What to Know: Packers sign RB Emanuel Wilson and waive K Parker White
By Paul Bretl
Organized team activities (OTAs) are underway for the Green Bay Packers, and it began with a pair of roster moves on Monday. According to the team, the Packers would sign running back Emanuel Wilson and, in the corresponding move to make room on the 90-man roster, waived kicker Parker White.
Wilson went undrafted in this most recent draft and initially signed with Denver afterward. He began his college career at D-II Johnson C. Smith University, where he was the Offensive Rookie of the Year in the CIAA conference, rushing for 1,040 yards and 13 touchdowns. He then transferred to D-II Fort Valley State, where Wilson was hard to stop these last two seasons.
In 2021, he averaged 5.7 yards per carry while rushing for 835 yards and scored seven times. Then this past season, Wilson averaged a whopping 6.8 yards per rush at totaled nearly 1,300 yards while finding the end zone 15 times on the ground. As a result, he was named a second-team All-American and Offensive Player of the Year from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
Wilson measures in at about 6’0,” weighs 220 pounds, and he ran a 4.52-second 40-yard dash. He does have some passing game experience, recording 31 receptions totaling 178 yards and two scores.
For a quick look at Wilson’s game, NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein wrote this in his pre-draft report:
"“Wilson’s size and burst are NFL-caliber and worth keeping an eye on if he makes it into camp as a priority free agent. He was a productive Division II running back, but he will need to run with better decisiveness and be more aggressive as a run-finisher.”"
Wilson joins a running back room where Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon will dominate the playing time, but that third running back role is up for grabs. Also competing for that roster spot will be seventh-round pick Lew Nichols, along with Patrick Taylor, who was RB3 for much of the 2022 season, and Tyler Goodson, who impressed last preseason. As running backs coach Ben Sirmans said recently, special teams contributions are going to play a big factor in deciding who that roster spot goes to.
White, meanwhile, was undrafted out of South Carolina in 2022, where he made 67 of his 92 career field goal attempts, and joined the Packers practice squad late last season before being signed to a futures contract in January. He has no career NFL field goal attempts.
With White waived, that means that, at least for the time being, sixth-round pick Anders Carlson will be the only kicker on the roster. He had an up-and-down career at Auburn, which included some missed kicks and injuries, but his familiarity with Rich Bisaccia, along with Bisaccia’s track record of working with kickers, gave Brian Gutekunst confidence to make the pick.
Inevitably, there are going to be highs and lows that come with relying on a rookie kicker, but as Bisaccia said in his most recent press conference, the Packers are prepared to weather that storm.