Paul Bretl | 8/18/2024
GREEN BAY, Wis. — From the sounds of it, after a joint practice in Denver on Friday, most of the Packers’ starters aren’t going to suit up for the preseason game with the Broncos. However, with roster cuts looming, there will still be plenty to watch for with playing time and roster spots up for grabs.
Here are the key positional battles that I’ll have my eyes on as Sunday’s game unfolds:
Backup quarterback: Both Sean Clifford and Michael Pratt are in a critical stretch right now, in the midst of playing three preseason games and two joint practices in a two week span. While experience is what perhaps mainly gave Clifford the edge early on, that window does seem to be closing, with Pratt seemingly making up ground.
Although Matt LaFleur was quick to dismiss it, during Tuesday’s practice, after a pair of interceptions from Clifford, Pratt ran the red zone and two minute periods with the second team offense. On Wednesday, it was back to Clifford taking those reps with LaFleur saying he expected Clifford to start against Denver with Jordan Love not playing.
Clifford has a gamer quality to him–playing his best when it matters most. Two of Clifford’s better days this summer have come during Family Night and in Cleveland. LaFleur has also often used the word resilient to describe Clifford with his ability to bounce back after a negative play. Those abilities are his superpowers, but a lack of consistency in practice, which sparked by being out of rhythm and trying to making things happen, has resulted in an overall up and down training camp.
Whether it’s LaFleur, Tom Clements or Adam Stenavich being asked about Pratt, there is always this initial pause before they respond. The pause is not a negative or a knock on Pratt, who is doing all the right things and continuing to make plays on the practice field. The pause comes from him being a first year quarterback, who is learning a new offense, which LaFleur equates to drinking water out of a fire hose.
Although navigating that learning curve, you can see Pratt’s comfort and understanding of the offense growing with his decision-making, timely throws, and ball placement. With the installs now in, Pratt is going through it all for a second, third, and fourth time, which is only going to help his comfort level grow.
“For Mike and I, it’s about battling every single day,” Clifford said. “We know we’re in a competition. It’s super-healthy. I respect him so much. He’s a great quarterback, so it’s awesome for me because, if I slip up, he’s going to come back and make a play. It’s balancing that back and forth and just knowing the situation, too. We know what’s at stake but you can still be friendly and have a good, competitive room and just want to win, because that’s what we’re here to do.”
Emanuel Wilson: There’s no question that Wilson has real playmaking abilities with the ball in his hands. We saw it last preseason when he averaged 5.9 yards per carry. We saw it in a small sample size during the 2023 regular season when he averaged 6.1 yards per carry. And we saw it in Cleveland when Wilson averaged 5.2 yards per carry.
However, to make the team over AJ Dillon–who is still getting the backup running back reps–pass-blocking and the ability to be a reliable pass-catcher very much matter. The pass-blocking specifically, is still an area for Wilson that, while improving, is a work in progress.
“We’re still working on that part of it,” said running backs coach Ben Sirmans about Wilson being a three-down back. “He has shown whether it’s 1-on-1s that when he does attack things with the proper technique that he can block people, and I think the other thing besides that is he’s shown whether it’s a walkthrough or different phases we’ve put him in where we’ve brought pressure that he’s much more I guess educated at what his assignment is and making really good decisions.
“So I think that’s something that we’re working towards, but we’ve just got to continue to put him in those situations to get a full answer on that. but my trust level is growing with him.”
If we assume the running back room is healthy, with Josh Jacobs handling the workload at the position and then MarShawn Lloyd’s ability to make defenders miss, it’s not as if there are going to be many–if any–opportunities each week for the third running back to touch the ball. So in what other ways can that player impact the game? Special teams and being a capable blocker in obvious passing situations are likely Wilson or Dillon’s best avenue to seeing snaps, especially with Lloyd still learning in that regard.
Can Grant DuBose do it again? In the preseason opener, DuBose caught 5-of-6 passes for 66 yards. Afterwards, Jordan Love said he wasn’t surprised by this performance from DuBose, and frankly, I wasn’t either because he’s been regularly making plays in practice since OTAs began in April.
Not only is DuBose making an impact in the passing game, but he’s been praised for his ability in the run game as well, with LaFleur even showing clips of DuBose blocking to the entire team as an example of the effort he wants to see.
Now, the next step for DuBose is build off the very strong foundation he’s already established.
“You know, you just got to go out there and do the things that you’ve been taught,” said DuBose about repeating last week’s performance. “Do the things that you’ve been coached to. Not let the moment get too big for you because that’s when you play out of whack I guess, whatever you want to call it.
“Try to make the plays, just doing what you’ve been coached to do. The ball finds good energy. That’s the mentality. Did it last week now just got to do it again this week and the week after.”
What about right guard? The first question here is, will Jordan Morgan play? Talking with Morgan at his locker after Wednesday’s practice, at that time he was uncertain about if he would be available or not. While it’s being called a competition at right guard by the coaching staff, when Morgan is healthy, this doesn’t appear to be a competition at all, with him taking all of the first team reps at this position.
Not only is Morgan making the jump from college to the NFL, but he’s also moving from tackle to guard and from the left side of the line to the right side. A transition that certainly came with a learning curve, but one that Morgan is now much more comfortable with.
“I’d say just technique,” Morgan said when asked about playing guard. “I mean, the footwork and the hand placement. I’m used to punching with my left then getting out there and having to punch with my right. It’s so different and you’ve got to get used to the timing and pick up everything quicker.
“It’s been going smooth now,” Morgan added. “I picked it up pretty well the past couple of weeks.”
If Morgan can’t play, then we will likely see Sean Rhyan–although Jacob Monk did take some starting snaps during Friday’s joint practice. Rhyan is Morgan’s primary competitor for the starting right guard job, but is being cross-trained to play all three interior positions in the event that he ends up as a backup. Consistency and improved condition are what the Packers are looking for from Rhyan. Monk, meanwhile, has seen more opportunities with the ones as of late, and brings a ‘rip your lips off’ mentality to the football field.
“I’m just trying to get crackerjack at both,” said Rhyan. “Trying to minimize that lag just so that I can flip both sides real quick. So that whether something happens, left, right or center, I can just be able to–they can be like ‘alright go in,’ and I don’t have to worry about ‘is this pass set gonna’–you know? Are his hips aligned? Are his hands good? It’s all of that type of stuff. Just trying to minimalize that lag.”
The cornerback depth chart: We know who the first four spots on the cornerback depth chart belong to, but after that, things become a bit more murky. Realistically, at best, there are two roster spots up for grabs if the Packers choose to keep six. However, keeping five cornerbacks is also in the cards, which would mean only slot is available for either Corey Ballentine, Kalen King, and Robert Rochell.
From what we can glean in practice, both Ballentine and King are working out of the slot during individual drills. However, when the second defense is lined up in nickel, Ballentine and Rochell are on the boundary with King inside. Of the three, Ballentine appears to be the first boundary option, taking some starting snaps here and there when Jaire Alexander or Eric Stokes need a breather. I would categorize Javon Bullard as the true backup nickel at this time–not King.
Defensively, Ballentine proved to be a capable boundary starter last season. King has acclimated well to the slot, bringing a level of physicality to the position, and has made some splash plays, including two interceptions in practice, a “sack,” and a tackle for loss against the Browns.
“He’s just really instinctive,” said LaFleur about King. “He’s a really good football player. The more opportunities he gets the more he seems to show up and make plays.”
Rochell, who did have a nice performance against Cleveland, would be more of a special teams contributor, which is going to matter at the back-end of this position group. Rochell and Ballentine have both been core special teams contributors during their time with the Packers, while King got a lot of work there in Week 1, playing the third-most snaps on the team.
Who is starting at safety and what does the rotation look like? If you ask LaFleur, the competition to find Xavier McKinney’s running mate is still unfolding. However, it’s been a number of practices in a row where Bullard has been the “starting” safety, with Evan Williams being rotated in after him.
“I think that all those guys are doing a pretty good job,” said LaFleur. “So I think we’ll let them play out. I know you guys want to know like yesterday, but I told you, don’t pay attention to those depth charts. They don’t mean squat right now.”
Bullard is a very physical player and when not at safety, has seen his share of snaps in the slot as of late. Williams was all over the field in Cleveland making tackles, and continues to come up with the splash plays, having totaled four interceptions in training camp and a forced fumble in the preseason game.
Eventually, a starter next to McKinney is going to be named, but both Bullard and Williams are going to have fairly big roles this season. I anticipate there being quite a bit of movement, with the weekly game-plan dictating who is lining up where and how often. Right now the emphasis for the Packers is to put the rookies in as many different situations as possible to get them acclimated to the variety of hats they may have to wear in season.
Having this level of versatility among multiple players to the safety position generates a layer of unpredictability to the Packers’ defense. Pre-snap, opposing offenses won’t be able to necessarily get a beat on what responsibility each player has or where they might end up as the play unfolds based solely upon who is on the field or where each safety is initially lined up.
Don’t forget about special teams: During the preseason, always keep your eyes on who is starting on special teams. While this may not be everything, it can provide us with some insight into where things stand at some of those back end roster battles, particularly at linebacker, cornerback, and safety–heavy special teams positions.