Packers: Reviewing the roster midway through preseason

Special teams

As always, special teams is never anything people rave to talk about when speaking about their favorite team, unless their kicker misses a game-winning field goal, then special teams is the only thing they talk about.

This season brings a nice shakeup with the special teams personnel. A new long snapper and a new punter will be starting this year, unless the Packers follow along with their trend of trying a new long snapper out, just to sign Brett Goode at the beginning of the regular season. Seeing as the Packers actually spent a seventh-round pick on a long snapper, Hunter Bradley out of Mississippi State, in the 2018 draft, I’m going to assume the Goode reign is over.

The change at punter has actually been one of the highlights of camp so far this preseason. Many fans were confused, even angry, that the Packers spent a fifth-round pick in the 2018 draft on a punter, J.K. Scott out of Alabama. Many thought the Packers were set for the foreseeable future at punter with Justin Vogel, who set the Packers’ single season record for net-punting average and was named a Pro Bowl alternate.

So far, Scott has wowed coaches and fans alike. He has shown to have great distance on his punts, as well as superb hang time. His hang time makes it difficult for returners to have a stab at actually returning his punts before Packers gunners get to them.

The impressive distance of his punts could be huge in the field position battle. He will create longer drives for opposing offenses, and he will be able to flip the field when the Packers are pinned back deep into their own territory. These are the reasons why Scott was chosen with a fifth-round pick, and this is also the reason why us fans are not GMs.

What seems to be the only question mark on special teams is who the Packers will have as their starting kick and punt returner. They have tried out multiple players, but Quinten Rollins and Marquez Valdes-Scantling have been given the most opportunities.

The most impressive return of this preseason was handled by rookie Josh Jackson on his only opportunity, which he returned 41 yards. With Rollins on the roster bubble and Valdes-Scantling’s 4.37 40-speed, I would be willing to bet the latter is who starts the season as the returner.

The one constant on special teams remains to be Mason Crosby kicking the field goals. Crosby is going into his 12th season with the Packers and is showing no signs of slowing down. In the second preseason game, against the Steelers, Crosby nailed field goals of 53 yards and 50 yards. The Packers’ all-time leading scorer looks ready to go for his 12th NFL season.