Green Bay Packers’ 53-man roster prediction

Defensive Line

* = starter; + = roster spot; ~ = suspended

* Mike Daniels
+ Datone Jones
* Letroy Guion
Christian Ringo
~ Mike Pennel
+ Dean Lowry
* Kenny Clark
+ Brian Price
Travis Kuder

This spot saw a major name leave in B.J. Raji, but they may be able to improve a good deal despite the lack of name recognition.

Daniels, he of the massive extension last December, is one of the best linemen in the league; his abilities and production put him right under the likes of incredible talents like J.J. Watt and Aaron Donald, despite receiving only a smidgen of their spotlight. He’s a foundational talent who never stops hustling, and would be the unequivocal face of the defense if a golden-haired lion didn’t roam the defensive backfield.

Past Daniels the names aren’t sexy, but they are useful pieces. Guion is a player nobody thinks of when building a team in Madden, but his versatility and abilities make him a guy you can put at any spot on a line and he will do what is needed whether it be eating up blocks or penetrating into the backfield.

Pennel would be a good option to start with them, but his suspension prevents him from being an option until Week 5. If the back injury affecting Clark heals up in short order, he would be the likely option to start at the nose tackle spot, with Guion taking the end spot opposite Daniels.

Should Clark take longer than hoped to recover, another option I’ve seen tossed around would revolve around Guion manning the nose (the spot he’s probably best at) while somebody like Lowry handles the non-Daniels end spot.

Jones hasn’t been what the team hoped for when they drafted him in the first round a few years ago, but the team have a role they can use him in: the Elephant end. This role has been used for players like Julius Peppers and Nick Perry before, putting a big LB in a pass rushing situation with his hand on the ground; this lets them put their combination of speed and power to use in a way they normally might not get to, providing a possible advantage against slower linemen and mixing things up.

To round things out, Price could find himself grabbing one of the last open spots due to not just his own play but the circumstances around him. The suspension of Pennel means the team needs to keep an extra guy who normally may not make it. Between Price and someone like Ringo, the former has seemed to be the one the coaches prefer as of now; it was definitely a good sign for him that he was called on before Ringo in the most recent preseason game. What also helps is one of the players listed here (Jones) likely will continue to see time on both the DL and at OLB. One more thing that helps: he’s an undrafted free agent; the Packers routinely keep a couple of the undrafted players they bring in, and he is a strong candidate to be another success story in that area for this team.