2023 Packers roster ranking, 60-51: Young players jockey for final roster spots

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.

This version pits a slew of mostly first- and second-year players against each other for the last few precious spots on the 53-man roster. Battles at defensive line, running back, and safety will make for intriguing training-camp storylines.

60. Tyler Davis

Position: tight end
How acquired: signed off Indianapolis Colts practice squad (2021)

This spring, the Packers re-signed Tyler Davis for reasons that are known only to those holding the purse strings at 1265 Lombardi Ave. Still, the front office believes there’s some talent there even if it hasn’t manifested itself in any positive plays in the passing game whatsoever which means he has a decent chance to make the roster.

On the other hand, the two rookies will be in line ahead of him to make the roster and both Austin Allen and rookie free agent Camren McDonald will have space to beat him out regardless of what his contract says.

Jason had Davis closer to the roster than I did which makes him a shameless shill for Brian Gutekunst (OK, not really) because there’s nothing we’ve seen so far that says he should make the final 53 … even if it’s reasonable to project he will because the team seems to like him.

59. Chris Slayton

Position: defensive lineman
How acquired: waiver claim from San Francisco 49ers (2022)

Chris Slayton came into training camp last August and played well enough to make some people wonder if he or 2021 fifth-round T.J. Slaton was the best Sla(y)ton on the roster.

Slayton has only been in the league since 2019, but the Packers are already his sixth team, a double-edged sword that suggests he’s desirable to a point, but not quite good enough to keep around. Green Bay kept him around last season on the practice squad and, with two more Day 3 picks along the defensive front coming in from the 2023 draft, the practice squad looks like the likely landing spot for this Slayton yet again.

58. Innis Gaines

Position: safety
How acquired: street free agent (2021)

This will be Innis Gaines’ third season with the Packers. He has played mostly on special teams, though his 44 snaps last year were fourth most for a Green Bay safety. He also played 23.1% of special-teams snaps.

Though the Packers didn’t aggressively pursue high-level free agents at safety this offseason, Gutekunst added Tarvarius Moore and Jonathan Owens, each a player with defensive experience along with special-teams value. With Dallin Leavitt an established special-teams ace, that could leave Gaines on the outside looking in when it comes to roster cutdown time.

Considering his experience, a spot on the practice squad makes sense.

57. Jonathan Ford

Position: defensive lineman
How acquired: seventh-round draft pick (2022)

There is no record of Jonathan Ford playing football in 2022 after August … because he didn’t. Despite the shortcomings in the defensive-line room, Ford couldn’t get on the field.

Seen as a potential special-teams player when was a surprise seven-round pick (rare for an interior D-lineman), Ford comes into 2023 with even stiffer competition along the defensive front thanks to a first-round pick who can also play along the defensive interior (Lukas Van Ness), two more Day 3 picks at the position (Colby Wooden, Karl Brooks), and a player just two spots above him or objectively outperformed him last summer (Slayton).

Ford has reportedly remade his body in an attempt to make an impact this season, but we’ve yet to see those efforts made manifest. The Packers love to keep their draft picks, but it’s hard to make a case for Ford now. This is even too high for me on the list and if it plays out this way, he wouldn’t make the roster.

56. Tyler Goodson

Position: running back
How acquired: undrafted rookie (2022)

This was the biggest disagreement on the roster here at The Leap HQ. Despite writing a glowing profile about the former Iowa standout, Jason did not see the same value Tyler Goodson would bring to the roster as I did.

My question: If not Goodson, who? Patrick Taylor is a big, reliable back, but he’s shown no juice in an NFL setting while Goodson shows flashes of electricity with the ball in his hands. I get it, he’s undersized. But in an offense that lacks reliable playmaking, giving Goodson a chance, a different kind of running back from Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon, offers the Packers offense a chance at found money.

With Jones and Dillon as reliable as any back duo in the league, I don’t care about the reliability of RB3. Give me variance and juice. That’s what Goodson can offer.

55. Carrington Valentine

Position: cornerback
How acquired: seventh-round draft pick (2023)

This was another pressure point for us as I think Carrington Valentine is a near lock to make the roster if he stays healthy, if for no other reason than pure numbers at the position. Eric Stokes may not be ready for Week 1, leaving Rasul Douglas, Jaire Alexander, Keisean Nixon, and Shemar Jean-Charles as the only established roster players ahead of Valentine.

And I’m not sure Jean-Charles is long for this roster either. The limited reps we’ve seen of him have not been good; he doesn’t look quick enough for the slot and he’s not big or fast enough to play outside. But other than that …

Valentine on the other hand brings size (6-foot, 193 pounds) and athleticism with the seventh best cornerback Athleticism Score, an NFL Next Gen Stats composite metric, in the class and a 9.29 Relative Athletic Score.

If you need a special-teams player, take the elite athlete. If you want a developmental player, take the elite athlete. If you want the guy who surprises in the preseason and pushes for a roster spot, take the elite athlete from the best conference in college football who went a round later than the consensus board had him.

54. Bo Melton

Position: wide receiver
How acquired: signed from Seattle Seahawks’ practice squad (2022)

Bo Melton fit the Packers archetype at receiver in the 2022 draft but wound up with a former Packers front-office team instead. Melton found his way back as injuries piled up in Green Bay, and though he hasn’t had the same spring media bounce as a player like Malik Heath, the athleticism and skills are there to pop once the pads come on.

If the Packers keep all their bona fide draft picks from the last two drafts though, Melton sits behind Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks, Grant DuBose, and Samori Toure. Will they keep seven guys? Given Green Bay’s history of prioritizing picks, Melton will have to outplay one or more of those aforementioned guys and likely do so convincingly. Injuries tend to shake these things out. Melton has to hope it won’t be his injury.

T-52. Anders Carlson

Position: kicker
How acquired: sixth-round draft pick (2023)

The Packers shocked us on Day 3 with the Anders Carlson pick when it wasn’t clear he was even the best kicker in the SEC available at that point. Rich Bisaccia vouched for the pick, wanted Carlson, and believes in the upside.

There isn’t another kicker on the roster, so Carlson is more of a lock to make the Packers than the fellow rookie who tied him for this spot. Still, if Carlson misses some preseason kicks like he did a little too frequently at Auburn, it’s not hard to imagine the Packers pivoting or at least bringing in some veteran competition and relegating Carlson to the practice squad.

T-52. Anthony Johnson Jr.

Position: safety
How acquired: seventh-round draft pick (2023)

Meanwhile, Anthony Johnson Jr. just might start at safety for the Packers at some point. I still have no idea how Johnson fell as far as he did after being a standout at multiple positions for Iowa State. He moved from cornerback to safety not because he couldn’t hack it, but because the team needed him to do it and he managed it well.

I didn’t understand the fall on draft day, and I don’t understand it now. In an extremely weak safety room, Johnson’s coverage ability and tackling will be sorely needed, and it won’t be surprising at all to see him wrestle this job ahead of Rudy Ford at some point or force Darnell Savage back into the slot.

51. Patrick Taylor

Position: running back
How acquired: undrafted rookie (2020)

For my money, Goodson would be flat-out ahead of Taylor on the depth chart at this point (if I haven’t already made that clear). This is going to be Year 4 and we haven’t seen significant improvement in his game.

In the NFL, reliability gets rewarded and Taylor can be trusted to be in the right places at the right times. He can get 4 yards when 4 yards are blocked. He mostly understands blocking schemes and blitz pickups. If he needs to play in a pinch, he can. That said, at some point, if reliability is the only trait for a back-of-the-roster running back, then it’s time to get friend-zoned.

Running backs grow on trees in the NFL. There are just other guys with more juice, more special-teams value, and more upside.

I’m sorry Patrick, it’s not me, it’s you.