2025 Packers roster ranking, 30-21: Boom-or-bust potential
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 ones who offer the most "value." That means the starting quarterback doesn't 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 almost exclusively players with two or fewer seasons of NFL experience, several with genuine boom-or-bust potential.
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30. Lukas Van Ness
Position: defensive end
How acquired: first-round draft pick (2023)
Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst bet big on Lukas Van Ness in 2023, making him the de facto centerpiece of the Aaron Rodgers trade.
Van Ness entered the NFL as a supremely physically gifted but raw pass rusher. On the one hand, he managed 46 total pressures and nine sacks during his final collegiate season, according to Pro Football Focus. However, he never managed to start a game during his three years at Iowa, a fact repeated ad nauseam during the pre-draft process.
Van Ness has yet to shed that reputation after two seasons in Green Bay. He has occasionally flashed the top-shelf athleticism, racking up five total pressures with multiple sacks during a two-game stretch in late November last year. However, the valleys between those moments contributed to the Packers' underwhelming pass rush in 2024.
The Packers don't seem as perturbed about Van Ness' lack of production as those outside the organization. This offseason, they didn't bring in any established veterans to bolster the defensive front, nor did they invest any top-100 draft capital at those positions. That effectively means the team has doubled down on Van Ness developing into a capable pass rusher.
Can Van Ness take the leap in 2025? His talent remains enticing, and the arrival of new D-line coach DeMarcus Covington could help him unlock his potential. Still, Van Ness' first two seasons suggest the former first-round pick might never emerge as a full-time starter.
29. Luke Musgrave
Position: tight end
How acquired: second-round draft pick (2023)
Eight games into Luke Musgrave's first year, he looked like a rising star. At that point in the season, the speedy tight end had put himself on pace to break Sterling Sharpe's record for most receptions by a Packers rookie, a mark that had stood for more than three decades.
However, Musgrave didn't ultimately pull it off. Just a few weeks later, he lacerated a kidney during a game against the Los Angeles Chargers. The injury landed him in the hospital and, soon after, on injured reserve. Musgrave wouldn't return to action until the regular-season finale.
Health concerns have defined Musgrave's professional career to date. While he hardly deserves blame for those issues, they have severely limited his time on the field. Musgrave managed just seven catches for 45 yards in 2024, a steep drop-off from the record-setting pace of his rookie campaign.
Musgrave now finds himself backing up Tucker Kraft, the tight end selected after him in the 2023 draft. Musgrave's main competition for snaps won't come from someone else at this position but rather the amount of 12 personnel the Packers' coaching staff uses this season.
T-26. Carrington Valentine
Position: cornerback
How acquired: seventh-round draft pick (2023)
With Jaire Alexander missing over half the regular-season games over the past two seasons, the Packers' secondary needed to uncover some unlikely contributors to survive. Alexander's absence didn't just remove the most talented piece from the equation. His injuries forced multiple defensive backs to shift into roles that they hadn't performed at the NFL level or, in some cases, at any point in their football careers.
Perhaps no player exemplifies this dynamic better than Carrington Valentine. The former seventh-round pick entered the league without any job security or even a clear utility outside of special teams. By the end of his rookie training camp, Valentine seemed capable of holding a meaningful role on defense as a reserve. By the end of that year, he looked poised to compete for a full-time starting job.
Valentine remains in the starting conversation entering 2025. The Packers appear ready to roll with Keisean Nixon and new arrival Nate Hobbs as their top two cornerbacks. However, given the amount of nickel defense that DC Jeff Hafley expects to call, three corners will serve as literal or de facto starters. Accordingly, Green Bay will have to decide whether deploying Valentine along the boundary with Nixon or Hobbs shifting inside makes more sense than the alternatives (more on that shortly).
T-26. Brenton Cox Jr.
Position: defensive end
How acquired: undrafted free agent (2023)
If the aforementioned Van Ness doesn't take the necessary steps in 2025, the Packers do have some in-house alternatives. While none have his physical talent or ceiling, one in particular has proven more productive in the NFL: Brenton Cox Jr.
A former UDFA, Cox effectively redshirted as a rookie (13 total snaps) before taking on a larger role last year in the wake of the Preston Smith trade. Starting in Week 11, Cox played at least 20 defensive snaps in each game. That expanded workload allowed him to rack up 17 total pressures, four sacks, and a pass-rush win rate of 17% over the Packers' final seven regular-season outings, according to PFF.
Cox's emerging abilities as a pass rusher could force the Packers to reconsider the complexion of their D-line rotation. While he doesn't offer a complete skill set for a defensive end -- at 250 pounds, he might have trouble holding up against the run in anything more than a part-time role -- his production remains difficult to ignore. Cox probably won't get the first crack to start opposite Rashan Gary at defensive end, but he can potentially force his way into that conversation.
T-26. Karl Brooks
Position: defensive tackle
How acquired: sixth-round draft pick (2023)
Entering Year 3, Karl Brooks remains difficult to forecast. On the one hand, he delivered an impressive rookie campaign that pushed him into the top 15 of The Leap's 2024 roster ranking. However, Brooks followed up that performance with a ho-hum sophomore season where his production dropped despite playing significantly more snaps.
So, which version of Brooks will the Packers get in 2025? He remains behind Kenny Clark and Devonte Wyatt in the D-line rotation, and Brooks' 6-foot-3, 296-pound frame doesn't lend itself to nose tackle where T.J. Slaton's departure created an opening. Brooks will either need to re-establish himself as a capable interior pass rusher or risk falling behind some of the other players who Green Bay has collected at the position.
25. Sean Rhyan
Position: offensive lineman
How acquired: third-round draft pick (2022)
Sean Rhyan seems destined to spend his entire Packers career underappreciated. After a rookie season in which he played just a single snap, many understandably wrote off the third-round pick as a misfire. However, Rhyan battled back in 2023 and forced a rotation between him and Jon Runyan Jr. at right guard by the end of the season. That set up Rhyan as the de facto incumbent at this time last year when first-round pick Jordan Morgan challenged him for the starting job.
Rhyan eventually emerged as the winner, though even then his status as a starter seemed tenuous. A shoulder injury suffered by Morgan during training camp essentially decided the competition, and when he returned, the Packers immediately began rotating him with Rhyan. Still, Rhyan held onto the job for the remainder of 2024 and even handled center duties when Josh Myers went down in the playoffs.
If Rhyan ends up starting again in 2025, the Packers won't complain. He has proven to be a solid interior lineman with positional versatility. However, the coaching staff will give Morgan every chance to win a starting job somewhere this year, and unless Rasheed Walker goes down or otherwise falters, Rhyan's job seems the most susceptible. Should Morgan take his job, Rhyan would immediately become one of the top backup interior swings in the league, though that wouldn't exactly position him well when he hits free agency next March.
24. Javon Bullard
Position: defensive back
How acquired: second-round draft pick (2024)
If the aforementioned Valentine doesn't start at corner coming out of the preseason, that likely means Javon Bullard held onto his job. The two won't directly compete with one another, as Valentine has played about 90% of his career defensive snaps along the boundary while Bullard has split his time between safety and the slot. However, after the Packers inserted Evan Williams as the primary safety opposite Xavier McKinney in early October, Bullard saw most of his work as a slot corner.
As such, how much progress Bullard has made entering his second season could ultimately determine what Green Bay does on the back end. Of course, Valentine could perform so well during training camp and the preseason that it leaves the coaching staff no choice but to start him, pushing either Hobbs or Nixon inside. However, the Packers made a major investment in Bullard in the 2024 draft and presumably want to give him the opportunity to prove them right.
Whether Bullard ends up as the starter in the slot or not, he should still see meaningful action. At some point this season, either McKinney or Williams (or both) will miss time. Bullard should get the first crack at backfilling if/when that situation comes to pass.
23. Quay Walker
Position: linebacker
How acquired: first-round draft pick (2022)
Quay Walker's future remains unsettled as of this writing. The Packers have publicly stated their desire to extend the former first-rounder despite declining the fifth-year option in his contract. However, with veterans set to report for training camp in just over a week, Walker has yet to agree to a new deal.
Regardless of what comes of Walker's negotiations, he has plenty on the line in 2025. Edgerrin Cooper, one of the Packers' second-round picks from a year ago, has already established himself as the team's top linebacker and arguably its No. 1 overall defensive playmaker. That doesn't necessarily make Walker expendable, but he'll have to build on the positive strides he made last year if Green Bay hopes to solidify the second level of the defense.
22. Matthew Golden
Position: wide receiver
How acquired: first-round draft pick (2025)
The selection of Matthew Golden drew no shortage of praise from the crowd on draft night, as the rookie became the first wideout taken by the Packers in the first round in over two decades. The announcement, made by outgoing team president Mark Murphy, became one of the final lasting memories of his tenure.
Of course, that alone wouldn't place Golden this high in the roster ranking. Rather, his talent and ability to make an early impact bode well for his future.
The Leap wrote the following about Golden shortly after the draft:
Only a contrarian would argue that the Packers have a more likely rookie contributor than Matthew Golden. The Texas standout arrives in the NFL with refined route running, great ball-tracking skills, and speed that few in the league can match. For an offense that needs both a go-to receiver and a vertical element to replace the injured Christian Watson, Golden shouldn't lack opportunities to impact the team.
Golden should see a ton of action as a rookie. Accordingly, whether he can improve on his weaknesses in 2025 becomes the most important question facing the newly minted first-round pick. Golden didn't have a great track record against man coverage in college, but the Packers believe his skill set should translate in that department at the next level.
"He's one of those guys that, from a covering him and from a man (coverage) perspective, it's going to be extremely tough on teams," Gutekunst said of Golden. "When we get to some of those third-down things where people are trying to mug us up, and we need someone to get open fast, he can do that."
Even if that part of Golden's game takes a little longer to come along, the Packers primarily face zone coverage. Golden's feel for zone and ability to run past nearly any defender make him dangerous in those situations, and Jordan Love won't hesitate to give the wideout opportunities down the field.
All the usual caveats apply here. Golden has yet to even practice in full pads or even experience full contact on an NFL field. The Packers also have a deep receiving corps that will force the rookie wideout to earn his playing time.
Still, Golden offers traits unique to the group, at least among the healthy pass catchers. He'll also enjoy substantially better quarterback play than he ever had during his college career. Green Bay has positioned Golden to contribute early and often, and he has the potential to take the passing game to the next level.
21. Brandon McManus
Position: kicker
How acquired: street free agent (2024)
The Packers enter the 2025 season without any major performance concerns about their kicker. After the past two seasons, that represents significant progress.
The arrival of Brandon McManus ended a string of kicker experiments which included Anders Carlson, Greg Joseph, and Brayden Narveson. While McManus came with some baggage -- sexual-assault allegations stemming from an overseas flight in 2023 while a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars -- he avoided any news-worthy incidents during his first season in Green Bay.
McManus' on-field performance certainly checked every box. He converted all but one of his 21 field-goal attempts (95.2%), including three of more than 50 yards. That convinced the Packers to sign McManus to a three-year, $15.3 million deal earlier this year. While more than the team has paid for a kicker in recent years, avoiding another disaster seems well worth the price.
making Golden #22 👀