Alright, here’s my final stab at the Green Bay Packers’ 53-man roster before Sunday’s cutdowns. As a reminder, this prediction is mostly based on the work I’ve done on the Packers’ depth chart, and there weren’t huge changes to the pecking order in Green Bay’s preseason finale — where 37 players sat against the Arizona Cardinals.
My guess is that it’s going to be pretty chalky when you look around at 53-man projections this year, barring a suspension, last-minute trade or something injury-related that was unforeseen. For the most part, there aren’t many debates on the roster.
Quarterback- Jordan Love
- Tyrod Taylor
This one is pretty easy, since both Jordan Love and Tyrod Taylor sat on Friday night, while Kyle McCord played every snap of offense. I’m assuming that McCord will be re-signed to the practice squad, and if there’s anyone who displaces Taylor, it will come from an outside addition. The Packers never really seemed to have any interest in letting McCord battle for the #2 job this summer.
Running Back- Josh Jacobs
- MarShawn Lloyd
- Chris Brooks
This is another pretty easy one, unless Josh Jacobs gets suspended by the NFL. As of now, head coach Matt LaFleur has stated that he “fully anticipate(s)” Jacobs to be on the team this year, despite his recent charges of battery and criminal damage to property. If Jacobs is suspended by the league before the cutdown deadline, he will be on the reserve/suspended list and not take up a space on Green Bay’s 53-man roster.
If Jacobs is suspended, Pierre Strong Jr. — who, unlike MarShawn Lloyd and Chris Brooks, had to suit up in the preseason finale — would be the next man up. Considering the Packers’ circumstances, I wouldn’t be surprised if Strong and undrafted rookie Jaden Nixon both make the initial practice squad.
Receiver- Christian Watson
- Matthew Golden
- Jayden Reed
- Savion Williams
- Bo Melton
- Skyy Moore
- J. Michael Sturdivant
The Packers’ starters at receiver are Christian Watson (Z), Matthew Golden (X) and Jayden Reed (slot), with Savion Williams (Z), Bo Melton (X) and Skyy Moore (slot) being their direct backups. Five of those six receivers sat out all of the preseason finale, with Melton playing three snaps of offense (presumably so he could match up against his brother, Max, who plays for the Cardinals).
J. Michael Sturdivant was already ahead of Isaiah Neyor, in terms of what the team asked the two to do on special teams, but Week 3 of the preseason also featured Sturdivant going for 112 yards in the air — putting him over Neyor in both aspects of the position. According to Sports Illustrated’s Bill Huber, Sturdivant’s yardage was the most of any Packers receiver in a preseason game since 2011. The undrafted rookie streak will continue for another year!
Tight End- Tucker Kraft
- Jonnu Smith
- Josh Whyle
With the addition of Jonnu Smith and the resting of Josh Whyle on Friday, it seems pretty clear that this is the direction that the Packers are going in. Green Bay will keep Luke Musgrave (neck) on the PUP list until he’s ready to return.
Offensive Line- Zach Bako-Bewele (RT)
- Sean Rhyan (C)
- Jordan Morgan (LT)
- Aaron Banks (LG)
- Jacob Monk (C/C)
- Jager Burton (G/C)
- Anthony Belton (T/G)
- Donovan Jennings (G/C)
- John Williams (T)
I’m dropping an offensive lineman here, since I only had two tight ends making the team in our last prediction. The guy not making the cut is tackle Darian Kinnard, who was working with the third-string offensive line in the preseason finale after he was the team’s sixth offensive lineman in the second half of the 2025 season. Yes, it truly does feel like Kinnard has been passed up by the likes of Jacob Monk, Donovan Jennings and John Williams (as well as rookie fifth-round pick Jager Burton). No returning player has sunk on the depth chart this summer as much as Kinnard.
Defensive Line- Devonte Wyatt
- Karl Brooks
- Javon Hargrave
- Warren Brinson
- Chris McClellan
- Jonathan Ford
Jonathan Ford had a visit to the blue tent on Friday for a knee injury, but he was able to jog off the field, so I’m assuming that he’s not significantly injured. Ford has been starting as the team’s true 3-4 nose tackle, which the Packers should play about one-third of the time this year. Anthony Campbell is another option here, too, but Ford having such a defined role for the team makes me think they move in that direction, and it’s going to be very hard for the team to keep seven interior defensive linemen from a numbers perspective. Jordon Riley will also start the year on the PUP list.
Edge Defender- Lukas Van Ness
- Barryn Sorrell
- Brenton Cox Jr.
- Collin Oliver
- Dani Dennis-Sutton
Until the final preseason game, when Dani Dennis-Sutton made his NFL debut, this was a pretty clear 1-2-3-4 pecking order. I bet that Dennis-Sutton probably slides in over Collin Oliver (and potentially Brenton Cox Jr.) eventually in 2026, but I’m not sure how quickly that will happen — considering Dennis-Sutton missed two preseason games as a rookie.
Micah Parsons will be on the PUP list. Whenever Parsons comes back, the team will have a logjam at the position, which will probably result in the team moving on from one of Cox or Oliver, unless injuries free up roster spots.
Off-Ball Linebacker- Zaire Franklin
- Edgerrin Cooper
- Isaiah McDuffie
- Ty’Ron Hopper
- Nick Niemann
This is just the 2025 linebacker unit with Zaire Franklin playing the Mike position instead of Quay Walker. You can go ahead and lock this one in.
Cornerback- Keisean Nixon
- Carrington Valentine
- Brandon Cisse
- Benjamin St-Juste
- Domani Jackson
Domani Jackson made my 53-man roster projection, but he’s functionally the last spot on the roster to me. The four other cornerbacks ahead of him were all held out of action in the preseason finale, unlike Jackson. Jackson had a tough go of it in the preseason after missing the opener as he recovered from an offseason surgery to his core.
This is a lazy pick, but he’s a rookie draft pick who just got healthy. I’m not sure if the team is just going to risk him passing through waivers after investing time, effort and one of their very few draft picks in 2026 into Jackson. In the past, general manager Brian Gutekunst has held onto draft picks that we didn’t expect. I could see the team holding onto Jackson to essentially redshirt him this year, as only 48 of 53 players (plus two practice squad call-ups per week) are allowed to suit up on gamedays.
Safety- Xavier McKinney
- Evan Williams
- Javon Bullard
- Kitan Oladapo
- Kamal Hadden
Kamal Hadden taking over as the next man up at the slot position behind Javon Bullard really solidified him on the roster to me. In the past, Hadden has had a problem staying on the game-day roster because he’s a defensive back who didn’t perform too well on special teams, but now that the team is a little thinner at the slot position, it makes all of the sense in the world for Hadden to be a full-time game-day active.
An interesting quirk to the whole Kitan Oladapo-Kamal Hadden situation is that Oladapo is the next safety up, but Hadden is playing the “three safety” role ahead of Oladapo, as the third safety is really just the slot defender in the Packers’ Penny packages. Again, this doesn’t really matter in Week 1, as long as Javon Bullard recovers from his foot bone bruise.
Weird example, but something to keep in mind: If Bullard went down, I wouldn’t expect Oladapo to come off the bench to play the slot. That would be Hadden. But if Xavier McKinney or Evan Williams got hurt, I would expect Oladapo to come off the bench to play safety, allowing Bullard, who would play safety in base 3-4 looks, the freedom to kick into the slot.
Hadden got zero snaps at outside cornerback or true safety in the preseason, as he was pushed into the slot after a late start to camp, so I’m just going to lump in the slot defenders with the safeties here. On Packers.com, Hadden will be listed as a cornerback, but that’s not really the full story.
Kicker- Trey Smack
Trey Smack is the only kicker on the roster, and he was perfect in preseason games this year. Fin.
Punter- Daniel Whelan
Daniel Whelan is the only punter on the roster, and we’re gonna get him All-Pro this year.
Long Snapper- Cal Adomitis
With Matt Orzech still not activated from the PUP list after the staff stated he had a short-term calf injury at the start of camp, this gig is going to Cal Adomitis. Maybe the team will cut Adomitis on Sunday to free up a temporary roster spot, but I fully expect Adomitis to be the team’s long snapper by the time they start real games in two weeks.
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