A to Z Sports

It's looking like a Packers’ 20-year tradition will go away this time around

By Wendell Ferreira,

3 hours ago

The Green Bay Packers is historically a developmental franchise. Particularly since Ted Thompson days as a general manager, the team likes to add young pieces and build around their growth. That included not only draft picks, but also undrafted free agents.

Thompson was the general manager from 2005 to 2017, and Brian Gutekunst has been the main executive since 2018. In each of these seasons, Green Bay has kept at least one undrafted rookie on the initial 53-man roster.

Remember the undrafted rookies to make the Packers' 53-man roster over the last two decades:

2005: LB Roy Manning, OL Chris White
2006: DL Jason Hunter
2007: DL Daniel Muir
2008: RB Kregg Lumpkin
2009: OL Evan Smith
2010: CB Sam Shields, LB Frank Zombo, OL Nick McDonald
2011: LB Vic So'oto, LB Jamari Lattimore, S M.D. Jennings
2012: OL Don Barclay, LB Dez Moses, S Sean Richardson, WR Jarrett Boykin
2013: OL Lane Taylor, S Chris Banjo, LB Andy Mulumba
2014: LB Jayrone Elliott, DL Mike Pennel
2015: CB La'Darius Gunter, RB Alonzo Harris
2016: S Kentrell Brice, S Marwin Evans, QB Joe Callahan, CB Josh Hawkins, RB Jhurell Pressley
2017: P Justin Vogel, CB Linzy Pipkens, LB Chris Odom
2018: QB Tim Boyle, OL Alex Light, S Raven Greene, LB James Crawford
2019: WR Darrius Shepherd
2020: LB Krys Barnes
2021: DL Jack Heflin
2022: LS Jack Coco
2023: WR Malik Heath, LB Brenton Cox, RB Emanuel Wilson

That tradition has a high chance of going away this year, though. For a variety of reasons, especially the high number of draft picks over the last three seasons (leading the NFL), the Packers had a small undrafted class in 2024.

And based on what training camp has shown us so far, it's hard to project any of them making the team.

These are the undrafted rookies on the 90-man roster:

RB Jarveon Howard
WR Julian Hicks
WR Dimitri Stanley
TE Messiah Swinson
G Donovan Jennings
DT James Ester
LB Ralen Goforth
LB Chris Russell
CB LJ Davis
K Alex Hale

Offense

Initially, guard Donovan Jennings was one of the undrafted players with the highest chance of making the team ( he was even drafted in the UFL ), but an injury limited his opportunities. He can still be an option, but it's getting less and less likely — the Packers would probably like to keep him on the practice squad, but it's hard to justify a 53-man spot.

Running back Jarveon Howard had eight runs for 44 yards against the Cleveland Browns in the preseason opener, averaging 5.5 yards per attempt. He's a good fit for Matt LaFleur's scheme because of his ability to identify and attack holes after moving horizontally. The RB room has Josh Jacobs, MarShawn Lloyd, AJ Dillon, and Emanuel Wilson in front of him, so a practice squad spot seems more likely.

Julian Hicks had a 23-yard reception and is an intriguing prospect, but the depth at the position makes it nearly impossible for him (and for Dimitri Stanley) to be on the team. Tight end Messiah Swinson's performance hasn't caught the attention throughout training camp.

Defense

Ralen Goforth led the defense with 69% of the snaps in the preseason opener, and he played well, finishing the game with six total tackles. It's still a long shot for him to make the roster, but if an undrafted defensive player can, it's him.

James Ester and LJ Davis also participated in the game, but without much prominence. Chris Russell has been signed this week, so he will have a small amount of time to show his potential.

Special teams

Long snapper Peter Bowden was certainly the undrafted player with the highest chance of making the team . He was the consensus best long snapper of the class, and veteran Matthew Orzech didn't have a great season in 2023. However, Bowden was cut after playing only one snap against the Browns, and the competition is over.

Kicker Alex Hale was signed last week and had a good day of practice, but missed three kicks on Wednesday. He hadn't played a single snap against the Browns, with Anders Carlson and Greg Joseph splitting the kicking duties. Let's see what the last two preseason games reserve for Hale, but it's a long road for him to surpass the two other options.