2023 Packers roster ranking, 10-1: Green Bay's present and future core

The Leap ranks the Green Bay Packers' 90-man roster in order of player caliber.

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With the Green Bay Packers on break until training camp and the personnel essentially frozen for the foreseeable future, The Leap has decided to use this time to release its 90-man roster rankings.

Our methodology: We ordered the players based on ability relative to their respective positions rather than the value of those positions. Put another way, this exercise prioritizes the "best" players, not necessarily the "most valuable" ones. That means the starting quarterback doesn't necessarily have to top the list because of the position he plays.

Each edition of the 90-man roster ranking will include a batch of roughly 10 players. Due to voting ties, some batches will feature one more or one fewer.

Today's edition of the countdown caps off our three-week reveal of the Packers' best players. This group features all the big hitters, the guys who make up Green Bay's present and future roster core.

T-9. Christian Watson

Position: wide receiver
How acquired: second-round draft pick (2022)

The perception of Christian Watson as a rising star came not from the rookie year as a whole but rather from a two-month stretch that kicked off in mid-November. Up to that point, a dropped walk-in touchdown on the first play from scrimmage in Week 1 represented the wideout's signature moment. That missed opportunity seemed to compound his shortened training camp, throwing Watson's rookie trajectory into doubt.

Then, as conditions forced the Packers to prioritize Watson during Week 10's tilt with the Dallas Cowboys, the wide receiver took flight. Watson caught four passes for 107 yards and three touchdowns, all necessary for Green Bay to pull the 31-28 upset. That breakout performance snowballed into several more, with the wideout accounting for 362 yards from scrimmage and eight total touchdowns in four games. Watson understandably couldn't maintain such a torrid pace but still finished the season strong with a five-catch, 104-yard outing against the Detroit Lions.

But while Watson enjoyed the benefit of playing alongside several proven veterans in the receiving corps last year, the unit looks considerably different entering 2023. He and Romeo Doubs headline the receiving corps following the departures of Randall Cobb and Allen Lazard. Even with the other pass catchers the Packers have added this offseason, Watson represents the team's best and most dangerous receiver. Along with Jordan Love, the passing game will go as he goes.

T-9. Preston Smith

Position: outside linebacker
How acquired: unrestricted free agent (2019)

When Preston Smith first arrived in Green Bay as part of general manager Brian Gutekunst's much-ballyhooed 2019 free-agent class, he did so as the de facto understudy to the other, more heralded pass rusher in the group, Za'Darius Smith. Preston Smith had come off of four successful seasons in Washington that included 24.5 combined sacks and 59 QB hits, but Za'Darius Smith seemed like the ascending star. Indeed, the latter immediately became the fulcrum of the Packers' defensive front, registering 26 sacks in two seasons while the former served in an important, albeit secondary, role.

The fortunes of the two players have changed significantly in the time since. In 2023, Za'Darius Smith will suit up for the Cleveland Browns, his third team in three seasons. Meanwhile, Preston Smith returns to Green Bay for his fifth season as one of the anchors of the pass rush. Even if he never developed into a star, the Smith that still plays for the Packers has provided consistent, quality play while missing just one game his entire career.

At the outset of the season, the Packers expect to build their pass rush around Smith while waiting for their star edge defender to return from injury. Smith seems more than up to that task and should provide a crucial role model for talented rookie Lukas Van Ness.