53 Man Roster Speculation

[ReasonablySober]

My early take

QB: Rodgers/Flynn/Harrell
RB: Grant/Starks/Green
FB: Kuhn/Johnson/Taylor
WR: Jennings/Driver/Jones/Nelson/Cobb
TE: Finley/Williams/Crabtree/Quarless
OL: Clifton/Bulaga/Sitton/Sherrod/Wells/Lang/Newhouse/McDonald/Schlauderaff
DL: Pickett/Raji/Neal/Green/Wilson/Wynn
LB: Matthews/Hawk/Bishop/Walden/Jones/Zombo/Smith/Elmore
DB: Woodson/Williams/Collins/Burnett/Shields/Peprah/House/Bush/Underwood
S/T: Crosby/Masthay/Goode

PS: Guy/Smithson/Taylor/Lattimore/Dominguez/Genus/Gurley/Joseph

I had 49 locks. The last four in were Quarless, Elmore, Underwood and Taylor. The PS was just a bunch of guesses.

[emunney]

49 locks, wow. I guess I see a lot more vulnerability.

Certainly not going to argue with what you've got, though. Feels like a very safe list of most-likely outcomes.

[Ayt]

3 FBs?

QB: Rodgers/Flynn/Harrell
HB: Grant/Starks/Green/Saine (I like Saine as a darkhorse since Green's blocking and fumbling scare me as a 3rd down type, 4.40 40 at the combine at 220 lbs.)
FB: Kuhn (Crabby can play FB, and I think we run Williams and Q as H-Backs as well, I'm done with Johnson)
WR: Jennings/DD/JJ/JN/Cobb
TE: Fin/Williams/Crab/Q
OL: Cliffy/Sherrod/Wells/Sitt/Bul/Lang/New/McD/Schlaud
DL: Pick/Raj/Green/Neal/Wil/Wynn
LB: Clay/Hawk/Bish/Zomb/Wald/Jones/Smith/Elm (a couple of spots are up in the air here, IMO)
CB: Wood/Tram/Sammy/House/Lee/Bush (seems like a lock barring injury)
S: Nick/Burn/Pep/Bratton (I like Bratton even though I've never seen him play)
S/T: Crosby/Masth/Goode

Taylor to the PS as a TE/FB type in case of injury. Other PS no clue (probably similar to what DB has). Put the best young WR on the PS since I'm only carrying 5.

[ReasonablySober]

I put Johnson in there because I didn't see a better alternative. We usually have three fullbacks, I couldn't see us keeping one. Taylor I put at fullback but he could be considered a TE/H-Back/Fullback. I know almost nothing about him except that he's very good on special teams, which is why he made my roster. Doubt he ever lines up on offense, but again, this is early. I could see one or two of those PS guys make the final 53. Dominguez and Smithson come to mind.

[ReasonablySober]

Also, that roster is ridiculous.

Ted. ****. Thompson.

[Sauce Boss]

I have a gut feeling that Guy makes it. He seems to have a lot of potential that they can develop. The ADHD mixed with Dyslexia might ruin that chance though if he cant learn a playbook.

[El Duderino]

I put Johnson in there because I didn't see a better alternative. We usually have three fullbacks, I couldn't see us keeping one. Taylor I put at fullback but he could be considered a TE/H-Back/Fullback. I know almost nothing about him except that he's very good on special teams, which is why he made my roster. Doubt he ever lines up on offense, but again, this is early. I could see one or two of those PS guys make the final 53. Dominguez and Smithson come to mind.

I see no chance they keep 3 FB's again this year, but then again i'm assuming that if Taylor is kept, it will be more as an H-Back. If he does well though in camp, i'd be curious if it ends up making Johnson very vulnerable because as is, he doesn't get on the field a lot and he's far from a ST demon.

That said, it's so early right now and Ted has shown at times that he'll keep what's considered nontraditional numbers at certain positions simply because he mainly wants to keep his best 53 man roster. Thus, he's ended up keeping say more TE's/FB's than we expected, while having less at another position than expected. There is also the special teams factor.

When it comes to Quinn Johnson, i align myself more like how Ayt views him, but not being overly impressed. Yea, in simply taking on a LB in the hole on a running play, he's been our best run blocking fullback. He doesn't move well laterally though on zone runs which are almost like a sweep, he has bricks for hands out of the backfield which almost always means a run play when he's in the game, and he's mediocre at best on special teams. The only reason i could see Ted/MM wanting to keep Quinn is with a Grant/Starks duo at RB vs Jackson/Kuhn, McCarthy intends to significantly more power runs plays out of the I-formation, plays where Johnson has more use.

[eagle13]

Think CB Lee makes team in place of or in addition to Underwood.
Taylor is listed and will be listed as TE - Either he goes to PS or Quarless cut.
Minor surprise if not 9 LBs but agree w/ 8 listed.

On bubble -
Underwood, Wynn, QJohnson

Have Shot -
Guy, Gordy

Worst position to make 53 as a rookie FA this year? WR.

[emunney]

It would be weird if we had 7 TE/FB combined and only one of them was really an above average run blocker (Crabtree).

[El Duderino]

Yea emunny, odds are pretty high that our combination of TE/FB who get kept will mainly be on the roster for their ability to catch the ball.

I know it's so early, but i'd be pretty shocked if DJ Williams doesn't end up making the team. With Crabtree being such a good run blocker, i consider him a near lock also. Of course Finley is a lock. So i see Quarless and Taylor either fighting fighting for one roster spot or even possibly both being cut if neither looks good in camp.

While it's always very interesting to see how the rookies each year progress as camp moves along, it's also just as interesting for me to see how second year players have progressed from year one. Quarless being a prime example of that. He has really nice size. He's not near as fluid in the hips as Finley is, few if an tight ends on the planet are though, but Quarless does have above average straight line speed. He's not a great blocker, but doesn't seem to view it as something he has no choice except to do it. Obviously his hands are a serious question mark. Well, with Finley coming back and Ted drafting Williams/Taylor, Quarless certainly will have to earn his way on to the roster. I'm very curious to see if he this year comes to camp in the best shape of his life and extremely focused because i could easily envision him becoming one of the biggest surprises of the camp, or just as easily on the waiver wire at some point in the cut process.

Other 2nd year guys

Bulaga-- I thought he was decent last year considering he was a rookie tackle, but he allowed a lot of pressures and led the line in penalties. I hope that he shows fairly significant improvement this season.

Burnett-- He got hurt so early on that it was hard for me to form any strong opinions either way, but i do hope that he watched Woodson close all year about how Charles was willing to throw his body around. In today's pass happy NFL, coverage ability for safeties is more important than run stopping, but the good safeties have to be very willing to mix it up physically. If Burnett plays well, the secondary could be so damn good.

Newhouse-- He's kinda ignored by many Packer fans, but i have a feeling that he'll be on the Packers roster at least until he reaches free agency years. He looked pretty comfortable to me at LT in last year's preseason games, even though most draft pundits thought he'd be to short and thus needed to be a guard in the NFL. It very well could end up being the case that Newhouse isn't quite good enough to ever being a starting LT, but if say he can develop into competent backup LT to Sherrod after Clifton is gone, and the primary backup at LG, there is real value in that.

Starks-- He showed his share of potential, especially given how long he'd gone not playing. My biggest concern was he didn't seem to have much shiftiness, but the kid runs like a young power back. I'll be curious to see if Starks looks even better in this camp to where he at some point this season becomes the primary ball carrier or if Grant can fend off the younger Starks?

Wilson-- My guess is he never develops a quality starting DE, but if he can improve a little on last season to where overall he's a pretty solid piece in the DE playing rotation, that's fabulous value from a 7th round pick.

[Ayt]

Just going off memory, Bulaga was very solid in the playoffs. Am I not remembering correctly?

I also agree with you, Dude, when it comes to Newhouse. I was very impressed with his abilities at OT last preseason. His feet were great, and he has a very solid build. I don't see any reason to think he's limited to being a guard in the NFL. If he can work on his body and functional strength, I could even see him having a long career as a starter at RT or even LT somewhere in the league. How he looks this year compared to last is a big key in that.

He may never reach his potential, but he looked more like a 3rd round OT talent to me last preseason than a guy picked in the 5th that needed to switch to OG. If he had a good offseason hitting the weights, he could prove to be a valuable backup OT even this season since Cliffy is an injury risk.

[jimmybones]

Also, that roster is ridiculous.

Ted. ****. Thompson.

[LUKE23]

My locks:

QB: Rodgers, Flynn (2)
RB: Grant, Starks, Green (5)
FB: Kuhn, Johnson (7)
TE: Finley, Williams, Quarless (10)
WR: Jennings, Jones, Nelson, Driver, Cobb (15)
OT: Sherrod, Clifton, Bulaga, Newhouse (20)
C: Wells (21)
OG: Lang, McDonald, Sitton (24)

NT: Raji (25)
DE: Pickett, Neal, Wilson, Green (29)
OLB: Matthews, Zombo, Walden, Elmore (33)
ILB: Hawk, Bishop, Jones (36)
S: Collins, Burnett, Peprah (39)
DB: Woodson, Williams, Shields, House (43)

Special teams: Crosby, Masthay, Goode (46)

I have 7 spots open. There are some iffy guys up there, but I think Quinn Johnson is a lock to make it now due to Hall being gone and him being the best lead blocker on the team, as I think we will make use of our running game more than last year. Elmore, wouldn't call him a lock normally, but with adding no OLB's of note and losing both of our backup ILB's, I'll be surprised if he doesn't make the team. I think Jones gets moved inside because of lack of depth there.

I obviously believe we'll keep more than 5 DL and 7 total DB, but these were just my locks. Bush should probably be on there.

Also, regarding the TE position, it is just an observation, but we seem to far, far value pass catching ability/speed/stretching the field over blocking at the position. I definitely won't be surprised if Crabtree makes the team, but I'd be surprised if he made it over Quarless. I still think they want to develop his speed and see if his hands can catch up.

I also highly doubt we keep 3 FB's.

This team is absolutely loaded, especially on offense.

[PkrsBcksGphsMqt]

Quarless won't be cut. Him and Williams make it easier for us to negotiate with Finley and also provide insurance if Finley demands something absurd like top 5 WR money.

[MickeyDavis]

Good analysis from McGinn on LB:

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/126496868.html

[BUCKnation]

Quarless won't be cut. Him and Williams make it easier for us to negotiate with Finley and also provide insurance if Finley demands something absurd like top 5 WR money.

alot of people forgetting about dj williams. He has already looked great in TC and id consider him a lock. Its between crabtree and quarless for the 4th spot, imo. Blocking or Catching ability?

[LUKE23]

I'd say Quarless is a lock and its possible they keep Crabtree. We still have Quarless at three years cheap, they aren't going to let him go yet.

[PkrsBcksGphsMqt]

Quarless won't be cut. Him and Williams make it easier for us to negotiate with Finley and also provide insurance if Finley demands something absurd like top 5 WR money.

alot of people forgetting about dj williams. He has already looked great in TC and id consider him a lock. Its between crabtree and quarless for the 4th spot, imo. Blocking or Catching ability?

Who is forgetting about DJ Williams, I just listed him as a lock in the post you quoted. Who are your 3 TE locks if you think Quarless and Crabtree are fighting it out for the 4th spot? I think they keep 4 TEs (Finley, Williams, Quarless, and Crabtree).

[crkone]

Don't forget Havner who they love for ST. Maybe they move him back to LB?

[jimmybones]

Yeah I think Finley, Williams, Quarless and Crabtree are pretty safe.

Could anyone see a 6th WR kept and only 2 FB? Swain might be important to keep for ST with Hall gone.