Head Coach Matt LaFleur said on Sunday there wouldn’t be any announcements on the cuts due by tomorrow afternoon at 3:00PM but General Manager Brian Gutekunst jumped the gun a little bit by announcing today 10 year veteran punter Pat O’Donnell was released. A bit of surprising move, going with first year free agent Daniel Whelan instead. They’ll save a little cash but I really liked Pat and thought a veteran presence around rookie kicker Anders Carlson might be beneficial. Whelan will also handle the holding duties.
So with that decision made, what about the rest?
Here’s my swing at the Pack’s final roster and the collection of players that could be brought back onto the practice squad on Wednesday.
Quarterbacks (2) Jordan Love, Sean Clifford
Third stringer Alex McCough might hang around since teams will be allowed to carry three active quarterbacks on Sundays.
Running Backs (3) Aaron Jones, A.J. Dillon, Patrick Taylor
Loved what Emmanuel Wilson did running the ball but his work in the passing game and protection needed a lot of work and he wouldn’t offer much help on special teams. The injury to Tyler Goodson ruined his chances.
Wide Receivers (6) Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed, Malik Heath, Samori Toure, Dontayvion Wicks. Wicks gets in even though he missed the last couple of weeks of camp. Grant Dubose simply missed too much time but he shouldn’t wander too far from Lambeau this week. I liked what Jadakis Bonds did over the final week.
Tight Ends (3) Luke Musgrave, Tucker Kraft, Josiah Deguara. Deguara is the tight end/fullback hybrid from this group.
Offensive Line (9) David Bakhtiari, Elgton Jenkins, Josh Myers, Jon Runyan, Zach Tom, Rasheed Walker, Yosh Nijman, Caleb Jones, Sean Rhyan. Royce Newman has played a lot over his first three seasons but didn’t play well enough this summer.
Defensive Line (6) Kenny Clark, T.J. Slaton, Devonte Wyatt, Colby Wooden, Karl Brooks, Jonathan Ford. The two rookies were more productive than Ford but he’s a big body who showed enough improvement to keep around.
Inside Linebacker (5) De’Vondre Campbell, Quay Walker, Isaiah McDuffie, Tariq Carpenter, Eric Wilson. Carpenter has made the move from safety to linebacker and Wilson is a really good special teams player.
Outside Linebacker (5) Rashan Gary, Preston Smith, Kingsley Enegbare, Justin Hollins, Lukas Van Ness.
Cornerback (6) Jaire Alexander, Rasul Douglas, Keisean Nixon, Carrington Valentine, Corey Ballentine. Eric Stokes will likely stay on the PUP list so he’ll sit another month. Shemar Jean-Charles just couldn’t crack the rotation.
Safety (5) Darnell Savage, Rudy Ford, Dallin Leavitt, Jonathan Owens, Anthony Johnson. Tarvarius Moore’s injury was costly.
Specialists (3) Anders Carlson, Daniel Whelan, Matt Orzech.
Practice Squad (16) Here’s a list of potential returnees: Jadakis Bonds, Grant Dubose, Lew Nichols, Innis Gaines, Kiondre Thomas, Benny Sapp III, Austin Allen, Brenton Cox Jr., James Empey Cole Schneider, Bo Melton, Chris Slayton, Emmanuel Wilson, Keshawn Banks, Alex McGough, Jimmy Phillips Jr. Kenneth Odumegwu gets a free pass through the rest of the season as part of the international Pathways Program.
