Packers final cuts show how much the game has changed

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Bob McGinn

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By BOB McGINN

With eight wide receivers and two running backs, nothing suggested permanence about the Green Bay Packers’ 53-man roster as constituted late Saturday.

Odds are general manager Brian Gutekunst has another transaction or two in mind when the waiver claiming process plays out Sunday afternoon.

How the Packers plan to operate at running back on opening day against the Chicago Bears will require a bit of luck and possibly reinforcement.

How times change. When the Packers defeated Pittsburgh in the 45th Super Bowl, fullbacks Korey Hall and John Kuhn combined to play 21 snap
Two weeks earlier, in the NFC Championship Game at Soldier Field, Kuhn logged 26 snaps and Quinn Johnson had 23.
The transformation of Mike McCarthy’s offense from frequent two-back with three fullbacks on the roster to the spread of today was never more apparent after the Packers waived not one but both of their veteran fullbacks, Aaron Ripkowski and Joe Kerridge.
For the time being, at least, the Packers have two running backs on the 53: Jamaal Williams, who was limited to 30 exhibition snaps because of an ankle injury, and Ty Montgomery, who missed the last 1 ½ games with a foot injury. Randall Cobb would serve as the emergency back until Aaron Jones returns from a two-game NFL suspension.
Ripkowski, a sixth-round pick in 2015, understudied Kuhn as a rookie before starting the past two years. He played 362 snaps in 2016, an average of 28 per game, and 180 snaps in 2017 (17.3).
“He was never Kuhn, that’s for sure,” an executive in personnel for an NFC team said Saturday night. “He’s tough, but not tough like Kuhn. OK receiver, but not as good as Kuhn.”
Ripkowski was never a confrontational blocker, his receiving skills were rudimentary and his limited speed and athleticism didn’t lend themselves to special teams. Kerridge was a notch below, too.
“I think it could change by the end of the week,” said the scout. “But, if they like their blocking at tight end, they’re not necessarily worried about it.
“If you think about it, they might be using somebody on defense to play fullback. Or an O-lineman. It’s more about numbers at that position. How many plays are those guys going to get?”
Ripkowski played 21 snaps in the first exhibition game but merely 10 in the last three. Kerridge settled for 12 snaps in his three games.

McCarthy didn’t use any big people in receiver-eligible positions last season but has done so in the past. B.J. Raji had seven snaps on offense from 2010-’13. Mike Daniels had four snaps in 2013-’14.
Meanwhile, after having three tight ends on opening day in the last three years, the Packers found room for four with free agent Robert Tonyan joining veterans Jimmy Graham, Marcedes Lewis and Lance Kendricks.
Certainly, Graham won’t be tasked with in-line blocking. Lewis and Kendricks can be lead blockers from wing positions, and Tonyan even lined up at fullback on occasion in August.
“Tonyan might be able to,” said another personnel man. “I’d like to see him back there because he does make a block effort. I guess that’s what they assume. They’ll go with a lot of one-back stuff. I think they’re looking to pick somebody up off waivers.”
Green Bay released 32 players and placed three others on injured reserve to reach the 3 p.m. CT roster deadline. Three wide receivers were trimmed but eight remained. Since the roster limit was increased to 53 in 1993, the Packers have carried seven wideouts into opening day once (2016) but never eight.

Thus, Gutekunst retained rookie draft choices J’Mon Moore (fourth round), Marquez Valdez-Scantling (fifth round) and Equanimeous St. Brown (sixth round). The Packers tried to trade Trevor Davis, failed and put him on the team.
“Remember that people have vested interest in the draft picks,” one executive said. “The first year you’re going to keep most of your draft picks just to make your draft look good.
“They had to justify all three of their draft picks. I’m not high on them from the games I watched. In fact, I would have cut St. Brown. I thought he was worthless. Valdez-Scantling, I’d keep him around for a year or two to see if he can develop. With J’Mon Moore, what you see is what you get. I don’t think he’s going to improve.”
Free agent Jake Kumerow, the fourth newcomer at wide receiver, couldn’t have been more impressive in the first three weeks of training camp before suffering a shoulder injury.
“He lit it up,” an NFC scout said. “He’s been banging around learning how to play. It just kind of all came to fruition.”
Ripkowski, with his 180 snaps, and Kerridge (three) were among the 11 veterans the Packers said good-bye to that spent at least one week on the 53-man roster in 2017. In all, those 11 players combined to play 913 snaps from scrimmage.
The nine others were tight end Emanuel Byrd (none), tackle-guard Adam Pankey (none), center Dillon Day (none), outside linebackers Vince Biegel (121) and Chris Odom (59), cornerbacks Donatello Brown (one), Demetri Goodson (none) and Josh Hawkins (402), and safety Marwin Evans (147).

Two of Gutekunst’s 11 draft choices – defensive end James Looney and outside linebacker Kendall Donnerson – were cut. They were selected in the seventh round, two rounds after guard-tackle Cole Madison was chosen. Madison never showed for training camp.
Eight “street” free agents with at least a year’s experience were cut. In 2017, wide receiver DeAngelo Yancey was a fifth-round choice and guard Kofi Amichia washed out as a sixth-rounder. The other six were running backs Joel Bouagnon, LeShun Daniels and Bronson Hill, defensive tackle Joey Mbu, inside linebacker Ahmad Thomas and long snapper Zach Triner.
Nine rookie free agents were released, including wide receiver Adonis Jennings, tight ends Kevin Rader and Ryan Smith, center Austin Davis, nose tackle Tyler Lancaster, defensive end Conor Sheehy, and inside linebackers Naashon Hughes, Greer Martini and Marcus Porter.
Also waived was wide receiver Kyle Lewis and outside linebacker James Hearns, rookie free agents who had brief stints with other teams in the spring.
Placed on injured reserve were tackle Kyle Murphy (ankle), running back Devante Mays (hamstring) and defensive back Quinten Rollins (hamstring).

The current roster includes 26 players on offense, 24 on defense and three specialists.
Four undrafted rookies are on the 53, including tackle Alex Light of Richmond, quarterback Tim Boyle of Eastern Kentucky and Connecticut, inside linebacker James Crawford of Illinois and safety Raven Greene of James Madison.
After Murphy allowed seven pressures against Oakland in Game 3 before limping off with a bad wheel, it appeared as if veteran Byron Bell, Light and Pankey were competing for one or two roster berths. In the end, Bell and Light survived and Pankey was let go.
“I think Bell’s the epitome of soft,” said one scout. “But he’s a veteran and can play two spots (tackle and guard). He actually started a couple years for Carolina.
“Light has some talent. He has some feet and movement. I would certainly like to work with the guy for a year. I’m sure with the absence of offensive linemen around the league other people probably saw the same thing.”
Pankey played more snaps (229) than anyone on the roster and, like Bell, easily moved among four positions.
“I thought Pankey was OK,” an NFC scout said. “Bell has a lot of experience but he’s been inconsistent throughout his career. The kid from Richmond took some lumps in preseason.”
Barring injury, the two backup linemen expected to dress for games would be tackle Jason Spriggs and guard-center Lucas Patrick.

“I guess they feel OK as long as the quarterback is throwing timing routes,” an executive said.
One year after GM Ted Thompson lost undrafted rookie Taysom Hill on waivers to New Orleans, Gutekunst decided to retain Boyle as the No. 3 quarterback.
“If you like him you almost have to keep him active through Week 1 when everybody’s trying to see what quarterbacks are available,” one scout said. “He could go down (to the practice squad). It’s just you’re playing Russian roulette if you expose a quarterback right now.
“He had a decent camp. I wouldn’t say his arm and (poise) were great, but it was OK.”
Mbu, Sheeby, Lancaster and Looney all stayed healthy and played in all four exhibitions, but defensive line was a difficult unit to crack. Expect one, maybe two to be signed back Sunday onto the 10-man practice squad.
Despite past durability issues for Nick Perry and Clay Matthews, the Packers kept just two backups at outside linebacker. Reggie Gilbert is No. 3 and Kyler Fackrell presumably won the No. 4 berth over Biegel.
“They’ve had so many injuries at that spot the last couple years,” one scout said. “I don’t see them leaving themselves short-handed again.”
Biegel, a fourth-round pick in 2017, the veteran Odom and Donnerson all lost out to Fackrell.
“I would have kept Biegel but I guess they feel Fackrell can rush the passer,” said one scout. “He does have a good first step but he can’t play in space. Biegel has versatility.”
At inside linebacker, Martini (140 snaps) and Thomas (123) dominated the playing time but lost out to Crawford (40), who wasn’t signed until Aug. 8, and Morrison (20), the ex-Colt starter at middle linebacker in a 4-3 defense who was acquired in a trade with Indianapolis a week ago.
“Thomas did have a pretty solid camp,” said one executive. “He might get scooped up (on waivers). I’m sure that was one of those they were weighing out.
“Crawford’s got a big motor and he’s OK athletically. He must have had a very good special-teams camp. That’s the only role I really see him playing.”

As for Morrison, one scout said: “Since they just traded for him I think they’ll keep him around. If (Oren) Burks comes back this guy will get cut. He can shed (blocks) but he struggles in space. They’ll use him on first down and then they’ll get him out of the game. He’s a one-down guy.”
The Packers kept six cornerbacks and five safeties. Presumably, the last job at cornerback came down to Herb Waters, Goodson and Hawkins.
“I know at one point they were kind of high on Hawkins,” one personnel said in reference to the Packers. “Waters had an OK camp. Not great. But he has been (healthier) than Goodson.”
Greene and holdover Jermaine Whitehead wrested a backup job from Evans, who played in every game the past two seasons.
Said one scout: “That was kind of a wash. Not a whole lot to split the difference. I think it comes down to (special) teams. None of them were big-money guys.”




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Have to think we'll be signing a few guys at OLB from the waiver wire. As is the depth is atrocious and you know both Perry and Clay will get hurt at some point in the season. If Fackrell is still on the team Week 1 then I'll be annoyed.
 
Thanks Bob. Good analysis. It's interesting how the Packers game seems to be evolving on both sides of the ball. I wonder how much of that offensive influence has to do with Philbin being back. Then there's roster moves preordained by guys ineligible and injured, who could be activated soon. On defense, how Pettine envisions them playing every down comes into play.

It's at least going to be interesting seeing what happens, and if any of those cuts come back to haunt us on other teams.
 
Packers are placing the two drafted rookies they released yesterday on their practice squad, per sources. They're looking for long-term development from DL James Looney (6th round) and OLB Kendall Donnerson (7th round).

Packers are placing OL Adam Pankey on the practice squad
 
Packers are placing the two drafted rookies they released yesterday on their practice squad, per sources. They're looking for long-term development from DL James Looney (6th round) and OLB Kendall Donnerson (7th round).

Packers are placing OL Adam Pankey on the practice squad

Why Pankey? He was awful...

Martini was a good PS addition. Smart on his part to go back to GB.. Chances are with so LB corp so thin he gets called up during the season. Same with Donnerson though i'm not as sold on him...
 
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