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Green Bay Packers: Linebackers Best and Worst Case Scenarios

By Kenny Jilek

LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 28: Oren Burks #42 of the Green Bay Packers played the Los Angeles Rams at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on October 28, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 28: Oren Burks #42 of the Green Bay Packers played the Los Angeles Rams at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on October 28, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images) /
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Green Bay Packers
GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN, Ty Summers, Green Bay Packers, Lambeau Field (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /

Second Year Players

Ty Summers spent all of last year on special teams after the seventh-round pick had a nice preseason. Bolton, as mentioned earlier, tore his ACL and had to sit out the season. Both are looking for better things in year two.

Ty Summers

The Green Bay Packers were really high on Summers coming out of college at TCU, and it’s easy to see why. They love physical traits, and he’s a physical beast, with a speed score in the 96th percentile, burst and agility scores above the 70th percentile, and his 27 bench reps put him in the 87th percentile. Yet, even with all that and a pick-six in the preseason against the Kansas City Chiefs, he was only a special teams player.

Summers didn’t play a single defensive snap, but was a special teams staple, playing 311 of those snaps, good for 72 percent of the Green Bay Packers total special teams plays. This season, he’ll likely still be mostly a special teams guy, but I’m sure he’s got his eyes on that top backup linebacker spot. He has all the tools needed to do it, he just needs to put it together, and he could find himself close to the top of the depth chart.

Best Case Stats: 38 total tackles, 3 TFLs, 1 INT, 3 PDs

Worst Case Stats: 10 total tackles, 1 TFL, 0 INTs, 0 PDs

Curtis Bolton

Last offseason, I wrote about undrafted free agents I thought could make the roster, with Bolton being one of those players, and he was on track to make it when he had his injury. His senior year at Oklahoma was phenomenal, making 142 total tackles, 12 for a loss, and 4.5 sacks. He also recovered a fumble for a touchdown. Last preseason, he made 10 total tackles and an interception before being hurt in the third game.

After coming in as an undrafted free agent and missing all of last season, he may have just as much of a battle to make the team as Krys Barnes. He also has the same issue as Kamal Martin and Christian Kirksey, as he has to prove that he can produce after an injury.

He’s had basically a full year to recover, so he should be ready, but sometimes guys lose a step after something like that, and he can’t afford that as he was already on the roster bubble without an injury. Bolton will have to show he hasn’t just come back, but that he’s improved. Even if he does make the roster, there’s a chance he’s just a special teams guy.

Best Case Stats: 26 total tackles, 2 TFLs, 1 INT, 3 PDs

Worst Case Stats: 6 total tackles, O TFL, 0 INT, 0 PD

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