Packers: Five players to watch in preseason vs. Ravens

DeShone Kizer/Tim Boyle

The importance of the backup quarterback has been highlighted in the past two years. In 2017, Aaron Rodgers missed half of the season with a broken collarbone and in 2018 a knee and concussion injury forced the backups into action. In each instance, the backups were not able to keep up the pace of the offense and the team suffered.

DeShone Kizer and Tim Boyle both got off to slow starts but picked it up and looked more comfortable the longer they were in there.

Rodgers will start, leaving limited playing time to the backups. Kizer and Boyle will have the rest of the game divided up with Manny Wilkins getting scraps, if anything at all, meaning neither will have time to start slow.

They both need to hit the ground running from the moment they enter the huddle and show the team what they got.

With some tough battles going on elsewhere on the roster, it’s possible the team only keeps two quarterbacks on the active roster with one on the practice squad. So there could only be one spot for these two players.

Kizer or Boyle need to take a stranglehold on the position and make the choice easy for the Packers.