7 Low-Roster Players Worth Watching in Green Bay
The offseason fluctuations of the Packers’ roster are already well underway. Will most of the names popping onto our radar now make an impact in 2023? In a word: no. But it does happen, and finding guys to develop from fringe roster no-names into regular contributors and beyond is a part of successful roster building, so it’s still worth paying attention.
It’s way, way too early, and some of these guys may not even be on the roster in training camp, but here are a few low-end roster players I’m going to be keeping tabs on throughout the offseason.
Wide Receiver Bo Melton
The Packers signed Melton from Seattle’s practice squad in December, filling the roster spot vacated by Dean Lowry’s trip to injured reserve. Melton was a fairly well-regarded prospect in last spring’s pre-draft process, ranking higher on Dane Brugler’s board than Romeo Doubs, whom the Packers selected in the fourth round.
Melton is a bit of a tendency breaker for Brian Gutekunst. At 5-11 and 189 pounds, he’s much smaller than the typical trees Gutekunst likes at receiver. But he’s plenty fast and has good agility numbers, and with Amari Rodgers now in Houston and Randall Cobb hardly a sure thing for 2023, he might have a shot as a slot receiver. Considering how interested the Packers seemed to be in adding receiving talent last spring, it might be best to think of Melton as a fourth wide receiver draft pick. After all, he went just one slot behind Packers’ safety Tariq Carpenter in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Offensive Linemen Luke Tenuta, Rasheed Walker, and Caleb Jones
The Packers seem to have high hopes for all three of these guys. Jones, the massive prospect out of Indiana, was one of the surprises of last year’s camp, emerging as an undrafted free agent to make the practice squad and then earn a promotion to the active roster in September. Walker, meanwhile, was a fairly well-decorated prospect at Penn State, and Tenuta started at Virginia Tech after Yosh Nijman left for the NFL.
Nijman is a good name to keep in mind for all three of these guys, because the Packers surely are hoping to repeat his success story. I’d bet one of these three ends up being something of a contributor, given the Packers’ success in plucking useful linemen seemingly out of nowhere. All have good size and the Packers seem well-equipped to make it work with at least one.
Tight End Austin Allen
You will be surprised to hear that Austin Allen, a gigantic tight end, was one of my draft crushes last spring. A good enough athlete at his size is automatically going to be of interest to me, and given what the Packers currently have at tight end (practically nothing, given the contract situations of most of the room), I’d have to think he’ll get a pretty good shot at making something of himself.
Okay, mostly I like him because he’s very tall. But 6-8 tight ends don’t grow on trees!
Defensive Linemen Chris Slayton and Jonathan Ford
Both Slayton and Ford existed in a weird liminal space last season. While the Packers had a screaming need on the defensive line, neither could get so much as a single snap. Ford, a 2022 draft pick, managed something I don’t think I’ve ever seen before: he was inactive for every single game despite being on the roster for the whole season. The Packers, a team with near-endemic levels of problems against the run, really looked at Ford, a 6-5, 315-pound human being, and said “nope, we don’t even want to try.”
Slayton is nearly as unusual. He’s been on the active roster or practice squad for five different NFL teams, including the Packers, so there’s clearly a consensus that he belongs in the NFL at some level. But much as they did with Ford, the Packers stuck by their initial read on Slayton and left him on the practice squad all year.
The Packers are going to be in much the same situation with their defensive line next year as they were in 2022. They’ll need bodies. I can’t help but wonder if one of these guys is going to finally get an opportunity to show something — anything — in Green Bay.