With training camp starting next week, let’s take a snapshot of where the Green Bay Packers’ roster is right now. After turning in 43 draft choices over the last four years, an average of nearly 11 a class, general manager Brian Gutekunst has a pretty deep squad.
The exceptions are at cornerback and nose tackle.
At cornerback, the team has lost three contributors this offseason: Jaire Alexander, Corey Ballentine and Robert Rochell. The loss of Alexander has been supplemented by the signing of free
agent Nate Hobbs, who, along with Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine, is expected to contribute as an outside cornerback.
Beyond those three players, though, it’s anyone’s guess who makes the team at the position. Both Ballentine and Rochell were significant special-teams contributors, playing more snaps in that phase of football than place kicker Brandon McManus in 2024. That will only stress the depth of the position even more.
Aside from Hobbs, Nixon and Valentine, the Packers’ current options at cornerback are 2024 seventh-round pick Kalen King, 2024 sixth-round pick Kamal Hadden, 2025 seventh-round pick Micah Robinson, offseason signing Gregory Junior, undrafted rookie Tyron Herring, two-way player Bo Melton and reserves/future player Isaiah Dunn. Virtually none of these players have playing experience at the NFL, aside from Junior’s time with the Jacksonville Jaguars, the couple of games that Hadden was used as a game-day active from the practice squad to play teams and Melton’s time on the offensive side of the ball.
Ultimately, two of the players from that group will likely make the Packers’ roster, as it’s tough to have fewer than five players on your roster at cornerback at the NFL level.
At nose tackle, Kenny Clark is finally moving back to his ideal position after spending most of 2024 as a run-down three-technique defender. This is happening because T.J. Slaton, who was previously Green Bay’s run-down nose tackle, signed a multi-year contract with the Cincinnati Bengals in free agency.
Besides Clark (314 pounds), though, there’s limited size on the Packers’ defensive line. The only other tackles who weigh more than Devonte Wyatt (304), the team’s starting three-technique, are Georgia rookies Nazir Stackhouse (327) and Warren Brinson (315). Brinson was picked 198th overall in the sixth round in April. Stackhouse is an undrafted free agent, though, he received $165,000 in guarantees in his contract with the Packers — the most of any of their undrafted rookie signings.
Neither of them has really made a splash with the team as of yet, but it’s worth mentioning that the pads don’t even come on until training camp. Historically, Green Bay has slow-played giving rookies premier playing time in practice, which is why there’s hype building around first-round receiver Matthew Golden, who is already receiving consistent burn with the first-team unit.
So, who is the backup nose tackle behind Clark in practice if it’s not Stackhouse or Brinson? 2023 fourth-round pick Colby Wooden, who measured in at 273 pounds at the NFL combine and is still listed at that weight on Packers.com.
I don’t think that Wooden is actually playing at 273 pounds anymore, but I also don’t think anyone would mistake him for an NFL nose tackle, either. I’ll be surprised if Green Bay’s coaching staff actually goes into the 2025 regular season with Wooden as their second option at nose tackle, the bigger of the two defensive tackle positions.
If you want to take in all the training camp news this offseason, be my guest. I’m going to, too. How the depth chart shakes out with this much competition will be fun to watch. If you’re really trying to pin down the roster bubble, though, the two most important positions I would focus on are cornerback and nose tackle. That’s where there’s the most opportunity for anyone to step up and contribute, due to the team’s lack of proven depth.
More from acmepackingcompany.com:
- Black and Blue News: This Week in the NFC North for July 6, 2014
- Cheese Curds: Green Bay Packers News and Links for July 7, 2014
- Packers 2013 Top Plays Recap: Top Ten Best Plays of the Year
- Packers Featured Heavily in NFL's Top 20 Games of 2013
- Packers' 2014 Roster Preview: Returning Quarterbacks
- Packers' 90-Man Roster Countdown: Players 5-1
