The Packers are staring down the hardest part of the calendar, and for a few players, the clock may already be running out.
By 5 p.m. CT on August 30, Green Bay has to slash its roster from 90 players to 53, and that means the final decisions fall on the edge cases - the guys hanging onto hope by a thread.
Most of the group is already set. The real drama lives in the last few spots, where one bad week can sink a summer’s worth of work.
Darian Kinnard looks like one of those players who has lost ground at exactly the wrong time. He started four games for the Packers last season as the main backup behind tackles Rasheed Waker and Zach Bako-Bewele, but this summer he has slid down the depth chart.
The fact that he was still on the field deep into Friday night’s preseason finale says plenty about where he stands. That’s the kind of usage reserved for players on the bubble, not players with secure jobs.
Anthony Belton is projected as the swing tackle, and second-year John Williams may have climbed past Kinnard as well. Against the Arizona Cardinals, Kinnard made matters worse by allowing a sack and a pressure, according to Pro Football Focus, and he finished with a team-low pass-block grade of 29.2. With Jordan Morgan and Bako-Bewele set to start at tackle and Belton and Williams likely next in line, the path back for Kinnard looks awfully narrow.
At tight end, Drake Dabney had a window open for a while. Injuries thinned out the room this summer and pushed him into the TE3 conversation.
But then the Packers signed former Pro Bowler Jonnu Smith, and that changes everything. Smith now slots in behind Tucker Kraft, who is back to 100 percent and ready for a full-time role after recovering from a torn ACL.
Josh Whyle has also put together a strong summer and appears set to take over the TE3 job, which leaves Dabney fighting for air.
He didn’t give the staff much reason to keep him in the finale, either. Dabney caught one pass for four yards and had trouble in pass protection, allowing a QB hit and a pressure on only four pass-block snaps, per PFF.
Domani Jackson is in a different kind of squeeze. The Packers don’t often move on from draft picks this quickly, but a year on the practice squad may be the best outcome for the sixth-round rookie.
He was already behind after missing time because of a core muscle injury that required offseason surgery, and his preseason finale against Arizona was rough from start to finish. Jackson gave up five catches, including a 41-yard touchdown, and missed two tackles.
The cornerback room isn’t exactly short on bodies, either. Second-round rookie Brandon Cisse is already starting next to Keisean Nixon, and Green Bay also has Carrington Valentine and Benjamin St-Juste in the mix. That leaves Jackson with a steep climb and very little room to make up ground before cutdown day hits.
In Other News...
Packers Bubble Battle Just Got Much Harder To Call
The Packers wrapped up the preseason with a 42-38 win over the Arizona Cardinals, and even with a lot of their top players sitting out, there were still plenty of roster decisions to chew on. Backup quarterback Kyle McCord made a strong case for himself in the finale, throwing for 226 yards and four touchdowns, while rookie defensive player Dani Dennis-Sutton notched a sack in his NFL debut and kicker Trey Smack handled his chances cleanly with two field goals and four extra points.
Green Bays reserve defense, though, gave up plenty of yardage and left a few fringe players with uneven tape at the worst possible time, which is exactly why the bubble is tougher to read now than it was a week ago. A final preseason game is supposed to help sort out the edges of the roster, but for the Packers, it may have only made a few of those decisions more complicated. [Read more 🡒]
Packers Just Got A Tougher Final Receiver Decision Than Expected
Several lower-end Packers wide receivers made a late push in the third preseason game, giving the front office more to weigh as roster cuts approach. J. Michael Sturdivant stood out most on the box score, finishing with six catches for 112 yards and a touchdown, while Isaiah Neyor, Will Sheppard and Kisean Johnson also found ways to help their cases with scoring plays and special teams work.
Still, the problem in Green Bay is simple: there are only so many wide receiver spots to go around. The competition has made the back end of the depth chart a lot less clear than it looked going in, and performances like these only sharpen the question of which receivers have done enough to survive the final trim to 53. [Read more 🡒]
Packers Final Roster Calls Are About To Spark Real Debate
The Packers wrapped up the preseason at 2-1, with wins over the Broncos and Cardinals and a loss to the Steelers, and now the real work begins. With the NFLs roster deadline set for 5 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 30, Green Bay is moving from exhibition evaluations to the hard part: trimming the roster to 53 players and deciding which performances actually carried over into the summer.
Beat reporter Ryan Wood has already put together his projections by position, and that is where the conversation gets interesting for Packers fans. The preseason may be over, but the debate around the back end of the roster is only getting louder, with several final decisions still hanging in the balance as the deadline approaches. [Read more 🡒]