Kyle McCord made sure the Packers had a real conversation to have heading into cutdown day.
Coming into camp, the rookie was simply trying to win a chance. After Friday’s preseason finale, he has at least forced Green Bay to think hard about whether he should be more than that. In the Packers’ 42-38 win over the Arizona Cardinals, McCord started and played the full game, and he looked every bit like a quarterback who belonged on the field.
He finished with 226 passing yards, four touchdowns, and a 119.5 passer rating. He also led the game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter, putting together the kind of finish that tends to stick in a coach’s mind.
That performance has only sharpened the dilemma facing Green Bay. Under normal circumstances, starting and playing the entire preseason finale would point to McCord not being in the running for the backup job behind Tyrod Taylor. But McCord’s night was so strong that the question is no longer simple.
He missed just 13 passes, and three of those came on his first three throws. Afterward, Matt LaFleur didn’t hide his appreciation for how McCord handled the moment.
"He did a heck of a job. He was so just poised, in his ability to operate and function," said LaFleur of McCord.
"I think he definitely has the demeanor, no doubt about it. He's in total control out there, and he's willing to stand in the pocket and deliver, in the face of pressure.
I thought he did an outstanding job."
Over the course of the preseason, McCord kept stacking good tape. Taylor, by contrast, did not. The veteran looked rough in the limited opportunities he got and also appeared to struggle at times in camp, including during the joint practice with the Cardinals last week.
That leaves the Packers with a tricky call. Teams usually carry two quarterbacks into the regular season and stash a third on the practice squad. But McCord has played well enough that Green Bay may not be able to assume he’d clear waivers if they tried to slip him through.
That’s what makes this decision so uncomfortable. McCord has done enough to look like a legitimate option for QB2, yet the Packers may still choose to keep Taylor behind Jordan Love and hope they can manage McCord’s roster status another way.
Now it comes down to how much Green Bay trusts McCord - and how much it trusts Taylor - when the final decision is made.
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 Face Three Tough Roster Calls As Cutdown Day Nears
With roster cutdown day arriving Aug. 30, the Packers are getting close to the part of camp where every snap carries extra weight. Green Bay has to trim from 90 players to 53, and that means a few bubble players are running out of time to make a late push or find a clearer path into the picture.
Darian Kinnard, Drake Dabney and Domani Jackson all appear to be on shaky ground based on how they have looked in preseason and where they sit on the depth chart. The evaluations so far have left each of them fighting an uphill battle, even as the Packers sort through the bigger roster puzzle and determine which fringe players are worth carrying into the regular season. [Read more 🡒]