The Green Bay Packers entered Saturday with just a 50-man active roster, but they made use of all three of those extra roster spots. The Packers announced on Saturday that the team has activated running back Josh Jacobs, who Green Bay could have kept for an extra week with an exemption without activating him for action, defensive lineman Jordon Riley, who was previously on the physically unable to perform list, and receiver Coleman Owen, who was on the Packers’ practice squad.
On top of that, Green
Bay is elevating edge defender Arron Mosby from the practice squad for game-day action against the Detroit Lions, too. Both Owen and Mosby were called up from the practice squad last week to play special teams against the Dallas Cowboys.
So if you’re counting at home, the Packers have 54 options to make up their 48-man game-day roster versus Detroit. With that being said, some of the six scratches that Green Bay will need to make are pretty obvious.
First of all, linebacker Zaire Franklin (shin) has already been ruled out due to injury. Second, the Packers are almost certain to carry only 8 of their 11 offensive linemen on the game-day roster, adding three more scratches to the list. Third, it’s unlikely that Green Bay ends up carrying all four of their running backs, and if Jacobs is going to displace anyone off the game-day roster, it’s likely to be Kaleb Johnson, who fell behind MarShawn Lloyd and Pierre Strong Jr. down the stretch.
That solves five of the six scratches for the Packers. Who the final scratch will be is the big question mark. Worth noting: offensive lineman Aaron Banks (knee/toe), receiver Bo Melton (back) and cornerback Benjamin St-Juste (hamstring) were all listed as questionable on Friday. Banks’ situation doesn’t really alter the Packers’ numbers (they are only going to carry eight offensive linemen on game days anyway), but Melton or St-Juste have the potential to be the sixth and final scratch for the team.
Below is a full breakdown of the roster and the Packers’ options going into tomorrow’s divisional matchup:
Quarterback
- Jordan Love
- Tyrod Taylor
Running Back (almost certain to scratch one)
- Josh Jacobs
- Pierre Strong Jr.
- MarShawn Lloyd
- Kaleb Johnson
Receiver
- Christian Watson
- Matthew Golden
- Savion Williams
- Bo Melton (questionable)
- J. Michael Sturdivant
- Coleman Owen
Tight End
- Tucker Kraft
- Mark Redman
- Jonnu Smith
- Josh Whyle
Offensive Line (almost certain to scratch three)
- Jordan Morgan
- Aaron Banks (questionable)
- Sean Rhyan
- Kevin Zeitler
- Anthony Belton
- Laken Tomlinson
- Travis Glover
- Jacob Monk
- John Williams
- Donovan Jennings
- Jager Burton
Defensive Line
- Karl Brooks
- Devonte Wyatt
- Chris McClellan
- Jordan Riley
- Anthony Campbell
Edge Defender
- Lukas Van Ness
- Barryn Sorrell
- Brenton Cox Jr.
- Dani Dennis-Sutton
- Arron Mosby
Off-Ball Linebacker
- Zaire Franklin (out)
- Isaiah McDuffie
- Ty’Ron Hopper
- Nick Niemann
- Kristian Welch
Cornerback
- Keisean Nixon
- Brandon Cisse
- Carrington Valentine
- Benjamin St-Juste (questionable)
- Kamal Hadden
Safety
- Xavier McKinney
- Evan Williams
- Javon Bullard
- Kitan Oladapo
Specialist
- K: Trey Smack
- P: Daniel Whelan
- LS: Matt Orzech
