When the time comes for the Green Bay Packers to put together their 53-man roster, will they keep six or seven wide receivers?
Part of the roster construction equation that the Packers will face when making their final cutdowns in late August is how many players to keep at each position group, which can result in difficult decisions being made.
Given the depth that the Packers have at receiver, it feels safe to say that they will for sure roster six on their initial 53-man, something that hasn’t always been a given—in 2020 the Packers rostered just five receivers initially.
Although Bo Melton and Malik Heath perhaps didn’t enter the offseason in the 100 percent roster lock category, their performances during offseason programs further cemented their spots on this team, which would leave Grant DuBose and Samori Toure among those on the outside looking in.
As I highlighted in a recent article, I thought DuBose looked more polished during OTAs and minicamp with the year of experience under his belt, and he was a favorite target of both Sean Clifford and Michael Pratt. However, making the team based solely on offensive performance is going to be a tall task.
Getting six players enough reps in practice during the season and opportunities on Sundays can already be a tall task. Realistically, the seventh receiver won’t have much, if any, of a role on offense, not to mention that keeping a seventh wideout means going light at another position such as linebacker, cornerback, or safety.
“We try to be deliberate about it and make sure that you’re giving guys opportunities to do the things that can showcase their ability and can help the team win,” said receivers coach Ryan Mahaffey. “So I think you just gotta be intentional about that each and every single day of trying to be able to manage that and make sure that guys are getting the opportunities to go out there and show what they can do, but those opportunities are earned at the same time.”
Like any back end of the roster spot, special teams play will be vital, along with that player being able to contribute to multiple units, because that would likely be where their playing time would come from. Without that ability, the seventh wide receiver would most likely end up as inactive on game days.
With special teams often being a deciding factor in determining these final roster spots, these players aren’t only competing with their position group, but with others who also contribute on teams. Can DuBose or Toure provide more special teams value than Kristian Welch, Robert Rochell, or Zayne Anderson? I’m going to guess probably not, which again, makes rostering a seventh receiver a challenge.
The 2022 season was the only time during the Matt LaFleur era that we saw the Packers roster seven receivers on their initial 53-man roster—so it has happened before.
This is an extremely talented group, which provides the opportunity for the Packers to go heavy at this position, but with it already being a young unit, having youth on the roster isn’t a concern, and it’s difficult to see where the seventh receiver could make a regular impact on game days, meaning that roster spot can probably be put to a more effective use elsewhere.