The Preseason is over and that means it’s time to cut down to the Packers 53-man roster.

The 2023 Green Bay Packers are young. The 91-man offseason roster (91 for Green Bay thanks to the International Player Pathway and ED Kenneth Odumegwu) has only 4 players age 30 or older — P Pat O’Donnell (32), LT David Bakhtiari (31), ED Preston Smith (30), and LB De’Vondre Campell (30). With that youth comes a lot of excitement for the talent and hope for development.

As a result, this has been one of the toughest years to contemplate and predict the 53-man roster and practice squad. There are so many positions that have a depth of young players vying for playing time and showing flashes of their potential. At the same time, though, there are some positions that either have had open battles that no one has seized or that have fallen victim to injury. Both of these make it hard to predict the number of players Green Bay will keep at those positions.

But here’s my best hack at the initial 53-man roster. I don’t expect the initial 53 and practice squad to be the same even by the time the Packers face off with the Bears on September 10th.

Packers Initial 53-man Roster

Offense

Quarterbacks

Likely the easiest position to predict, as HC Matt LaFleur has outright stated that QB Sean Clifford has earned the backup Quarterback job.

• QB Jordan Love
• QB Sean Clifford

Running Backs

The top of the RB chart is easy, but the real question comes down to whether will they keep a 3rd back. For me, this came down to the rest of the roster construction. I chose to keep

• RB Aaron Jones
• RB AJ Dillon
• RB Emmanuel Wilson

Wide Receivers

The Packers have the youngest group of pass catchers in the NFL. While many national analysts and pundits spoke out against the Packers for not supporting Jordan Love, this group has shown why LaFleur & Co. felt confident in sticking with their guys. The first five guys I felt locked up their spots on the roster heading into the Seattle game. Wicks by virtue of his play and the draft capital spent on him, made sense to round out the group despite being limited by injury.

• WR Christian Watson
• WR Romeo Doubs
• WR Jayden Reed
• WR Samori Toure
• WR Malik Heath
• WR Dontayvion Wicks

Tight Ends / H-Backs

The Tyler Davis Injury hurts the Packers Tight End room, but probably hurts from a Special Teams perspective even more. Rolling with a young, talented pair of Tight Ends will be a challenge for the Packers.

• TE Luke Musgrave
• TE Tucker Kraft
• TE/FB Josiah Deguara
• TE Austin Allen

O-Line

Arguably the strongest position group on the roster is the Offensive Line. There’s been plenty of discussion about the “Best-5”, but the concerns over Josh Myers at Center are a problem of privilege. The depth along the interior is probably the weakest spot of this strong group, but that likely is overcome by the positional versatility of Zach Tom.

• LT David Bakhtiari
• LG Elgton Jenkins
• C Josh Myers
• RG Jon Runyan Jr.
• RT Zach Tom
• OT Rasheed Walker
• OT Yosh Nijman
• OT Caleb Jones
• OG Sean Rhyan

Defense

D-Line

The Defensive Line has a lot of young players who will be playing a bigger role in 2023 after the departure of DE Dean Lowry and DT Jarran Reed. 2022 first-rounder Devonte Wyatt and DT T.J. Slaton will fill those voids, but the addition of a few dynamic rookies will help round out that rotation.

• DL Kenny Clark
• DL Devonte Wyatt
• DL T.J. Slaton
• DL Colby Wooden
• DL Karl Brooks

Edge Rushers

One of the more exciting position groups on this roster is the Edge Rushers. 1st-round pick Lukas Van Ness shouldn’t have to play a major role with veteran ED Preston Smith playing well and second-year ED Kingsley Enagbare having an outstanding preseason. The imminent return of Rashan Gary makes this group that much more exciting.

• ED Rashan Gary
• ED Preston Smith
• ED Kingsley Enagbare
• ED Lukas Van Ness
• ED Justin Hollins
• ED Brenton Cox Jr.

Linebackers

The Packers are weathering an injury to starting LB De’Vondre Campbell, but expect him to be back for Week 1. The biggest question for me at LB was a battle between LB Eric Wilson and LB Tariq Carpenter for the LB4 position.

• LB De’Vondre Campbell
• LB Quay Walker
• LB Isaiah McDuffie
• LB Eric Wilson
• LB Tariq Carpenter

Cornerbacks

With CB Eric Stokes still on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list, how many cornerbacks will Gutey and LaFleur keep? I think the number the keep will be telling of the course ahead for Eric Stokes. If they keep 5, I expect that means Stokes has a long road ahead of him. Either way, when he’s back, he’ll be CB3.

• CB Jaire Alexander
• CB Rasul Douglas
• CB Keisean Nixon
• CB Carrington Valentine
• CB/S Innis Gaines

Safeties

The likely weakest group on an otherwise very talented Defense, the Safeties are a bit of a mess. There’s been an open battle for the starting position opposite S Darnel Savage, but I don’t think his job is even locked up at this point. I expect there to be a rotation even into mid-season based on matchups but also to see where chemistry develops to solidify the position.

• S Darnel Savage
• S Rudy Ford
• S Anthony Johnson Jr.
• S Tarvarius Moore
• S Dallin Leavitt

Special Teams

While K Anders Carlson has struggled at times, the Packers brass has been resolute in their stance not to bring in any competition. They’re prepared to weather the storm through his rookie struggles, but the Punter and Long Snapper competition plays an integral role in the “Operation” and there was healthy competition there throughout camp. I look forward to developing cohesion and continuity amongst the specialist’s group.

• K Anders Carlson
• P Pat O’Donnell
• LS Matt Orzech

Packers Roster Breakdown

Below is a breakdown of numbers kept on the Packers 2023 53-man roster by position:

Offense

• QB (2)
• RB (3)
• WR (6)
• TE/H (4)
• OL (9)

Defense

• DL (5)
• ED (6)
• LB (5)
• CB (5)
• S (5)

Special Teams

• K (1)
• P (1)
• LS (1)

To see how the practice squad rounds out, and who ended up missing the roster entirely, read the article here.