special teams impact, this is one where they could go for, because they don't have a full back. You know, traditionally, Green Bay has kept kind of like a...
00:09:03
Speaker
between running back, fullback, tight end, they've kept like seven-ish, eight-ish guys. And it's like three running backs. It's generally been three running backs, three tight ends, and a fullback.
00:09:16
Speaker
Like that's sort of been the mix. But because they don't have a fullback, it opens up that seventh-ish spot. And, you know, it could be a running back. I don't think it'll be a... Well, it could... And this is where it kind of gets into the...
00:09:31
Speaker
It's basically a body condo against a Fitzpatrick. That's how I view it coming down to. So, but I agree with you. I think Fitzpatrick, they've got a little more invested in him. You know, he basically was on the roster the whole season last year. He does have some upside as a blocking option.
00:09:49
Speaker
And I thought this preseason, he showed a little better as a receiver than than he did last year. You know, we have one of our group chats where I wasn't too pleased with it, but I guess we'll kind of just morph into tight end since I'm going there.
00:10:02
Speaker
I've got them keeping four. To kind of get us to that seven number that you I kind of brought up. So Kraft, Musgrave, Sims, and then Fitzpatrick is like the like,
Tight Ends Roster Speculation
00:10:14
Speaker
if you want to put it in pencil, that's one of those like light positions that I'm not certain how serious they are about keeping, but that's one of my...
00:10:22
Speaker
want to say surprise but could go either way spots on the roster fitzpatrick is a late addition to my 53 man had went a different way with my offensive line and then i got to thinking about some things with it so i kind of changed there and that left me one spot open so i won't put fitzpatrick Not that I think he's going to be a make or break guy, because I think they could hold steady with just their three of Kraft, Musgraves, and Sims.
00:10:53
Speaker
But just I couldn't find anybody anywhere else to add that extra man to, so I just threw Fitzpatrick in there. I do agree that, you know, it could be an either or and it's going to.
00:11:06
Speaker
And, you know, the funny thing is, is we've argued about this over the last few years about special teams, special teams. Do you keep a guy just because of special teams? And, you know, a Bonnie Konda kind of fits that where, yes, you know what you're going to get at him as a running back, but he showed well as a as a kick returner.
00:11:24
Speaker
I don't remember him getting anything at punt return, so I don't think they're going to trust him there. But it makes the roster decisions go a little bit more.
00:11:36
Speaker
So with that, we'll jump right into wide receiver since we're agreeing on so much of it so far anyway.
Wide Receivers Roster Speculation
00:11:43
Speaker
Again, wide receiver, we know who the top guys are going to be, but we don't know what that fringe roster is. So obviously you've got Golden, Dobbs, Reed, Romeo,
00:12:00
Speaker
or I said Romeo. So you got Golden, Dobbs, Reed, Wicks. I put Christian on the PUP list. I just carried him over to the PUP list.
00:12:11
Speaker
So he's going to be on the team. He's just not on the initial 53-man per se.
00:12:18
Speaker
There's two of them that I'm not sure about. And it's not that they're not capable of making the roster. It's This is where the whole unsure of how the IR thing works because you've got Savion Williams and Dontavian Wicks who have not played anything during the preseason, who have been held out of practice for the longest time because of injuries.
00:12:45
Speaker
But with Savion, you've got a third-round pick invested into them, and Wicks, you've got time invested into them. So I have them on my roster just because I'm not sure how they're going to handle those two guys. Because it's not, it could be something as simple as they make the initial 53 and then they immediately IR them.
00:13:09
Speaker
Because I think they can call those guys back easier than they can a pre-cut IR. But again, I'm not sure how that works. But The only surprise one, and I just sent him, or Dusty Evely was asking for people to watch on Breakdown, and I put this guy's name out there on Blue Sky just because it seems like he popped up everywhere making plays, and he added to to special teams, and that's Will Shepard.
00:13:41
Speaker
was a late addition to the roster going into the preseason, but he's made the most of everything. I know this is falls into the trap every year where there's always that one or two guys that seem to pop up everywhere. And, oh, yeah, you can't get rid of him. You can't get rid of him because somebody will claim him.
00:13:59
Speaker
Well, think Will Shepard falls into that. think it'll be a lot easier to get him to the practice squad. But, again, he adds special teams. He adds to the receiving core, which is kind of dinged up right now.
00:14:15
Speaker
so that's where i'm setting on things do you differ from anything on there okay so after a quick google search you still do have to carry guys on the 53 like you have to carry them through the the cut down deadline so okay now that that makes the the math a little weirder on my end so okay Seeing that I'm...
Savion's Injury and IR Possibility
00:14:40
Speaker
Fuck.
00:14:40
Speaker
Okay, so I'm cutting Fitzpatrick and I'm keeping Lloyd, but then immediately putting Lloyd on IR and signing Fitzpatrick back. So like, however you want to look at that as who makes the 53, Lloyd makes it, but Fitzpatrick is really making the initial 53-man roster, if that makes sense.
00:15:01
Speaker
And a similar point for... So I agree with you that the top... Four healthy are, in no particular order, Golden, Dobbs, Reed, Wicks.
00:15:11
Speaker
Like, they're making it. Savion is going to make it. I don't know... I have a feeling he's going on IR, though, after the cutdowns because we just have gotten nothing regarding what the hell his injury actually is at this point.
00:15:26
Speaker
So I get the feeling that they're going to just put him on IR. He's had a bunch of... He, too, has had a bunch of soft tissue injuries. So it's like, just put him on IR, get him in a rehab program. Don't accelerate and all that kind of crap. Just let it play itself out.
00:15:41
Speaker
And then... So then that gets you to the fifth. And then, so I think Hardman's going to make it. He's still the top punt returner.
00:15:53
Speaker
I'm not, God, it's so,
00:15:56
Speaker
it's so hard to see because you can see them pumping opportunities to Heath all preseason. And he falls into a similar category with those, like you talked about a Shepard or my guy Cornelius Johnson, where, or even a Hicks where those guys have flash, but the quarterback play has been inconsistent. The line play has been inconsistent. So it's hard to get a read and those guys aren't going to play unless the worst happens to the guys ahead of them.
00:16:24
Speaker
so I think that I've got six, I've got, Golden, Dobbs, Wicks, Reed, Savion, Hardman.
00:16:35
Speaker
And then, like I said, I just, because we don't have any real, we't we're not insiders. We don't know what's going to happen with Savion. I can't tell you if he's staying or, and they're going to just wait it out, or if they're going to immediately turn around and put him on IR. And maybe that opens the door for a Shepard or a Johnson to make the roster.
00:16:54
Speaker
But I've got six. Yeah, I've got six right now too, but... I'll be honest. I'm not completely sold on Wicks as lock.
00:17:06
Speaker
And ah ah because we haven't been able to see him do anything in the preseason to show that he's at least working on his drops.
Wicks' Roster Readiness
00:17:17
Speaker
Because I've said this before, I'll say it again. You can be the best route runner in the world, but if you can't catch a ball, you know, that does nothing.
00:17:29
Speaker
So I'm not sold on them as a lock, but I think right now with everything pointing, and this is just the initial 53, this isn't including, you know, the whole Marshawn Lloyd to IR, you know, cut one.
00:17:43
Speaker
So this is just the initial. So I guess I would have to do the same thing. Lloyd would probably be my guy and Fitzpatrick would get a cut, but yeah, I,
00:17:55
Speaker
I don't know. I love Malik Keith. Everybody knows I love Malik Keith. I just, I don't know if he's shown more than, because even it sounded like a lot of the talk from Kevin Harlan and John Kuhn was that he just, they kept talking about how he used to be the pit bull and the guy that was the locker and stuff like that in past tense.
00:18:22
Speaker
So it's like, okay, is he not doing it anymore? Or is somebody better than him at It was weird to hear them talk about him in that regard. You're right. It was odd. It was really odd to hear that tone with him. But...
00:18:41
Speaker
This is one of the, like, I know we're going to sound like a broken record repeating this a lot, but there's just going to be a lot of these positions where, because we don't have insider info, it's going to be hard to tell what's going to happen at some of these spots outside of the locks, but we won't get stuck in the mud there.
00:18:59
Speaker
O-linemen, I've got eight. Okay, so
Offensive Line Positions Breakdown
00:19:01
Speaker
I broke this down differently where I have tackle guard center. So I broke it down to specifics. Okay, go for it.
00:19:10
Speaker
i think totally i've got 10 oh and this is where i said that it was kind of hard to kept flip-flopping a lot of these and i kept cutting read so i settled on 10 just because as i kept looking the interior line is lacking the depth The tackle portion seems pretty set that they have a one and two.
00:19:38
Speaker
They're two people deep, whereas the interior didn't seem that. So I had to really try to, and I struggled with it. So my tackles are obviously Morgan, Tom, Belton, and Walker.
00:19:54
Speaker
I threw in Brant Banks because his name keeps popping up everywhere as a guy that really has that could be a sleeper to make the 53. I didn't pay close attention to offensive line play, but I know they weren't horrible and, you know, they are going to need a swing tackle per se.
00:20:19
Speaker
So that fits in there. And I know Morgan can slot is probably going to slot in as a backup the guard position. you know, however they want to play that out.
00:20:29
Speaker
My guards are obviously Banks, Ryan, and then I threw Tyler Cooper in there. i i wanted to throw John Williams in there, but John Williams falls into that whole thing where he hasn't practiced or anything. Yeah. Preseason.
00:20:43
Speaker
He's a pup lock. Like it's, it's not too much of a mystery to me. Yeah. So I wanted to put him on there. But again, you know, all that stuff. So I put Tyler Cooper just to add that little bit of depth.
00:20:57
Speaker
And then obviously my center is Elton Jenkins. And I brought in Lysita Smith as the backup. I think they're probably going to cut Jacob Monk or he'll end up as a pup guy because, again, he has...
00:21:20
Speaker
Uh,
00:21:25
Speaker
yeah, I can't remember at this point. Um, Um, I know he wasn't in pads both Tuesday and Thursday for the open open practices. Yeah. Yeah.
00:21:35
Speaker
Yeah, I'd have to look. Great podcast. And matter of fact, I think on Friday when they were going down for the walkthrough, he was in bare minimums. Yeah.
00:21:46
Speaker
So, yeah. I went in a totally different route. I only got eight on the O-line. And it's something that I was honestly kind of thinking of. But then what's his, what is Perrone's, Echol, Mark Echol, Perrone's Pack-a-Day co-host.
00:22:07
Speaker
It's something that Echol responded to one of my tweets about is he's like, The backup O-line has underwhelmed so much. He goes,
Backup Offensive Linemen Concerns
00:22:15
Speaker
don't be surprised if they go to the waiver wire to get some... Kind of like how they got listed as Smith last year or the year before.
00:22:23
Speaker
And I kind of see it that way where, like... So the starting five... plus one because who knows what they're going to do at left tackle. Like, I don't know whether they've fully seen enough from Morgan or if they're going to stick with Walker. So you have those two, Banks, Elton, Ryan, Tom.
00:22:43
Speaker
And then,
00:22:46
Speaker
what's it called? Belton is my seventh. And then my eighth. I know I'm one of the last people on this island, but I think they're like, He's only in year two.
00:22:59
Speaker
Let's still see if there's something there with Jacob Monk. And then Lestis almost made it, but he's in that realm of like... And so this is why I went with eight is because you've got those guys like Savion, Marshawn Lloyd.
00:23:15
Speaker
I'm sure there's a couple more that are escaping my mind right now where they're on that free. Oh, and Sorrel. So those are the three that are like at the top of the list of are they keeping them or and they're just going to be game day inactives until they're healthy.
00:23:29
Speaker
I know Sorrel of the three is the most like he could play week one out of the three of them.
Offensive Linemen Roster Uncertainty
00:23:34
Speaker
Or are they going to IR him once the deadline, the 53-man cut down deadline passes? And then you, you know, whether you bring Les Sinis back after you cut him or you go and look on the waiver wire at other positions. So this is one where I agree they've never gone under eight.
00:23:51
Speaker
But I don't see 10 guys who deserve to make this roster out of the gates. And like I said, even Monk, it could be Lacedos very easily because Monk did not have a good preseason.
00:24:02
Speaker
And I still think there's a lot of ability there with him as a center, but they obviously don't trust him enough because they were still trying to make sure that Ryan was ready to play center snaps if... um um all hell should break loose.
00:24:15
Speaker
But then also like Lestis wasn't getting reps with the second line in the preseason either. And I know those had to go to Sean Ryan at center and all that kind of stuff, but it's just so much up in the air with that group. So I do think it's a position where they cut down to eight and they go hunting on the waiver wire. And if not, I don't think any of the guys they cut are getting claimed by anyone else.
00:24:38
Speaker
And so it's like, if they don't find anyone, you can bring a Telford back, You can bring whichever of less it is, Smith or Jacob Monk, you cut back. You can easily get Donovan Jennings back because he didn't have a good preseason either. the last game he was decent.
00:24:55
Speaker
Yeah. the rest of the time, yeah. And to be honest, I think if they hadn't spent a second round pick on Anthony Belton, Belton would have been cut yesterday. oh yeah like like the fact that the fact that uh you know you and i joked last week that lefleur looked like he just wanted to cold cock him coming off the field at halftime he definitely cleaned it up he had a much better game this week but he still had a couple penalties and stuff and it's one thing that moffy pointed at is like this dude is a six-year senior so he's 24.
00:25:26
Speaker
And he's got both those kind of mental mistakes and technique issues. And it's like, you're 24. Like, it's hard to, you know, there are already concerns when you're just getting better at one of them. But when you're that old and you've got to get better at both of them, it's kind of like, ugh.
00:25:43
Speaker
But they're going to – like you said, they're definitely sticking it out. They're not cutting a second-round pick kind of thing. This isn't Jimmy Johnson with the early 90s Cowboys where it's like screw it, get me a better guy kind of thing. If he'd been like a fifth-round pick or something, guarantee he'd been gone. Goot would have broken his all-my-rookies-make-the-opening-day roster trend.
00:26:05
Speaker
yeah, – That's just where I'm at with the line. So I'm at 23 players on offense. I'll be honest. I don't know what my totals are right now. I just know that out to 53. I think you're at 25. And let's just get the elephant out of the room already. The three specialists.
00:26:24
Speaker
The Celtic Cannon is a stone cold lock. Especially so long as Matt Orzek is your long snapper. Because someone has to track down the spray and pray long snaps.
Specialists Confirmation
00:26:35
Speaker
And no one has been better at that than the Celtic Cannon.
00:26:38
Speaker
Also, he's had a dynamic preseason. I know it's hot and so punting is easier and all that kind of shit. But he's clocked some punts this preseason. And I know, you know, neither of us are the biggest fans and he's had sort of a, he had the, you know, he started off perfect and that he had a couple of bad days, but McManus had a good final preseason game and, you know, he's going to be the kicker at least for this year and we'll see moving forward. But so that's three other spots.
00:27:06
Speaker
Defense, you want to start on the back seven or the front seven? Okay, so again, I broke these down as defensive in defensive tackle. Yep. So um I'll go with my ends.
00:27:19
Speaker
And of course, you got Gary Van Ness and Brenton Cox, I believe, are your three locks. Enigbare is probably a lock, but he's not 100% lock. think he's around 65% 75% lock. Baron Sorrell, I think,
00:27:35
Speaker
just because fourth round pick and him being able to play sooner than later is a lock.
00:27:41
Speaker
So those are my ends, Gary, Van Ness, Sorrell, Cox, and Enigbare. And
Defensive Line Predictions
00:27:49
Speaker
my defensive linemen are obviously Clark and Wyatt.
00:27:55
Speaker
I kept both Brinson and Stackhouse, and I got Carl Brooks. I don't think Wooden has shown enough warrant keeping him on the active if they can sneak him through to the practice squad let them develop let them figure out because he's still undersized to be a lineman right and perfect size to be an end so are my guys so i think what i'm at i got 10 defensive linemen
00:28:25
Speaker
Yeah, so I had 11 and basically I kept wooden and I kept the same because I'm just not certain what they're doing with Sorrel. And I know that they're not necessarily bumping any of those interior guys.
00:28:40
Speaker
I know Wyatt played some snaps on the end last year. Halfley got a little frisky on third down packages and stuff. But yeah. I agree with you that those are the guys that they're keeping. I think Inigbari had a good close preseason after having like a really quiet and disappointing start to it. So I think, like you said, I don't think he's a stone cold lock, but I think he's closer to like the 80% of making the roster, especially with Sorrell's uncertainty. I thought Sorrell was having a really good preseason up until the moment he got his knee messed up on that punt down in Indy last week. So yeah.
00:29:14
Speaker
The only thing that I can say is if they think Alexander did a better job than Enigbari all around. And I can see it, but also I don't think anyone's claiming Alexander.
00:29:27
Speaker
And he's a guy that it's like, if Sorrell goes on IR after he makes the final roster, Alexander's a guy that maybe they bring back. I can see it too. Or, and obviously, like, do you try and, I can't remember if Mosby has practice squad eligibility, but between him and Alexander, yeah, I think you're going to try and stash him. So you've got...
00:29:47
Speaker
Because what is it? He spent a little bit of time on the practice squad a couple years ago. Then he was pretty much on the main roster all a year last year. So he should have plenty of eligibility left. Regardless of how they count it, he should have one more year.
00:30:01
Speaker
He should have the third year regardless. Linebacker, who you got? Well, obviously
Linebackers Roles and Predictions
00:30:08
Speaker
I've got Cooper Walker and McDuffie. Those are your three locks for sure.
00:30:14
Speaker
I did keep Christian Welch and Tyron Hopper just because they both played well. Hopper's looking good. well well Welch isn't going to be your guy that you put in coverage unless you need him to be. he He's okay in coverage, but he's never going to be elite in coverage, but he's going to be your downhill guy.
00:30:34
Speaker
He's going to be your, your spy in the middle, that type of thing. And he's going to give you the special teams of it. Hopper, I think is going to give you a better all around type linebacker with some of the special teams.
00:30:47
Speaker
The only one that and And I'll put this out there because people are going to ask why I don't have Oliver on my 53. That's because he'll end up on Pup. He's already on the preseason Pup. He'll end up on Pup going into the season too. there He's in the same boat to me as Williams. There's no way he can make up for...
00:31:08
Speaker
not, you know, being a rookie who didn't practice at all. Like there's just no way. The only other one that possibly could make the roster because he showed pretty well this last game.
00:31:18
Speaker
Uh, that's that Johnson kid out of Kentucky. I think he's a practice squad guy. Right. I'm just saying that if they were thinking of keeping like a sixth one, that would probably be him. He's another guy that falls into the if those any of those three that we've talked about go on IR, he's got consideration. I agree with you.
00:31:42
Speaker
And I do not think it's going to be Isaiah Sims. I know a lot of people are talking, but he just he can't. He's got the athletic ability, but he can't do it. It hasn't translated to football play. like That is what it is. And I think a lot of it is he's just too much in his head on things. Yeah. Like you said, it would be interesting if they could get him back on the practice squad, try and let let him gel with Halfley's system a little longer.
00:32:08
Speaker
Yeah, that's what's hard, too, is everyone forgets was a late signing. He didn't sign you the opening of free agency or anything. I think he signed in like... April or May or something like that. So it's not like he spent the whole offseason.
00:32:19
Speaker
I've got the same five as you. No real need to, like, spin the yarn or anything here. agree. The only reason I have a little hesitation on Simmons is he still was getting the number one gunner snaps opposite of Melton.
00:32:34
Speaker
That made my eye twitch. I... Like I said, im im I'm totally against keeping guys just for special teams prowess. He wasn't playing good on special teams. And that's the thing, too. is Everyone's like, oh, he was still the top gun. I'm like, did you watch the indie game, like I said, when he got juked by a guy who dropped the ball? like He didn't get juked by that guy after he made a move. He got juked by him dropping the football.
00:32:59
Speaker
That can't freaking happen. that That was one of those, like, are you serious, man? But... So I've got the same five at linebacker. And let's just move into the secondary at
Hopper's Improvement Notes
00:33:11
Speaker
this point. One note on Hopper, this will make our buddy Joey Van Zimmer and very happy.
00:33:16
Speaker
Hopper has had a really good preseason. I think that it's it. I don't I don't think he necessarily would have looked this good last year just because he was a rookie and all that. But.
00:33:27
Speaker
I am really pleased with the work he's put can see how much the clean bill of health has made a difference for him. And he just looks so much more explosive and athletic out there than he did last season. I think they said, I can't remember who said it. It was either Kevin Harlan or John Kuhn.
00:33:42
Speaker
I guess it could have been one of the radio crew. But they said that he actually put on weight. And not like fat weight. He put on like lean muscle. so he's able to move around a little bit better.
00:33:56
Speaker
I can see that. Like if he gets up into that, like 238, 240 range kind of thing, like that would be really good for him. Especially, know, whether he's supposed to play the Sam or like play Mike and bump Kwe out to Sam. Like you, you can't, you know, Mike Wall says it all the time. You can't be a 230 pound Mike linebacker. Like he, he's like, you have to have, unless you're a a freak.
00:34:19
Speaker
Yeah. You have to have other special components to your defense to make that possible. secondary corners and safeties i know that that's gonna be the way we break it down i'm gonna go with the safeties first just because i think that's easier to go through so i've got xavier bullard evan williams oladapo
00:34:40
Speaker
i can't believe i'm saying it i think zane is gonna make it just because At least he showed he can play some safety last year.
00:34:50
Speaker
And I think Omar Brown did enough that he gets a longer look there. It's going to depend on what the injury is because nobody has heard anything. And that's the part where I'm kind of like, oh, and sorry, he's my fourth.
00:35:04
Speaker
Like they might throw him a bone, make it, put him on IR, designate him to return later potentially kind of thing. So this could be some insider information or this just could be me...
00:35:15
Speaker
hearing somebody else mention and it's just total coincidence that it was somebody named omar but when i was walking around lambo there was a guy of course you know packer garb on his cell phone he said they were flying omar's family in so what's that mean is he that hurt that they're bringing them help take care of him? Are they just doing it to make sure that they know he's safe? How's that working? Otherwise, I think the sad truth is I think even Omar could have took Oladapo's spot because he was just showing that well during the preseason before the injury. But until we know what his actual injury is and what his return time is going to be,
00:36:08
Speaker
I can't say anything on him. I think this is one where the way I've got my roster, this is the Packers rewarding Omar for that work that he put in.
00:36:18
Speaker
And also kind of... you you want to wish for the best and you don't want to, don't want it to be anything like, like you said, where it's like, like, is it that bad? But I'm like, this is also where they can kind of throw him a bone where like he makes like an active roster. You know, you can kind of screw around with it where it's like the dude gets an active roster salary for a week kind of thing and stuff. And then you kind of play the long game from there. Cause they don't,
00:36:42
Speaker
have to put him on IR until like Saturday for week one to count as the first of the four games kind of thing. So there's different ways they can they manage that.
00:36:52
Speaker
But I just think that he showed better. And not how those rules work because they can't just outright cut him, can they? Because he's injured. Yeah, no, they'd have to injury settle him.
00:37:03
Speaker
They'd have to do an injury settlement. And then, so, just a short recap, the injury settlement is basically the team, the player come together, they're like, you've got X injury, you've got a sprained ankle. Obviously, that's not what Omar says, but they're like, you've got a sprained ankle.
00:37:19
Speaker
Medical says it's going to take you four weeks, so they give you four weeks worth of pay, and then you're free to sign... I think the player can sign with any team after two weeks, but they couldn't sign back with the team that cut them for like the settlement plus like, let's say two weeks or something like that. I know that's not, but there's some kind of like, it's a time plus X and the time is, that's the settlement part is it's agreed on between the player's representation and the team kind of thing. So that's how that works.
00:37:56
Speaker
And my whole point with Omar is the way that I broke in the roster down, he showed more than any of the backup corners did to me.
Omar's Safety Position Performance
00:38:03
Speaker
And that's why I've got him over any one of the who names it at corner. So, and if he is healthy, if he can be healthy, think he just gives you another special teams player, another, you know, potential upside guy in the back end and stuff.
00:38:19
Speaker
I thought Kitan actually played better as the preseason went along. He showed some good things in man coverage. it's hard to say. I'm not taking anything out of. Oh no, but I agree. Like Omar definitely had the highlight and they weren't all great throws, but you get three interceptions at any sort of scrimmage or preseason game.
00:38:36
Speaker
You get your gold star on the wall and you get recognition for that. Well, and he was showing his, his ability throughout the preseason games before getting injured too. So that one, like i said, I think he could even slot it in over Catan just because of what he was showing. It just,
00:38:53
Speaker
Now with the question, because it's a chest injury. We know that for almost... And that's vague. like And that's very vague. Yeah, and they had oxygen on him and all that shit when they were carting him back. Even though he was awake and all that stuff, they still had... So it makes you wonder if it was some kind of collapsed lung type situation. And you can't rush back from that.
00:39:16
Speaker
You got to take your time with that shit, especially if it was like a broken rib that would... you know, punctured it. So, you know, that's why I can't, I can't count them on the 53. Cause it's like, yeah, I understand what the rules are, but it could be something so serious that you're just better off IR and him now. And then next year, come back to it.
00:39:38
Speaker
Yeah. it it The only reason I haven't gone that route is they haven't done it yet. And so it's, it's kind of, that's why I'm kind of like, he's my fourth, put him on the 53 and then cut him right after. And so you can not cut him, but put him on IR at 401 PM CS or 301 PM CST.
00:39:58
Speaker
So that, you know, he's eligible for IRDR and all that kind of stuff. But now we can swing it over to quarterback. I've only got five and the fifth spot. I'm not going to fight you over who I had for the fifth spot.
00:40:13
Speaker
So the top four, I think, are obvious to me. I've got Hobbs, Valentine, Keyshawn, Melton. And the fifth spot, honestly, I just went for familiarity.
00:40:26
Speaker
I gave it to Corey Ballantyne, who's nothing, no one's special, but he's a guy who's shown that when they throw him out there, he can handle himself against an NFL receiver. And
Cornerbacks Roster Decisions
00:40:37
Speaker
he's not going to be a top of the line defensive back or anything close to that, but he's capable enough. And honestly, when you get to your fifth cornerback, that's all you're looking for at that point.
00:40:49
Speaker
Floor's yours, buddy. This is where I just kind of threw shit at the wall and saw, to see what sticks. Yeah, I mean, Keyshawn, Carrington, Hobbs, Milton are my four guys.
00:41:02
Speaker
And it's weird throwing Milton in there just because of all the questions. And he really came out and showed that he has the ability to play the position.
00:41:12
Speaker
He's not afraid to make a hit. He's not afraid to do what he needs to do. I wish we could have saw a little bit more of the ball skill from him. with an interception or whatever, but they weren't throwing to him.
00:41:25
Speaker
So that shows that they were kind of worried about it for, you know, a little bit, because usually when you avoid a guy, you don't want him to make a play on anything.
00:41:35
Speaker
Outside of that, I threw Micah Robinson and Kalen King in there. So I've got six corners. And mainly because Micah was a draft pick, and I think Kalen King...
00:41:48
Speaker
has ability. I don't think he's going to be a starter per se, but he's going to be a guy that they can rotate in or, you know, when Halfley goes into his big DB heavy packages that Kalen could be one of those guys or whatever.
00:42:07
Speaker
But really, don't, I'm not sure how the secondary is going to play out just because you've got, you're pretty slot heavy and you know, I know they say that Nate Hobbs can play the boundary.
00:42:24
Speaker
Okay. Maybe Carrington can play the boundary. Nixon is okay as a boundary. You figure Bo is going to be a boundary but Nate Hobbs made his money as a slot.
00:42:39
Speaker
Javon Bullard is going to play the slot. Maybe Kaylin could play the slot. Micah had decent tape from what I've seen, but he wasn't spectacular any means.
00:42:53
Speaker
I know he had a really nice coverage play yesterday, but I don't know if it was because he was playing so well or or because the sun was hitting him right in the right spot that a play wasn't made on that. But i i think just because of him being a recent draft pick keeps them on there and maybe as a special team or two.
00:43:19
Speaker
But I were going to say anything, this is, this is probably where the waiver wire is really going to hit on things.
Waiver Wire Activity Speculation
00:43:29
Speaker
They're going to see, you're going to see some names get released and it's going to be like, okay, the Packers going to pick that guy up.
00:43:36
Speaker
Yep. Yep. But I believe we have made it to 53. And then obviously that McNamee is going to be their international guy. ye ye Again, to repeat, I have Watson and Oliver on the pup to start the season. And Williams. Yeah.
00:43:57
Speaker
Yeah, because if he was on the preseason pup, then yeah, he can slot over to the – regular season pup but other than that i i no real surprises i i was trying to put this together yesterday you know i got to 39 and i was like that's basically all you're gonna need i mean the rest of the 14
Social Media Updates on Roster
00:44:23
Speaker
of them just i it was hard to pick them
00:44:28
Speaker
Yep. So when we get to Tuesday, come Tuesday, just follow our social medias, the two of us on Twitter and X, our at Ohana underscore Packers on Twitter, two of us on Blue Sky.
00:44:44
Speaker
We'll be posting our thoughts when the final roster comes out. Practice squad. Maybe not me so much because Tuesday is when I drive home, so I don't know if I should be on the phone. Please don't. Yeah.
00:44:56
Speaker
So I guess I'll be doing that. And then practice squad will be set the following day. know, that's of standard operating procedure with how these things go. know, we'll kind of just post up who we, how we did. then next week we'll have our schedule prediction episode, correct?
00:45:12
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. So that'll be the buys, quote unquote, buy. Yeah. Yep. So Packers are going to be stirring up going into Labor Day weekend and getting ready for week one against the
Importance of Winning Early Games
00:45:25
Speaker
Lions. know, we've kind of hinted at it over the course of the preseason that the Packers have to start the ground running. know, they've kind of they've kind of scuffled a little bit the last couple of years.
00:45:35
Speaker
out of the gate and they can't afford to do that. And they've got two big games off the bat against, defending, uh, playoff teams in the lions, the defending NFC North champs and the Washington commanders, were the surprise darling team, uh, last season who knocked the lions out of the playoffs. So, and that's on a short week. So green Bay has got to be ready to roll.
00:45:56
Speaker
and you know, That you don't want to say that the season is written after two weeks, but if they win those two games that can springboard them into at least an early season run that, you know, we've seen at times from this team, you know, like 2020, they got off the ground running.
00:46:15
Speaker
21, they came back and got into it. Even 2019, they got the ball rolling out of the gates and you started out 4-0 and all that kind of stuff. So we've seen this LeFleur squad start off fast, and you want to see that out of them this year. We said it for months, you this team is intending to contend this season. And The way you do that, you've got to bank some of these big game wins. And you can't go 0-4 against your two biggest division rivals, ones that matter, I should say, in terms of the playoff picture.
00:46:44
Speaker
you can't lose all the games to the top contenders in your conference. know, it's nice to go 5-0 against the AFC, but you've got to win the conference games to get that seeding set on your side of the bracket. So, Joe, any last thoughts before we put a wrap on this one?
00:47:02
Speaker
Just basically to say that this is our thoughts without adding in any kind of predictions on waiver wire claims, because obviously that's going to
Trades and Waiver Claims Predictions
00:47:13
Speaker
happen. There are going to be some waiver wire claims just because the bottom portion of the 53 is flux and the Packers always seem to bring in somebody here there that wasn't on. I mean, this is the time of year that they traded a seventh round pick for Malik Willis.
00:47:34
Speaker
And, you know, that worked out pretty good for the Packers. So, and who knows? I mean, as much as we love seeing Malik around and I'd hate to see him get traded, maybe there's a QB needy team that'll come in and say, Hey, we'll give you ah ah fourth round pick or something for Malik. And,
00:47:54
Speaker
you get that kind of offer on a seventh round, uh, what's the word for it? Uh, uh, investment,
00:48:03
Speaker
you know, what do you do? Or, you know, some of these other guys, maybe a Rasheed Walker gets traded or, or something like that. But yeah, the, everything's in flux. This is just our opinions on what we see right now.
00:48:18
Speaker
Yup. And as we noted during the episode, we are saved from all of those waiver wires because we are only talking about who makes the absolute initial 53-man roster when the clock turns to 5 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, the 26th. That's all we were projecting for. We were not forecasting for any...
00:48:40
Speaker
subsequent moves, you know, like you said, the waiver claims, the guys who get put on IR with the designation to return, like we, like I put out, there are four pretty clear options, you know, depending on if they make the roster, three of them are almost locks to be on the roster because of, you know, what they could bring to the table.
00:48:58
Speaker
but yeah, we'll, we'll see where this team is at and we'll have that all for you next week when we, we, reconvene after they make the final roster set up and really start game planning for week one but until then that's Iowa Joe I'm Mike go pack go and aloha