The 53-man roster for the season opener isn't quite set yet, but General Manager Ted Thompson addressed the roster as it stood on Sunday to a group of reporters in Lambeau Field's media auditorium.
The long and short of it is the Packers have a somewhat surprise inclusion at running back, a void for the moment at long snapper, and a bevy of talented linebackers representing probably the deepest position on the team.
Here's a quick look at those three segments:
Running back
Rookie Kregg Lumpkin, a non-drafted free agent out of Georgia, beat out not one but two veterans - Vernand Morency and Noah Herron - for the No. 3 halfback job.
Lumpkin got ample opportunity to show his skills during the preseason, leading the team with 38 carries for 153 yards (4.0 avg) and a rushing touchdown in the four games. He added seven receptions for 59 yards and another score, showing the coaching and personnel staffs his multi-faceted future potential.
"I thought Kregg was very steady," Thompson said. "He was proficient in picking up in pass protection. He did a nice job on screens and getting out of the backfield. He obviously runs the ball hard. I thought he got yards after contact. I thought he had a very good training camp and preseason."
It was not easy letting Morency and Herron go, however. Both had made significant contributions to the offense over two seasons each (Morency in 2006-07, Herron in 05-06) and had similar all-around skills at the position. But Thompson said the desire to keep two fullbacks - Korey Hall and John Kuhn - on the roster dictated they choose just one of the three halfbacks as depth behind Ryan Grant and No. 2 Brandon Jackson.
"Obviously Noah and Vernand have done an outstanding job here," Thompson said. "They are unbelievable professional football players. They are skilled at what they do. They know what they are doing at all times, so you can put them in at different roles. Those two were extremely difficult decisions to make."
Thompson added one additional piece of depth at running back on the practice squad, signing second-year pro DeShawn Wynn, who had been released in the first roster reduction to 75 players last week. Wynn, a seventh-round draft choice in 2007, was eligible for the practice squad because he had been on the active roster for only seven games as a rookie before going on injured reserve with a shoulder injury.
Wynn rushed for 203 yards on 50 carries (4.1 avg) with four touchdowns last season but has had trouble staying healthy, going down with an ankle injury in training camp this year after rehabbing from the shoulder ailment last season.
"We're all a little bit disappointed he's been injured some, but he helped us win some games last year," Thompson said. "I think he's a talented back, and we're going to put him back out there and let him compete some more."
Long snapper
With rookie J.J. Jansen being placed on injured reserve with a knee injury suffered in the fourth quarter of the preseason finale against Tennessee, one position that has not been decided yet is long snapper.
Since the roster currently stands at 53 players, the team will have to make a corresponding move to make room to sign a snapper. Thompson did not confirm if the team had worked out any players for the position, but said the Packers are working on signing someone soon to handle the snapping duties.
"That's something we're still kind of working through," Thompson said. "That's part of the process. You juggle things around, you take something from here, you add something here, and you just kind of have to figure it out as you go."
Thomas Gafford, who was with the Packers during OTAs and mini-camp but was waived early on in training camp, was waived yesterday by the Chicago Bears. It does not appear that will be the direction the team will go since Thompson said the team did not put a waiver claim in on Gafford.
{sportsad300}Thompson added that he would probably not be confident going into a regular-season game using one of the players on the current roster as long snapper. Two players that have some experience snapping are guard/tackle Tony Moll and defensive tackle Johnny Jolly, though neither performed the duty during any preseason action this year.
Linebacker
One roster move will have to be made once a long snapper is signed, and based on sheer volume, it could come at the linebacker position. As of Sunday, there were seven linebackers on the 53-man roster, all veterans.
Behind starters Nick Barnett, A.J. Hawk and Brady Poppinga are free-agent signee Brandon Chillar, Desmond Bishop, Abdul Hodge and Tracy White. Bishop and Hodge, as middle linebackers, were thought to be battling for one backup spot behind Barnett, but both played so well during camp that they were kept, with Bishop playing some outside linebacker to test his versatility.
White is a veteran special teams ace who has also played linebacker in the goal-line defense the past couple of years, so all of them have proven they can contribute.
Whether or not they can all stick around remains to be seen. In addition to needing a long snapper, the Packers also have just three defensive tackles on the roster, not counting former tackle now end Cullen Jenkins and the other ends - Jason Hunter and Michael Mongtomery - who have played inside some during the preseason.
