The Green Bay Packers officially open training camp this week (first practice on July 22), which means the football season is pretty much here to stay. The long wait of the offseason is over, and Packers fans have every reason to be brimming with optimism heading into 2024.
The Packers have another young star at the quarterback position in Jordan Love. They got him a new All-Pro running back in Josh Jacobs. They have a new-look defense led by coordinator Jeff Hafley -- Joe Barry is gone.
Again, there are plenty of reasons to be excited about this team, including what we're about to see at training camp and in preseason games. The Packers' 90-man roster is going to be extremely competitive all around with battles happening in all three phases.
Which players will make the Packers' 53-man roster this coming season?
Quarterbacks: 2 (2/53)
- Jordan Love
- Sean Clifford
After a pretty rough OTAs and minicamp, Sean Clifford is anything but a lock to make this roster. Out of all 53 players picked for this roster projection, I might be the least confident including him. He's going to have to fend off Michael Pratt throughout training camp and the preseason and Pratt has a legitimate shot at beating Clifford for the backup QB job.
Specialists: 3 (5/53)
- Anders Carlson, kicker
- Daniel Whelan, punter
- Matt Orzech, long snapper
The Packers have a decent amount of competition happening as we enter training camp among their specialists. Not only does Anders Carlson have to fight off veteran kicker Greg Joseph, but he's got to find a way to also beat out James Turner, who was recently acquired off of waivers from the Lions.
Long snapper Matt Orzech also has competition right now from undrafted rookie Peter Bowden. Ultimately, I've got the Packers sticking with the status quo here at the specialist positions, but certainly Carlson -- at the very least -- is on shaky ground.
Running Backs: 4 (9/53)
- Josh Jacobs
- MarShawn Lloyd
- AJ Dillon
- Emanuel Wilson
This is one of the position groups where the Packers could allocate an extra spot elsewhere on the roster if they so choose, but you've got to think that the team really likes all four of these guys. Josh Jacobs and MarShawn Lloyd are obviously the priorities here and aren't going anywhere, but AJ Dillon and Emanuel Wilson could be fighting for just one roster spot.
Given how team-friendly Dillon's contract is, and how solid Wilson was last year when called upon, maybe the Packers try to find a way to keep all four on the roster unless someone is willing to trade something decent for either Dillon or Wilson. We won't likely see them able to get one to the practice squad.
Wide Receivers: 6 (15/53)
- Christian Watson
- Romeo Doubs
- Jayden Reed
- Dontayvion Wicks
- Bo Melton
- Malik Heath
When you look at the Packers' roster, there may not be a position group with as much certainty as wide receiver. The Packers have one of the best young receiver rooms in the NFL right now, especially if everyone stays healthy.
From top to bottom, we legitimately saw everybody in this group contribute in meaningful ways last season. The Packers know they have something special here and there's no reason to mess with it. Unfortunately, unless the Packers keep seven or even eight guys at this position group, the quality of these six receivers could mean the end of the line in Green Bay for players like Samori Toure and Grant DuBose, two recent seventh-round picks who are extremely talented.
Tight Ends: 3 (18/53)
- Luke Musgrave
- Tucker Kraft
- Tyler Davis
The Packers are going to get second-year players Luke Musgrave and Tucker Kraft extremely involved again this coming season, but the wild card at this position group is Tyler Davis. With Josiah Deguara gone, the Packers are going to potentially be relying on Davis coming back after missing all of last season and playing a big role on special teams again.
Davis played 81 percent of the Packers' special teams snaps back in 2022, so they know he's a reliable player there. He's going to have to beat out Ben Sims, who played 97 special teams snaps last season.
Offensive Line: 9 (27/53)
- Rasheed Walker
- Elgton Jenkins
- Josh Myers
- Jordan Morgan
- Zach Tom
- Andre Dillard
- Sean Rhyan
- Jacob Monk
- Travis Glover
Around the NFL, we could see a bit of an uptick in teams keeping upwards of 10 offensive linemen on their 53-man rosters. Offensive linemen are potentially going to be involved in the new kickoff return format, but each team is going to be different.
Here for the Packers, we're rolling with nine linemen and the team moving on from Royce Newman at the position. Newman has been in Green Bay since 2021, where they selected him in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL Draft, but his role and trustworthiness have diminished to the point that the Packers simply need to move on.
We saw Green Bay add a wide variety of new faces to this offensive line group, including first-round pick Jordan Morgan and former first-round tackle Andre Dillard. They used another couple of picks on the offensive line in Jacob Monk and Travis Glover. This group, overall, has a chance to be pretty special whenever the Packers figure out their starting five.
Defensive Line: 10 (37/53)
- Rashan Gary (Edge)
- Preston Smith (Edge)
- Kenny Clark (IDL)
- Devonte Wyatt (IDL)
- Lukas Van Ness (Edge)
- Kingsley Enagbare (Edge)
- TJ Slaton (IDL)
- Karl Brooks (IDL)
- Brenton Cox Jr. (Edge)
- Colby Wooden (IDL)
I don't know that many NFL teams would choose their own defensive front over what the Green Bay Packers have right here. The Packers have outstanding top-end talent and depth across the board on their defensive front, and they've been adding to it over the last couple of years with guys who are hopefully going to play even bigger roles this coming season.
Specifically, we want to see Lukas Van Ness with an expanded role, which could come along the defensive line or off the edge. He's got the size, strength, and athletic talent to play pretty much anywhere the Packers would want to deploy him.
Unfortunately, this would mean the end of the line potentially for 2022 seventh-round pick Jonathan Ford, who is entering a pivotal offseason for his chances of possibly making an impact on this roster.
Linebackers: 5 (42/53)
- Quay Walker
- Edgerrin Cooper
- Ty'Ron Hopper
- Isaiah McDuffie
- Eric Wilson
New defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley is implementing a 4-3 base defense, which means the Packers are going to have to be fully stocked at the linebacker position. Keeping only five guys on the 53-man roster feels a little low with that in mind, especially because Kristian Welch made such a mark on special teams last year, but every area of the roster has to be considered as well.
As far as special teams are concerned, we will probably see all of Ty'Ron Hopper, Isaiah McDuffie, and Eric Wilson making an impact there this coming season. The Packers don't need to have four or five guys at linebacker who only play special teams -- they need to find a starting unit that can operate within Hafley's defense.
Cornerbacks: 6 (48/53)
- Jaire Alexander
- Eric Stokes
- Keisean Nixon
- Carrington Valentine
- Corey Ballentine
- Kalen King
One of the more concerning areas of the roster going into the 2024 offseason for the Packers was the cornerback position. Every player on this list except Kalen King started for the Packers at one point or another last season, and this list doesn't include Rasul Douglas, who was probably prematurely traded to the Buffalo Bills.
But the Packers obviously have high hopes for some of these young corners here, including Carrington Valentine, who started 12 of the 17 games he played last year and allowed under 58 percent of passes thrown into his coverage to be completed. Corey Ballentine isn't as young as Valentine (28 compared to the 22-year-old Valentine) but was outstanding last season in his opportunities as well, allowing just 56.3 percent of throws into his coverage to be completed.
Valentine and Ballentine are the two biggest reasons why the Packers probably feel good about rolling with Eric Stokes and Jaire Alexander for another year.
Safeties: 5 (53/53)
- Xavier McKinney
- Javon Bullard
- Evan Williams
- Kitan Oladapo
- Anthony Johnson Jr.
No position group on the Packers' roster was overhauled more dramatically than the safety position this offseason. The biggest move the Packers made in free agency was to sign Xavier McKinney from the Giants, a former second-round pick who upgrades that unit substantially.
They followed up that move by spending three picks in the 2024 NFL Draft on the safety position, including investing a second-rounder in Javon Bullard from Georgia. With two new starters and a couple of new depth pieces in Evan Williams and Kitan Oladapo, the Packers are in a good place here on paper, but these guys will be called upon early.
Anthony Johnson Jr. played over 300 defensive snaps last year as a seventh-round rookie and shouldn't be counted out from making this team by any means.