A lot of focus has been put on the Green Bay Packers’ 53-man roster recently, and I don’t blame people for looking at it — since we just had roster cutdowns. To me, though, there are really three different versions of the roster:
- There’s the 48-man gameday roster, which is how many players can play in an actual game, including practice squad call-ups (a call-up from the practice squad just means that the team needs to make another scratch from the 53-man roster).
- The 53-man roster, which I’m sure you’re all familiar with.
- The 70-man roster, which includes the 17-man practice squad (currently, the Packers have signed 14 players to their practice squad.)
Today, I want to talk about the 48-man game-day roster. A lot was made about who the Packers would or wouldn’t be subject to waivers, which is the real conversation with the 53-man roster, but I sort of want to dive deeper into who will actually suit up for Green Bay in Week 1 against the Minnesota Vikings.
Let’s take it position by position, and I’ll give my ruling on whether I think the players will have shoulder pads on for the game (and the reasoning why).
Quarterback- Jordan Love
- Tyrod Taylor
This is simple. The team needs two quarterbacks.
Guess: All are active.
Running Back- MarShawn Lloyd
- Chris Brooks
- Kaleb Johnson
There’s a small chance that the Packers end up making Kaleb Johnson a healthy scratch to start, as he just got to Green Bay, but his experience at Iowa in a similar running game under former Packers analyst Tim Lester should mean that he can probably hit the ground running. If they scratch him, it would be to call up Pierre Strong Jr., who has been with the team for nearly a full year now, from the practice squad while Johnson gets more comfortable with the playbook.
Guess: Three are active, be it Johnson or Strong on a call-up.
Receiver- Christian Watson
- Matthew Golden
- Jayden Reed
- Bo Melton
- Skyy Moore
- J. Michael Sturdivant
The Packers have been extremely rigid at the receiver position this summer, with Savion Williams, Bo Melton and Skyy Moore being the direct replacements for Christian Watson, Matthew Golden and Jayden Reed, respectively. If it matters to you, Watson is the Z, Golden is the X and Reed is the slot (backups play the same roles), but Green Bay has the verbiage to move these players around all over the field. It’s less about an area of the field that a player is going to line up at, in terms of the starters being matched to the backups, and more about similar body types filling these roles.
What would make it really hard for the Packers to scratch any of these receivers is their contributions on special teams. I do not doubt that a Melton could play the slot role, if asked (he’s done it in years prior), but backup slot receiver Skyy Moore is probably in line to be the team’s number one punt returner and one of the two kick returners (especially since Williams is starting the year off on the IR-designated to return list with a high ankle sprain).
Meanwhile, Melton is a key special teams contributor (he played 185 special teams snaps in 2025, and only one other offensive player — running back Chris Brooks — played more special teams snaps than the offensive linemen, who ranked 19th on the team in special teams snaps as contributors to only the field goal protection unit. Melton is a gunner on punts and a jammer on punt returns, probably the most premium positions on special teams other than the returners and specialists.
Undrafted rookie J. Michael Sturdivant is not only set to be Watson’s backup while Williams is out, but he also plays similar roles to Williams on special teams, which I’m sure helped his case for making the 53-man roster. He got some work as a gunner (not likely to start in the regular season), lead blocker on punt return (GB plays with a single guy who roams around like a linebacker at times and that role was filled by both Williams and Sturdivant, Sturdivant might start there) and as a lead blocker on kick return (Melton also plays this role).
Honestly, with the way this room shakes out, I think if someone is inactive, it’s going to be Moore, as he’s a true backup slot receiver (a role the Packers have not consistently rostered), and the team may have other options in the return game. With that being said, I still think when push comes to shove, all six are active against the Vikings.
Guess: All are active, but if one isn’t, it’s probably Moore.
Tight End- Tucker Kraft
- Jonnu Smith
- Mark Redman
- Josh Whyle
We’re only through three positions right now, but I’m setting up an outline for a roster pinch. It will make more sense down the line, but from a numbers perspective, I don’t think that the Packers can keep four tight ends on game days right now. It doesn’t help that the team only has four players at the edge defender position, a similar body type on special teams, and they don’t let the starting off-ball linebackers contribute on teams, the other “mid skill” position type.
When push comes to shove, I think the team is going to need to sit one of Jonnu Smith (new, learning playbook) or Josh Whyle, because they sort of share the same skillset of being move tight ends who don’t contribute much on special teams. Meanwhile, Mark Redman is a true Y, an inline tight end, who might be able to help as a blocker on teams. He hasn’t played in a regular-season game yet in his career, so we’re TBD on the special teams front.
Guess: A move tight end is inactive, either Jonnu Smith or Josh Whyle.
Offensive Line- Zach Bako-Bewele
- Jordan Morgan
- Sean Rhyan
- Aaron Banks
- Jacob Monk
- Jager Burton
- Anthony Belton
- John Williams
- Donovan Jennings
- Travis Glover
The NFL rules state that you actually only get 47 players available on gamedays, but there’s an exemption for a 48th if you carry at least eight offensive linemen. In practice, this functions as a 48-man roster, since teams don’t turn down the extra roster spot.
The team will probably have to keep just eight active on gamedays, but who those eight are is tough to project right now. We think Zach Bako-Bewele and Aaron Banks will be ready to go for Week 1, but we aren’t 100 percent sure.
In an ideal world, I believe the Packers think their healthy starting offensive line is Jordan Morgan, Banks, Sean Rhyan, Jacob Monk and Bako-Bewele (left to right). Maybe Jager Burton will rotate in with Banks at left guard, as head coach Matt LaFleur hasn’t been scared to do a guard rotation in years past. In this scenario, the three guys off the bench to make up the eight-man unit on gamedays would probably be Burton (guard/center), Anthony Belton (tackle/guard) and John Williams (tackle/guard/center) with Donovan Jennings (guard/“center”) and Travis Glover (tackle/guard) inactive.
Obviously, though, if Banks and Bako-Bewele aren’t good to go, we’ll end up with a starting line of Morgan, Burton, Rhyan, Monk and Belton to start the year with Williams, Jennings and Glover coming off the bench.
Guess: The Packers will almost certainly only keep eight offensive linemen on gamedays.
Defensive Line- Devonte Wyatt
- Karl Brooks
- Javon Hargrave
- Warren Brinson
- Chris McClellan
- Jonathan Ford
- Anthony Campbell
The Packers have a huge defensive lineman number right now, and I fully expect them to keep just six on the gameday roster. I expect the team to play about one-third of their snaps in their base 3-4 defense, as that’s the usual rate of facing multiple tight end or back looks in the NFL right now, and the team seems to be fine with matching offensive personnel with defensive personnel (basically the number of receivers match the number of corners on the field, if you include the slot defender).
With that being said, there will probably be an uptick in snaps with three defensive linemen on the field, something general manager Brian Gutekunst mentioned on Tuesday. Gutekunst didn’t explain his reasoning, but I bet he’s thinking about the Packers’ three-safety Penny package, where the team essentially plays a 3-4 front on the line of scrimmage but takes off a non-interior lineman to bring on an extra defensive back.
Currently, Warren Brinson is dealing with a calf injury that stems from the pre-game workout in Week 2 of the preseason. If he can’t go, he would obviously be the guy ruled out. If he can go, I think the healthy scratch will be Anthony Campbell, as Jonathan Ford plays a true 3-4 nose tackle role for the team, something the unit generally lacks outside of him.
Side note: If Warren Brinson is healthy to play in Week 1, but the team only keeps five defensive linemen active, I expect rookie third-round pick Chris McClellan to be the other inactive with Campbell. Ford’s defined role helps him, and McClellan was behind Brinson and Karl Brooks in the pecking order this summer. Brooks is also one of the few true special teams contributing interior defensive linemen in the NFL, if anyone is wondering.
Guess: At least one defensive lineman is ruled out, either Brinson because of injury or Campbell because of the numbers issue.
Edge Defender- Lukas Van Ness
- Barryn Sorrell
- Brenton Cox Jr.
- Dani Dennis-Sutton
The Packers can’t afford to have fewer than four edge defenders on a gameday roster, especially considering that they’re committed to kicking in an edge defender in nickel sets for a second consecutive year. In those looks, that means only one guy is on the bench for the whole group. It’s as simple as that.
Guess: They’re keeping all of these guys active.
Off-Ball Linebacker- Zaire Franklin
- Edgerrin Cooper
- Isaiah McDuffie
- Ty’Ron Hopper
- Nick Niemann
I know I’m “the special teams guy” in the Packers media space, but I kind of would understand scratching Nick Niemann with how the roster lays out right now. I think the two X factors here are: 1) can tight end Mark Redman play special teams and 2) can edge defender Brenton Cox Jr. contribute on special teams anywhere? Historically, Cox hasn’t played much on teams (and hasn’t done great when he’s been on the field), relative to the other players at his position. Edge defenders have to play special teams (unless you’re a starter and your legs are being saved), which is why it’s been tougher for Cox to make the game-day actives in the past when the room was a little deeper.
The most important unit on special teams is the punt unit, as far as winning a roster spot goes. I don’t want to make this too long, but here’s what I’m expecting from the preferred unit in Week 1:
- WR Bo Melton and CB Benjamin St-Juste as the gunners, the players who are allowed to run downfield before the ball is punted and force a fair catch.
- ED Lukas Van Ness, ED Barryn Sorrell, LB Isaiah McDuffie and LB Ty’Ron Hopper as the “linemen” next to long snapper Matt Orzech. Yes, the team is going to run its starting edge defenders 40 yards downfield before some defensive drives until Micah Parsons comes back. It’s a weird year.
- LB Nick Niemann, S Evan Williams and RB Chris Brooks as the off-ball players.
This is what we’ve seen in the past (for the players who are returning to the team) or in the preseason/Family Night/training camp.
If someone can take off Niemann on the off-ball level (it would probably be a safety or running back, it’s usually those positions, but Niemann is doing it right now because of his rare athleticism for his size) and one of Cox or Redman could displace him on other units (where “mid skill” players of similar size generally play), I think it’s on the table. Otherwise, this unit is pretty set for gamedays.
Guess: At least four are active, but Nick Niemann might be a healthy scratch, depending on how other players can be onboarded by special teams coordinator Cam Achord.
Cornerback- Keisean Nixon
- Carrington Valentine
- Brandon Cisse
- Benjamin St-Juste
- Kamal Hadden (slot)
I don’t think the Packers can afford to have fewer than five “cornerbacks” right now, considering they only have four true safeties — unlike in years past. CB4 Benjamin St-Juste is a special teams stud, and he will be active. Kamal Hadden is the next man up in the slot position, and Kitan Oladapo, the only other player on the active roster to get slot reps during the preseason, looked really poor when he wasn’t playing a true safety role.
Guess: All five are active.
Safety- Xavier McKinney
- Evan Williams
- Javon Bullard (slot)
- Kitan Oladapo (slot)
All of these players are going to be active on the game-day roster, barring an injury or a new addition by the Packers. Go ahead and lock that one up.
Guess: All four are active.
Specialists- Kicker: Trey Smack
- Punter: Daniel Whelan
- Long Snapper: Matt Orzech
There are currently no other specialists signed on the Packers’ rosters, including their practice squad.
Guess: All three are active
—
So, how do we get to five inactives against the Vikings?
Here’s my guess:
- One tight end is inactive, either Jonnu Smith or Josh Whyle (who double up as move tight ends).
- Two offensive linemen (TBD on who they are, depending on injuries).
- One defensive lineman (again, TBD depending on the Warren Brinson injury).
That last spot? It’s going to come down to:
- Does receiver Skyy Moore need to be active when his roles are just as a returner and a backup slot receiver?
- Does the team need six defensive linemen to run their Penny package?
- Does the team need to keep off-ball linebacker Nick Niemann active for special teams, depending on whether TE Mark Redman or ED Brenton Cox Jr. can step up in the kicking game?
Four of the five decisions are pretty straightforward. The final one, though, is going to be a tough call.
As far as the final roster spot on the active roster goes, who would you scratch, given the options? Let us know in the comments section.
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