Eight or more Green Bay rookies will make it through the team’s final cuts, but just how many more is the question.
It’s July. The news cycle is slow. That’s a good thing for the Green Bay Packers, as pre-training camp news generally involves NFL players falling into some sort of controversy or legal issue.
So instead of blowing quarterback rankings or way-too-early season predictions out of proportion, let’s dive into the Packers’ new rookie class since we have a little time to breathe. Ultimately, we want to answer this question: Just how many of them are going to make Green Bay’s 53-man roster in September?
We’ll go draft pick-by-draft pick, after touching on the obvious roster locks, and explain where these players sit on the team’s current depth chart, who they are competing for roster spots with — both in and out of their position groups — and hopefully come to some sort of a consensus. Remember, vote in our poll so your voice is heard!
Early Draft Choices
- 1st: Jordan Morgan, OL
- 2nd: Edgerrin Cooper, LB
- 2nd: Javon Bullard, SAF
- 3rd: MarShawn Lloyd, RB
- 3rd: Ty’Ron Hopper, LB
- 4th: Evan Williams, SAF
Very rarely do players who were drafted in the first four rounds of a draft fail to make the roster as rookies. The only example of an early-rounder in this situation that comes to mind is Lynn Bowden, a quarterback-turned-tailback-turned-receiver who was drafted in the third round of the 2020 draft and was traded to the Miami Dolphins for a fourth-round pick after his rookie preseason.
With that in mind, let’s look at players who are actually on the roster bubble, instead of wasting time on players who were picked in the top four rounds.
5th: Jacob Monk, OL
Due to his smaller size (6’3”, 308) for an NFL offensive lineman, most are expecting former do-everything Duke lineman Jacob Monk to fit in with the Packers primarily as a center. Right now, the only true center on the team is Josh Myers, the returning starter at the position.
While Elgton Jenkins and Zach Tom can both snap, the assumption is that they’ll be filling in elsewhere on the offensive line, though, it’s been difficult to judge whether Tom, specifically, will be pushing Myers for the center job, as Tom has been missing for most of the media-open practices this offseason due to a pec injury. Monk will likely make the roster, unless one of Jenkins or Tom ends up as the number one center, pushing Myers to a backup role.
5th: Kitan Oladapo, SAF
The first player truly on the roster bubble in the Packers’ rookie draft class is former Oregon State safety Kitan Oladapo, who is currently nursing a foot injury that required surgery during the pre-draft process. So far, Oladapo hasn’t been able to participate in practices in Green Bay, which is giving fourth-round pick Evan Williams an edge at the position so far.
Oladapo is expected to return to the team by training camp, but we’ve heard little about his status in recent weeks. What was noticed, though, was that he was on crutches and in a walking boot early on in the offseason. Oladapo fits the mold of a true box safety, something the Packers are lacking and that Jeff Hafley’s defense could command. Hafley wants to play a lot of single-high coverages, which involve a box safety, but the plan right now is to play the team’s starting safeties in interchangeable roles. If the team ever wants to commit to one player being a true middle-of-the-field safety, though, Oladapo — if healthy — would be a candidate to pair with a ballhawk.
6th: Travis Glover, OL
Georgia State tackle Travis Glover is a hulking offensive lineman at 6’6” and 317 pounds, but he’s also a raw player, which is why he was still around to draft with the 202nd selection of the 2024 draft. So far, Glover has been seeing playing time with the second-team and third-team offensive lines in Green Bay, which isn’t a great sign when Tom has been out of the lineup at tackle — the only position Glover can realistically play at his size.
Aside from Tom, Jenkins returning starting left tackle Rasheed Walker and first-round pick Jordan Morgan — all of who could play tackle for the team — the Packers went out of their way to add veteran tackle Andre Dillard, who has seen first-team reps in OTAs and minicamp, via free agency. Green Bay also has been stashing offensive tackles Caleb Jones and Luke Tenuta at the tackle position for multiple seasons on the squad’s 53-man roster and returns 2023 practice squadder Kadeem Telfort.
Because of all of these factors, Glover seems like the most likely draft pick to be stashed on the Packers’ practice squad for a season.
7th: Michael Pratt, QB
Going into offseason practices, most fans were split on whether or not Sean Clifford or Michael Pratt were going to win the Packers’ backup quarterback job. Due to the NFL’s new kickoff rules, which teams will almost want personnel flexibility for, and the Packers’ overall depth, it seems unlikely that the squad will end up rostering three quarterbacks on the club’s 53-man roster come September.
Now, though, fans are clamoring for Pratt to beat out Clifford, as Clifford threw three interceptions to one single defender in one of Green Bay’s practices this spring. We’ll see if Clifford continues to lose momentum when the full pads come on in training camp, but he hasn’t been helping himself with his practice performance this offseason.
7th: Kalen King, CB
The final draft choice the Packers made in April was selecting former Penn State cornerback Kalen King, who was an All-American in 2022 before experiencing a down season in his final year in college football. King has an uphill battle to make the roster, but he does have an opportunity, even without injuries.
Jaire Alexander, Eric Stokes, Carrington Valentine and Keisean Nixon are viewed as locks to make the team. Both Alexander and Stokes were “starting” in OTAs, while Valentine worked with the first-team defense on a rotational basis and Nixon was the squad’s starting slot. Behind those players are Corey Ballentine and Robert Rochell, who both contributed on special teams last year. Ballentine was also the team’s emergency outside cornerback in 2023, playing 488 snaps over 14 games and making six starts.
King would almost certainly have to displace Ballentine, considering that the team is so deep at both receiver and safety — two positions that fill similar roles to cornerbacks on special teams.
Undrafted Rookies
- Jarveon Howard, RB
- Messiah Swinson, TE
- Donovan Jennings, OL
- James Ester, DL
- Ralen Goforth, LB
- Peter Bowden, LS
- Dimitri Stanley, WR (signed after rookie minicamp)
- Julian Hicks, WR (signed after rookie minicamp)
- James Turner, K (waivers)
At the moment, the Packers have nine undrafted rookies on their roster. Two of them, Dimitri Stanley and Julian Hicks, are receivers who were signed after successful auditions as rookie minicamp tryouts. Another, kicker James Turner, was recently picked up off of waivers via the Detroit Lions.
If you want to know how quick the turnover is for rookies on the bottom of the Packers’ roster, one of the eight players Green Bay signed immediately following the draft (Michigan offensive lineman Trente Jones) has already retired while another (Ohio defensive lineman Rodney Matthews) has been released.
The three biggest names to keep an eye on here are running back Jarveon Howard, who impressed some this spring before an injury sidelined him, offensive lineman Donovan Jennings, who very well could make the team over draft pick Travis Glover, and long snapper Peter Bowden, who like Jennings was given a decent signing bonus by the Packers — on the relative scale of undrafted rookies.
So how many rookies do you think make the team? If everything breaks wrong for this class, I think the minimum number is either seven or eight rookies. Still, the team did make 11 draft choices in 2024, and general manager Brian Gutekunst seems to hate to release his former draft picks, especially in their first season.
Vote in our poll below and drop a line on your thoughts on the subject in the comment section.
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