Green Bay Packers Week 3: The battle on the depth chart
By Josh McPeak
DuJuan Harris locked himself into a roster spot in the talented backfield of the Green Bay Packers on Friday night.
His 12 carries for 52 yards along with 2 receptions for 42 yards was one of the biggest highlights of the night. Harris could easily push James Starks for the bulk of the carries behind the bruiser Eddie Lacy.
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Richard Rodgers is making a strong case to be considered for the starting tight end. Regardless if Rodgers is named the starter he will definitely be a viable weapon for Aaron Rodgers.
In my opinion Scott Tolzien has played his way into the number two quarterback spot. His 107 yards on 8-for-11 passing and 1 touchdown bodes very well for his case. Matt Flynn was 4-of-10 passing with 1 interception and only 37 yards.
The biggest disappointment so far is the slow start of second-round pick Davante Adams. Adams was targeted three times on Friday night and was unable to haul in any of the three. Coupled with his inability to field punts in the monsoon at Nashville, his spot on the wide receiver depth chart could be tumbling.
Julius Peppers appears to be catching on quickly while sporting the green and gold. Peppers was able to brown bag Matt Schaub while two of his three additional tackles went for a loss.
The undrafted free agent Jay Elliott continues his pursuit of making the 53-man squad. Elliott had yet another sack to go along with a quarterback hit and even defended one pass. He is quickly becoming a fan favorite this preseason.
Davon House
Coming into his fourth season Davon House has a lot to prove. House looked very solid against the Raiders on Friday night providing good coverage in the secondary. Racking up five tackles while getting credit for three defended passes.
There was even a reported sighting of Nick Perry. Perry was able to break through and record one sack during the game. With Perry it feels like the talent and explosiveness is there for him to be a huge impact and playmaker for the Packers. His main job will be staying on the field, however.
Seventh-round-pick Jeff Janis had a quiet game following his performance against St. Louis the week before. I was hoping to see Janis plugged into the role of the punt returner but that appears less and less likely to be an option.
Preseason is very hard to judge but one thing is for sure. Packers fans have plenty to be excited about. The first-team offensive unit looks to be on-point. Sixty minutes is a long time for any defensive unit to keep up with an up-tempo no-huddle squad led by Aaron Rodgers.
On another note it was good to see long time Packer James Jones back at Lambeau. Jones had 4 catches for 36 yards and was targeted a game-high 10 times. It appears that Jones is the favorite target of the Raiders receiving-corps early on.