Green Bay Packers 2010 FINAL Roster Predictions – 9/3/10

Final Green Bay Packers roster predictions for 2010.  Now that the Green Bay Packers have completed the preseason, here is my best guess at predicting the 53-man roster they will enter the regular season with. Anything you see in RED are additions and/or changes from my preliminary predictions before the Chiefs game.

Quarterbacks – 2

Aaron Rodgers           yes

Matt Flynn                   yes

Graham Harrell          cut – PS (will probably be claimed)

The only question here is, will Harrell last on the practice squad? Having had Brian Brohm picked up off their practice squad last season, Harrell is another QB with a good college football resume. It’s very possible  another team would take a chance on him. Would the Packers be tempted to do what most NFL teams do and keep 3 QBs on their roster? I’ll vote no.

Running Backs – 5

Ryan Grant                  yes

Brandon Jackson       yes

Kregg Lumpkin           yes

Quinn Porter                IR

James Starks                PUP

John Kuhn                    yes

Korey Hall                    cut / trade

Quinn Johnson          yes

The Packers were either showcasing Quinn Johnson for a trade in the Chiefs game or giving him every opportunity to convince them to keep him. He played well. I think MM has plans to be protecting a lot of 4th quarter leads this season, running off the clock with a power run game of Ryan Grant behind Quinn Johnson.  Johnson stays, unless he draws a much better trade offer than Hall.

In a way, I’m relieved that things worked out the way they did for James Starks and Quinn Porter. These are two guys I believe will have success down the road, but could use a year in the gym and a chance to  study Mike McCarthy’s  system with no pressure. Thinking about the future, I didn’t want to lose either of these guys. As for the fullbacks, the 3FB experiment of last season is probably done. Kuhn has shown his versatility and value to the team, so it’s between Korey Hall and Quinn Johnson. I don’t think the Packers are ready to give up on Johnson after only 1 year in the league. Hall is steady at many things, but unspectacular at any. I see the Packers shopping him for a draft pick, as his special teams plays could have value to another team. If there are no takers, he is gone.

Wide Receivers – 5

Greg Jennings             yes

Donald Driver              yes

James Jones                yes

Jordy Nelson              yes

Brett Swain                  yes

Charles Dillon             cut-PS

Jason Chery                cut

Chastin West               cut-PS

Patrick Williams          cut

No changes here. Was disappointed in Dillon last night. Williams may be put on the PS ahead of him. Many have suggested going with 4WR. I just don’t see it on a MM team.

No surprises here. The receiving corps is the same as last year. As much as I had wanted to see Charles Dillon make this team, part of that was predicated on his getting a shot at kick returning, which never happened. Surprising, since he had good success in college. I’d still like to see the Packers put him on the PS, as I like him as a bubble screen type guy who can surprise with his moves after the catch.  Out of the others, I don’t believe Chery has a real shot, unless he runs back two more kicks for touchdowns in the last preseason game. I really think his TD runback in the Colts game just a perfect storm of lucky circumstances. Chastin West has shown to be steady and catches every ball thrown to him, but seems to lack the athleticism needed.

Tight Ends – 4

Jermichael Finley         yes

Andrew Quarless          yes

Donald Lee                  trade

Tom Crabtree               yes

Spencer Havner           yes

While I don’t expect the Packers to be actively shopping Donald Lee, I do think some teams will come calling. The Packers need a way out of their five tight end predicament. I don’t believe they want to expose Crabtree. They value his blocking  and he’s been playing on all the special teams #1 units this preseason. That tells me they want to find a way to keep him. Havner is a keeper because of his ability to also play LB in an emergency and Quarless will be given time to see if he can follow down Finley’s path.

This may be the toughest call on the roster. The Packers like all five guys. All five deserve to be on the team. The Packers will not want to lose Quarless and Crabtree. I don’t believe they’ll keep five, so the only way out of this predicament is to look for a trade. Although the Packers still consider Donald Lee their #2 tight end, as an experienced player with starting experience, he has the most trade value. There are several teams out there hurting for tight ends that would love to have a Donald Lee. He’d be a perfect fit for the Giants, for example. Note that I’m not advocating trading Lee, nor do I think there is a great chance of it happening. I would be perfectly happy if he stays, but I think this is a way for the Packers to not lose the younger guys and get a player in return.

Offensive Linemen – 9

Chad Clifton                yes

Mark Tauscher            yes

Bryan Bulaga                yes

Josh Sitton                   yes

Scott Wells                   yes

Daryn Colledge            yes

Evan Dietrich-Smith    yes

Jason Spitz                   Trade

Breno Giacomini         cut

Allen Barbre                 cut

TJ Lang                       yes

Marshall Newhouse      yes

Nick McDonald           cut-PS

Chris Campbell             cut-PS

No changes. Spitz is the most likely player on the roster to be moved.

I don’t think there will a lot of surprises here. I don’t see the Packers keeping both Evan Dietrich-Smith and Spitz to serve the same backup role, so Spitz will definitely be shopped. I think he’s the most likely Packers player to be traded.  I was high on McDonald coming into camp, but he was a bit overwhelmed at first. Lately he has come on and has drawn praise from Mike McCarthy, so the Packers like him, but he needs to get stronger. A year on the practice squad would be perfect for him. Campbell has shown little fire and is a long-term project, at best. Newhouse really came on the last few weeks when the Packers moved him back to tackle. Early on, I though he was in danger of not even making the team, but now I believe he’s in.  Barbre and Giacomini are definitely gone, one way or the other. If TT can swindle a low draft pick for either of them, we’ll take it and run.

Defensive Line – 7

Cullen Jenkins              yes

BJ Raji                        yes

Ryan Pickett                yes

Anthony Toribio           cut-PS

Mike Neal                    yes

Justin Harrell                yes

CJ Wilson                    yes

Jarius Wynn                 yes

Ronald Talley               cut

I’m adding a 7th DL here.  the Packers  don’t want to lose Wilson, and Wynn is not practice squad eligible. You can never have too many big bodies.

Is Harrell really healthy and can he really contribute? The makeup of the reserve DLs all revolves around the answer to that question. The Packers WANT to keep Harrell. They WANT his big body as a backup DL. I’m guessing they give him every benefit of the doubt (as they have done for 3 yrs) and keep him. That leaves the battle for the last spot (I’m keeping 6DLs) to Jarius Wynn and C.J. Wilson.  They are fairly even in talent level, but Wilson has the better frame for a 3-4DE.  Unfortunately, he’s too green and  just not ready. Wynn is not practice squad eligible, so I think the Packers keep Wynn and try to stash Wilson on the practice squad. There’s also a very good possibility they keep 7  defensive linemen, in which case Toribio has a chance to make it, or they decide to keep Wilson on the roster.

Linebackers – 8

Nick Barnett                yes

Clay Matthews            yes

AJ Hawk                     yes

Brad Jones                   yes

Brandon Chillar            yes

Desmond Bishop         yes

Robert Francois            cut-PS

Frank Zombo               yes

Brady Poppinga           yes

Cyril Obiozor               cut-PS

Maurice Simpkins         cut

Alex Joseph                  cut-PS

No changes. In my opinion, Obiozor played himself off the team last night. I saw some really poor efforts. Don’t know how much he cares. Whereas Maurice Simpkins so obviously cared. He was everywhere last night. Yeah, he got beat in coverage when matched up with wide receivers, but no surprise there. He’s not going to make the team, but worked himself into the PS discussion. As I said below, wouldn’t be surprised if the Packers sign somebody here…

Pretty cut and dried here. It’s obvious who the top eight linebackers are. The only question is who makes it if they decide to keep nine? I think Alex Joseph has potential to be another UDFA surprise, but practice squad would be best for him. Obiozor and Francois would seemingly have the inside track to be the ninth linebacker. Francois is probably a little more polished, but Obiozor more athletic. Obiozer sometimes seems to be lacking a passion for football to me – I don’t know that he’s in love with playing the game, like a Zombo is, for example. The other possibility is Maurice Simpkins, the Arena footballer who has been better than expected, and has shown some flashes on special teams. I don’t think any of these three will entice the Packers to keep 9 linebackers. Wouldn’t be surprised to see a LB picked up from another team.

Secondary – 10

Nick Collins                 yes

Charles Woodson        yes

Al Harris                      PUP

Atari Bigby                   PUP

Morgan Burnett           yes

Tramon Williams          yes

Will Blackmon             IR or cut.

Sam Shields                  yes

Pat Lee                        yes

Brandon Underwood    yes

Jarrett Bush                  yes

Derrick Martin             yes

Charlie Peprah             yes

Anthony Levine            cut-PS

DJ Clark                      cut

Josh Bell (IR)               IR

It’s becoming pretty clear Blackmon will not be able to help this team anytime soon. Can the Packers  afford to hold a roster spot for him just because he’s their best punt returner? Unless he make a dramatic improvement in these 2 days, the Packers have to look elsewhere.

This didn’t happen intentionally, but I ended up with eleven defensive backs.  I guess with Harris and Bigby on PUP,  the question marks about Blackmon’s knee, Underwood’s injury and Lee’s lackluster play, I wanted as many alternative options as possible. Hell, I even kept Jarrett Bush! While I don’t really believe the Packers would keep eleven, I’ll leave my list as is for now.  My last two adds were Jarret Bush and Charlie Peprah. For me, both are just insurance policies.

Specialists – 3

Mason Crosby             yes

Tim Masthay                yes

Chris Bryan                  cut

Brett Goode                yes

No changes here.

Although I have been rooting for Bryan, Mathsay has definitely been better the last two weeks. Bryan has the edge in positional punting, but it’s not enough to offset his inconsistency when it comes time to let go and  boom one.

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Jersey Al Bracco is the founder and editor of AllGreenBayPackers.com, and the co-founder of Packers Talk Radio Network. He can be heard as one of the Co-Hosts on Cheesehead Radio and is the Green Bay Packers Draft Analyst for Drafttek.com.

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