For the second time in two weeks, the Green Bay Packers have used one of their two practice squad elevations on wide receiver Bo Melton.
The second-year pass catcher will be available for Matt LaFleur on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers.
The reason(s) that Melton was elevated this week could be two-fold. On the one hand, the Packers are a bit banged up at receiver, with Christian Watson listed as doubtful, while Jayden Reed and Samori Toure are both questionable. But the other important reason for Melton’s elevation is that he is performing well in practice.
“He’s done a tremendous job on special teams in practice,” said receivers coach Jason Vrable on Thursday, “and he’s doing a great job on scout team, and every time I give him a rep, speaking of Bo, he would go out there and make a play at practice with Jordan. Today, he caught one as well. I was like, man, I really like the way that he has progressed.”
Melton has made two appearances this season. The first came in Week 12 against Detroit, where he was signed to the 53-man roster for that one game. The second came last week against Tampa Bay. Melton has played 11 special teams snaps, all of which have come on the kick coverage unit.
After seeing only two offensive snaps against Detroit, Melton played 18 versus the Bucs. He was often utilized as a pre-snap motion man and vertical threat with that 4.34 speed he possesses–an element that has been missing with Watson sidelined.
With Melton active last week, that meant that Samori Toure was inactive. Again, there are layers to this decision, most notably that Melton has been outperforming Toure in practice, but other factors include Melton’s ability to contribute on special teams. So far this season, despite being active in nine games, Toure doesn’t have any special teams snaps.
Melton’s aforementioned speed in Watson’s absence was likely a preferred element that Green Bay wanted to have as well.
“Every day in practice the competition is open,” added Vrable. “I never tell a guy, hey, you could be the third receiver this week. If things aren’t going well and you’re not performing in practice, whether you’re not making catches or blocking or I’m not seeing things I need to see.”
We know that the Packers will be without Watson again, but now the question becomes, is Melton the preferred option at receiver over Toure, or is Green Bay going to have to rely on both pass catchers this week because of injuries to Reed and Wicks?
This season, Toure has 15 targets, including four in the Giants game, and has caught seven of them for 84 yards. Carolina isn’t exactly a common opponent, but there will be some familiarity for the Green Bay offense, going up against Panthers’ defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, who runs a very similar style of defense as Joe Barry.
“Samori this week has had a tremendous week of practice,” Vrable said, “and maybe because he’s getting those reps, but he’s playing at a fast pace. Playing confident. Catching the football the right way. He’s attacking.
“With him and everybody else, I say, you’re only as good as that day’s practice. You’ve got to continue to stack wins. I evaluate it every day. Our staff talks and I told him this week, these last two days you’ve been on it, had a great practice, so we will see where we are at at the end of the week.”
This is now the second time that Melton has been elevated to the active game-day roster. He has one elevation remaining and after that, if Green Bay wants him available on Sundays, he will have to be signed to the 53-man roster.
Joining Melton as a game day elevation is safety Benny Sapp. With Darnell Savage already ruled out and Rudy Ford questionable, Sapp will provide needed depth. His primary role will come on special teams where he’s played 13 snaps this season. If Ford can’t go, he may see a few defensive snaps as the third safety when the Packers are in dime. This is Sapp’s third and final elevation.
It’s also worth noting that Jonathan Ford was not elevated, which is hopefully a good sign that TJ Slaton will be available. Slaton is currently listed as questionable. Without Ford or Slaton, the Packers wouldn’t have a true run-stuffing presence along the defensive front, not to mention that they would have only four interior defenders available if that were the case. Green Bay has consistently used a five-man rotation all season.