For the fourth straight year, we’re going to be charting the Green Bay Packers’ first-team snaps this summer. While we don’t have video of practice, we do have the broadcast of Family Night and will get the team’s preseason games, which the starters sometimes play in.
As much as I’d like to put this series to rest, it unfortunately is worth tracking because of how high the correlation is to players making the roster. Let’s go through who got first-team looks on both offense and defense on Family Night before diving into some core special teams thoughts.
Running Back
- 21 snaps: Josh Jacobs
- 14: Chris Brooks
Quarterback is obvious, so we’re just going to skip that position entirely. At running back, it’s worth noting that both Emanuel Wilson (knee) and MarShawn Lloyd (groin) were non-participants in practice on Saturday due to injury. It’s not surprising in any way that Josh Jacobs and Chris Brooks, two players who made the 53-man roster last year, were the most played backs when Jordan Love was under center, but it is worth mentioning that the three other healthy running backs on the team — Amar Johnson Jalen White and Israel Abanikanda — didn’t get a single look with “the ones.” If they’re going to make any sort of dent on this roster, it’s going to need to come in the preseason.
Receiver
- 27: Matthew Golden (22 wide, 5 slot)
- 22: Malik Heath (16, 6)
- 21: Romeo Doubs (20, 1)
- 11: Mecole Hardman (4, 7)
- 10: Jayden Reed (0, 10)
- 10: Luke Musgrave (TE) (1, 9)
- 4 Savion Williams (4, 0)
- 1: Ben Sims (TE) (0, 1)
- 1: Julian Hicks (1, 0)
- 1 Josh Jacobs (RB) (1, 0)
I wanted to point out the wide receiver and slot split here off of the rip. While there’s been some optimism that Jayden Reed can develop into a larger role, the Packers have used him in very specific situations so far in his career. Usually, he’s only on the field in three-receiver sets as the slot receiver. For example, over the last two years, Malik Heath has played nearly five times as many two-receiver sets as Reed. On Saturday, all of Reed’s snaps came with him in the slot (pre- or post-motion) out of three-receiver sets, more of the same.
A really positive sign here is that rookie first-round pick Matthew Golden is very much in the mix as a top receiver on the team, despite the Packers historically slow-playing rookies’ first-team reps. The second play of team drills was an end-around to Golden. They probably like him A LOT on the relative scale of rookies they’ve had roll through the building.
I wouldn’t make too much of Malik Heath getting a bunch of outside receiver reps here, because Savion Williams was pulled out of the game for an apparent injury, according to head coach Matt LaFleur’s press conference, and both Dontayvion Wicks (unknown) and Christian Watson (knee) missed action. I will say, though, it is interesting that Heath got more snaps than Mecole Hardman, who probably has to win the punt return job to be the sixth receiver on the 53-man roster.
Tight End
- 23: Luke Musgrave
- 11: John FitzPatrick
- 2: Ben Sims
I’m going to be honest here, these numbers might not be 100 percent accurate. I tried my best charting the snaps on the grainy feed I screen-recorded of the practice, but all of Luke Musgrave, John FitzPatrick and Ben Sims rolled up their jerseys yesterday, look similar from an accessories standpoint and wear the numbers 88, 86 and 89. I stress again: I tried my best.
If these numbers hold, it shouldn’t be a shock that FitzPatrick played more snaps than Sims with the first-team offense. Last year, after FitzPatrick was picked off the Atlanta Falcons’ practice squad, he began to out-snap Sims on both the offensive side of the ball and on special teams. Depending on how many tight ends special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia believes he needs on his unit, the team could keep as few as three at the position. Starter Tucker Kraft was out with an unknown injury that LaFleur described as something he had been pushing through. There is no expectation that this is a serious issue, as LaFleur said he just wanted to give Kraft some rest.
Offensive Line
- 36: Jordan Morgan (left tackle)
- 36: Aaron Banks (left guard)
- 36: Elgton Jenkins (center)
- 36: Sean Rhyan (right guard)
- 28: Zach Tom (right tackle)
- 8: Anthony Belton (right tackle)
Because preferred left tackle Rasheed Walker was out with a groin issue, second-year first-round pick Jordan Morgan played every snap at left tackle on Family Night. The offensive line was consistent, from a personnel standpoint, until the two-minute drill where second-round rookie Anthony Belton subbed in for Zach Tom. Outside of the performance of the tackles (Morgan, Belton and Kadeem Telfort all struggled), the only news of note here is that Sean Rhyan played every snap as the right guard with the first-team unit. Previously, he had been rotating with Morgan and Jacob Monk in camp.
Defensive End
- 20: Rashan Gary
- 20: Lukas Van Ness
- 2: Brenton Cox Jr.
- 1: Barryn Sorrell
- 1: Kingsley Enagbare
It’s pretty clear that Lukas Van Ness is going to be the starter opposite of Rashan Gary. He played in 20 of the 22 defensive snaps before mass subs (more than half of the first-team defense was on the bench) entered the mix. Something must have changed between now and the trade deadline, when the Packers chose to play Kingsley Enagbare as Preston Smith’s preplacement following Smith’s in-season trade to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Collin Oliver, the team’s fifth-round rookie, has not played in camp yet due to a hamstring issue. Green Bay can probably only be able to keep five players at the position, which means one of Brenton Cox Jr. or Enagbare will end up being cut. Whichever one survives the cutdown deadline, though, will probably be the top backup at the position in 2025.
Defensive Tackle
- 19: Kenny Clark
- 18: Devonte Wyatt
- 3: Karl Brooks
- 2: Colby Wooden
- 2: Warren Brinson
- 1: Nazir Stackhouse
There wasn’t a lot of consistency here, in terms of playing time, other than Kenny Clark and Devonte Wyatt starting. Undrafted rookie Nazir Stackhouse has been building some hype lately and was on the field for one snap with the first-team unit before mass subs, but ultimately, this unit’s performance in preseason games will decide who does or doesn’t make the team.
Linebacker
- 21: Isaiah McDuffie
- 17: Edgerrin Cooper
- 13: Isaiah Simmons
- 4: Ty’Ron Hopper
Quay Walker is still rehabbing his ankle injury, but was fully suited up for Family Night yesterday. The assumption is that he and Edgerrin Cooper will be the team’s starting linebackers in two-linebacker sets this year, with Isaiah McDuffie coming off the bench in three-linebacker looks. The top backup will be special teams ace and former first-round pick Isaiah Simmons, but third-round second-year player Ty’Ron Hopper did play a couple of snaps before mass subs.
Cornerback
- 21: Keisean Nixon
- 20: Carrington Valentine
- 2: Bo Melton
- 1: Kalen King
Cornerback is another position dealing with injury. Free-agent signing Nate Hobbs (knee) was unable to play. Previously, Hobbs split time between outside cornerback (in two-cornerback looks) and slot corner (in nickel looks) this summer. With Hobbs out of the mix, it was clear that Carrington Valentine, who picked off Love and had a positive night overall, was going to be the next man up. Behind Valentine are Bo Melton, the converted wide receiver, and second-year player Kalen King. Kamal Hadden (hip), who got call-ups to play special teams over King last year, was injured on Saturday, though, so maybe Hadden will displace King for the fifth cornerback spot on the 53-man roster. Keep that in mind.
Slot
With Hobbs out, safety Javon Bullard played every single slot rep for the Packers’ first-team defense on Saturday. The team just doesn’t seem interested in playing someone other than those two at the position this year, if push came to shove.
Safety
- 22: Xavier McKinney
- 18: Evan Williams
- 3: Javon Bullard
- 1: Kitan Oladapo
Bullard and Evan Williams have been splitting time at safety opposite Xavier McKinney this summer, but with Hobbs out, most of Bullard’s snaps came in the slot. Again, this shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone. What is a little interesting here is that second-year player Kitan Oladapo got a look over Zayne Anderson, who was previously the top “reserve” player at the position in 2024.
Special Teams
The team didn’t really work on kickoffs or kick returns in practice, so I’m not going to get into that. I’m also not going to focus on the field goal block team, as the unit mostly played “defense stay” personnel during their looks on Saturday.
What we can glean at, though, is the team’s punt protection personnel and their field goal protection units. These, generally, give us a good look at who the team is leaning toward keeping deeper on the 53-man roster, where special teams ability is absolutely a factor.
On the punt team, the gunners/fliers were cornerback Bo Melton and linebacker Isaiah Simmons. The offensive line was made up of defensive end Lukas Van Ness (guard), defensive end Kingsley Enagbare (guard), linebacker Isaiah Hopper (tackle) and linebacker Isaiah McDuffie (tackle). If Enagbare earns this job over Brenton Cox Jr., that could be enough to push Cox off of the 53-man roster, considering the team spent two mid-round picks on rookies there this April.
In the deep protection unit, the wings were linebacker Kristian Welch and running back Chris Brooks, with safety Zayne Anderson being the personal protector for the punter. Welch is interesting because I’m not sure if there’s room to keep six linebackers on the 53-man roster.
On the field goal protection team, the line of scrimmage players were tackle Anthony Belton, tackle Kadeem Telfort, guard Aaron Banks, tackle/guard Jordan Morgan, guard/center Sean Rhyan and defensive end Warren Brinson. The only roster bubble players in this group are Telfort, who might have been subbed in for either the injured Rasheed Walker or Travis Glover, and Brinson. Hopefully, we get a look at what this unit looks like when they’re healthy down the line. The wings on the protection unit were Zach Tom and tight end John FitzPatrick, yet another sign that FitzPatrick has the edge over Ben Sims at the position.
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