2024 Packers roster ranking, 70-61: fringe roster players fighting for roles

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

With the Green Bay Packers on break until training camp and the personnel essentially frozen for the foreseeable future, The Leap will use this time to reveal its annual 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 slightly more or less.

Today's slate features those on the fringes of making the 53-man roster, mostly young players searching to solidify backup and special teams roles to make a splash and sneak onto the regular season squad.

T-70. Messiah Swinson

Position: tight end
How acquired: undrafted free agent (2024)

Another tight end on the roster? Well, maybe. As Jason laid out in his 2024 UDFA Prospectus, updated special-teams rules have the potential to alter roster construction, opening up the door for a player like Messiah Swinson to sneak onto the practice squad. His biggest attribute is his size at over 250 pounds, standing 6-foot-7.

As quarters close on kickoffs, his presence as a blocker provides the kind of value end-of-the-roster players have to offer. If he can show even a glimmer of potential as an offensive player in preseason, Swinson has practice squad written all over him.

T-70. Henry Pearson

Position: fullback
How acquired: undrafted free agent (2023)

Copy and paste the above blurb but make it about a fullback who has actually played snaps in two games for the Packers last year. Real snaps! Against the Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs, Henry Pearson played 11 offensive reps and 23 special-teams plays for the Packers and his value is almost exclusively as a blocker in each case.

But that’s exactly what these roster spots are for. The problem facing Pearson is the running-back room is now more crowded with the addition of third-round pick MarShawn Lloyd, and if most teams want to play with heavy personnel, they’ll play with an extra tight end who can be a passing-game threat in addition to the blocking.

Fitting these two tied given how similar their cases are for making the team.