4 Under the Radar Green Bay Packers to Watch in Training Camp
By Paul Bretl
Green Bay Packers Under the Radar Player: Ray Wilborn – LB
Depending on whether or not the Green Bay Packers choose to keep four or five inside linebackers on the 53-man roster, there is for sure one spot up for grabs this summer and possibly two.
We know that De’Vondre Campbell and Quay Walker will see most of the snaps at linebacker, while Krys Barnes could carve out a specific role on running downs and be a key special teams player.
Enter Ray Wilborn, who may not have any regular season NFL snaps to his name but will be competing for that fourth linebacker role. For what it’s worth — and I do think it’s worth something — he and Barnes were a part of the second linebacker rotation during OTAs and minicamp, ahead of both Ty Summers and Isaiah McDuffie.
Wilborn went undrafted in 2020 out of Ball State, where he played both linebacker and safety during his two seasons there. While he’s certainly not at the level of either Campbell or Walker, Wilborn’s skill-set that allows him to remain on the field against both the run and the pass is important to this Packers defense, as evidenced by them spending big free agent money on Campbell and a first-round pick on Walker.
With that said, just like many back-end of the roster players, special teams play will be important for Wilborn. As long as everyone is healthy, it’s not as if he will be seeing any defensive snaps.
Ultimately, it’s going to come down to how Wilborn performs over training camp and the preseason, but he’s worth keeping your eyes on based on what we saw from the Packers linebacker rotation during offseason programs.