The Green Bay Packers finished the preseason on Friday night at Lambeau Field, and now attention turns to finishing the initial 53-man roster before Sunday afternoon's cutdown. Strong performances during training camp and the preseason will create some difficult choices for Brian Gutekunst and Matt LaFleur in creating the initial roster, which is due by 5:00 p.m. CT on Sunday.
Toughest decisions awaiting the Packers on their path to 53 players:
Matt LaFleur wasn't able to confirm the injury timelines for defensive tackle Warren Brinson, receiver Savion Williams or edge rusher Collin Oliver, who were all injured within the last week and could be candidates to start the season on injured reserve. The roster math changes pretty quick if any of those three miss the start of the season. Any player placed on IR to start the season has to miss at least the first four games.
To his credit, Kyle McCord turned this into a legitimate question over three excellent preseason games. Tyrod Taylor is going to be the backup behind Jordan Love, but are the Packers willing to risk McCord to waivers? He looks like the right long-term developmental option, and teams don't like risking good quarterbacks. But keeping three quarterbacks would be a roster luxury for a team with a settled situation at the top.
J. Michael Sturdivant and Will Sheppard both made terrific final arguments on Friday night, and Isaiah Neyor was one dropped touchdown pass away from doing the same. The battle between these three has been raging all summer, and now the Packers must decide: Is there room on the roster for a seventh receiver? It's possible one of the three makes it comfortably if Savion Williams goes on IR. The Packers have all the boxes checked with their top six receivers, but Sturdivant and Sheppard can both play a role on special teams. Sturdivant might be too good to risk, especially after prioritizing him as a free agent following the draft and his 112-yard performance on Friday night.
#packers #roster #Friday #sunday
Toughest decisions awaiting the Packers on their path to 53 players:
Matt LaFleur wasn't able to confirm the injury timelines for defensive tackle Warren Brinson, receiver Savion Williams or edge rusher Collin Oliver, who were all injured within the last week and could be candidates to start the season on injured reserve. The roster math changes pretty quick if any of those three miss the start of the season. Any player placed on IR to start the season has to miss at least the first four games.
To his credit, Kyle McCord turned this into a legitimate question over three excellent preseason games. Tyrod Taylor is going to be the backup behind Jordan Love, but are the Packers willing to risk McCord to waivers? He looks like the right long-term developmental option, and teams don't like risking good quarterbacks. But keeping three quarterbacks would be a roster luxury for a team with a settled situation at the top.
J. Michael Sturdivant and Will Sheppard both made terrific final arguments on Friday night, and Isaiah Neyor was one dropped touchdown pass away from doing the same. The battle between these three has been raging all summer, and now the Packers must decide: Is there room on the roster for a seventh receiver? It's possible one of the three makes it comfortably if Savion Williams goes on IR. The Packers have all the boxes checked with their top six receivers, but Sturdivant and Sheppard can both play a role on special teams. Sturdivant might be too good to risk, especially after prioritizing him as a free agent following the draft and his 112-yard performance on Friday night.
#packers #roster #Friday #sunday
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