Special teams contributions a must for Packers fringe roster players

More often than not, our attention during the Green Bay Packers training camp practices and preseason games is going to be drawn to the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.

However, for the fringe roster players who are fighting for a spot on the initial 53, it is special teams that will be the deciding factor.

Matt LaFleur would specifically mention this recently when discussing the third running back role, which is up for grabs.

"“A lot of it with our third running back is going to come down to how they do on special teams,” said LaFleur via The Athletic ($$). “That is an area where the third back has to be able to contribute. That’s really where the battle lies with all these guys right now.”"

This philosophy doesn’t only apply to the third running back but to really any position. The seventh receiver, the fifth edge rusher, and linebacker, the sixth cornerback, as well as the fourth safety.

Of course, performance on either offense or defense does matter as well, but as long as everyone is healthy, those last few spots on the depth chart likely aren’t going to see a ton of playing time unless it comes on special teams.

AJ Dillon and Aaron Jones will take the bulk of the running back snaps. There isn’t going to be much, if any, playing time at linebacker outside of De’Vondre Campbell and Quay Walker. The same goes for cornerback with Rasul Douglas, Jaire Alexander, and Eric Stokes.

You get the idea. If a player isn’t seeing playing time on offense or defense, their impact is going to have to come on special teams–or they won’t have one and are taking up a roster spot.

Now, there are exceptions to every rule. Last season we saw the Packers roster Jack Heflin, and he played fewer than 20 snaps on both defense and special teams, according to PFF ($$). But, by and large, most back-end of the roster players have to compete on special teams.

Heading into the final preseason game, the Packers still have several positional battles taking place for potential roster spots, as referenced above, and special teams contributions will be a deciding factor.

Here is a look at the top-10 players in special teams snaps through the first two preseason games.

Ty Summers (26)

Ray Wilborn (23)

Kobe Jones (21)

Kiondre Thomas (18)

Alize Mack (18)

Micah Abernathy (17)

Shemar Jean-Charles (17)

Samori Toure (17)

Kingsley Enagbare (16)

Kabion Ento (16)

Of course, it’s not as simple as these 10 players will make the team because they lead the Packers in special teams snaps. But the snap counts may provide some insight into where a few of these position battles stand.

For instance, with both Wilborn and Summers leading the team in snaps, that could tell us that the Packers plan to keep a fifth linebacker. With injuries at safety, Green Bay may be taking a closer look at Abernathy to potentially fill a roster spot. Does Thomas having more snaps than Rico Gafford tell us that he is in the driver’s seat for that sixth cornerback spot?

On the flip side, Jones leads all edge rushers with 21 special teams snaps while Tipa Galeai has only 14. Perhaps Jones is ahead of him on the depth chart. Or maybe there is a difference because the Packers are comfortable with what they’ve seen from Galeai up to this point, and don’t feel the need to play him later in games.

At the end of the day, there is no exact science when it comes to trying to diagnose where these fringe roster players stand. But what we do know is that special teams very much matters, and the playing time, as well as their performances, may give us a glimmer of insight.