Post Minicamp 2022 Green Bay Packers 53-Man Roster Prediction
By Paul Bretl
Post Minicamp Green Bay Packers 53-Man Roster Prediction
Interior Defensive Line (5): Kenny Clark, Jarran Reed, Dean Lowry, TJ Slaton, and Devonte Wyatt
This is perhaps the easiest position to put together–right here is your five-man rotation. Now, perhaps someone like Jack Heflin stands out once again, and Green Bay keeps six interior defenders. But with Heflin playing fewer than 20 snaps in 2021, I decided it would be best to utilize that roster spot elsewhere.
Edge Rusher (5): Rashan Gary, Preston Smith, Randy Ramsey, Jonathan Garvin, and Kingsley Enagbare
Gary and Smith are the only locks at this point, while the other three roster spots are very much up for grabs. Prior to suffering a season-ending injury last summer, Ramsey was a core special teams player and saw some snaps in 2020 at edge rusher as well.
On top of that, and for what it’s worth, following the draft and when asked about the edge rusher position, Brian Gutekunst specifically mentioned Ramsey’s name as someone they are happy to be getting back.
With Garvin and Enagbare, I’m basically banking on their upside at this point, which is higher than any of the other edge rushers on the roster who are fighting for a roster spot.
Linebacker (5): De’Vondre Campbell, Quay Walker, Krys Barnes, Isaiah McDuffie, and Ty Summers
If Krys Barnes isn’t a roster lock, he sure is close. Although the Green Bay Packers drafted Walker, Barnes has experience and could carve out a niche role on defense, not to mention that he’s on a very inexpensive contract, and he’s someone who I believe could really shine on special teams under Rich Bisaccia.
McDuffie and Summers both finished top-10 on the team last season in special teams snaps, which is going to once again be their path to making the 53-man roster with Campbell and Walker dominating the playing time at linebacker. I do think that there is the possibility that Summers could get cut, but until we see more from the other linebackers, I’ll include him on the final roster.