Packers Tariq Carpenter to begin 2023 at Linebacker not Safety
By Paul Bretl
As part of the 2023 Virtual Draft Party that the Green Bay Packers were putting on during the eve of the NFL Draft, former seventh-round pick Tariq Carpenter, who is entering his second NFL season, mentioned that he would be moving from safety to linebacker.
Carpenter was a safety at Georgia Tech, where he amassed nearly 2,200 career snaps, most of which came in the box, from the slot, or as a traditional free safety.
Listed at 6’3″ – 230 pounds, however, Carpenter has a linebacker’s frame. When he first arrived in Green Bay last offseason, linebacker is where he thought he would be playing initially, but the team decided to keep him at safety to see how he performed. Carpenter would also add that he spent a few weeks at outside linebacker as well before moving back to safety.
Carpenter is a very good athlete, posting a Relative Athletic Score of 8.92 coming out of college, including a 4.52-second 40-time, along with being a sound tackler and willing run defender as well–of course, all important qualities to playing linebacker.
In addition to his frame and skill set being a good fit at linebacker, from a roster construction standpoint for the Packers, this position change makes a lot of sense as well.
Currently, the Packers have seven safeties on the roster – including Carpenter – and will presumably add at least one more during the draft, as this is still an upgradeable position. On the flip side, at linebacker, they have only four players on the roster.
As the 2022 season went on, Carpenter’s role on special teams continued to increase, and by year-end, he would rank third on the team in solo tackles, according to PFF, despite having only the 14th most special teams snaps.
Even with the Packers searching for upgrades at the safety position, in all likelihood, Carpenter’s primary role this season was again going to be as a special teams player. In terms of being able to roster him, it’s going to be much easier to do so as the fifth linebacker than as the fourth or fifth safety, where Green Bay already has Darnell Savage, Rudy Ford, Dallin Leavitt, Tarvarius Moore, and others, along with a likely rookie addition.
With Carpenter’s move to linebacker, that gives the Packers now five on the roster. De’Vondre Campbell and Quay Walker will continue to take the defensive snaps, while Eric Wilson and Isahai McDuffie will continue to play important roles on special teams.
To get through training camp and the preseason, Green Bay will need more linebackers on the roster, but I wouldn’t expect this to be a position that they will add to. Instead, they will probably sign an undrafted rookie or two to fill that need.