Will the Packers Keep More Than Six Receivers for the Second Straight Year?

The Packers kept eight receivers in 2018. How many will they keep this year?

The past 12 months have been nothing like the Packers we have come to know over the last decade. Right now, it’s hard to predict anything around this team. This will be the first time entering a season no one knows what the offense will look like in week one. But before we even get to that, we have no idea what the roster will look like either. There are a number of positions up for grabs this year but as usual, we always circle back to wide receiver. Could the Packers actually keep seven receivers on the final 53 in 2019? It’s really not that crazy.

Last year, eight, yes eight, receivers were on the final roster in September. Only once since 2006 have they kept more than six. Those eight included: Davante Adams, Randall Cobb, Geronimo Allison, Trevor Davis, J’Mon Moore, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Equanimeous St. Brown, Jake Kumerow. Now, take away Cobb and that leaves seven more than likely candidates.

Last year’s rookies are all but locks at this point. Moore had more trouble than Valdes-Scantling and St. Brown did in their first season but giving up on the highest picked receiver of the trio wouldn’t make much sense. Moore was the more productive college receiver and his agility testing was through the roof. There is still the potential that he could be the best route runner.  However, first, he needs to grasp the offense and get on the same page as QB1. Both have been points of emphasis so far.

After Moore, Kumerow is the second most likely receiver from last year’s team to get cut. In his lone NFL season in which he actually saw playing time, Kumerow appeared in five games and hauled in eight passes for 103 yards. To his credit, his first career touchdown grab against the New York Jets in week 16 was pretty awesome.

Kumerow made the 2018 roster because he was always in the right place. He showed that more times than not in 2018 and then made the most of his few opportunities during the regular season. Rodgers loves the guy and now a year into the future nothing has changed. Kumerow is the guy that keeps showing out for Rodgers in practice.

“He is an extremely intelligent guy who is in the right place at the right time, he makes contested catches, he makes the plays that are there and he does the little things,” said Rodgers during last week’s mandatory minicamp. “I’m always applauding in an overt way to let the other guys know, ‘This is how you practice.’

If Kumerow continues this momentum through training camp, he should have no problem making it pass final cuts.

Last but not least that leaves us with Davis. The team’s best return man but has done very little with the reps he’s taken at receiver. All the reports on Davis have been good this spring and summer. Even Matt LaFleur keeps mentioning him though he isn’t prompted.

“A guy that may have been forgotten a little bit is Trevor Davis,”  he said. “I’ve been really impressed with him. I feel like he’s come a long way.”

Having Davis as a viable weapon in LaFleur’s offense would be a good compliment to their other pieces. Davis has the potential to be a solid threat underneath given his elusiveness and might even be a nice gadget-type player that can add different wrinkles.

Let this be your first notice that the Packers could very likely hold onto more than six receivers for the second straight year.

 

 

Brandon Carwile is a Packers writer who also enjoys watching and breaking down film. Follow him on Twitter @PackerScribe.

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Comments (36)

Fan-Friendly This filter will hide comments which have ratio of 5 to 1 down-vote to up-vote.
PackfanNY's picture

June 16, 2019 at 12:50 pm

Obviously something that will be sorted out in training camp. Injuries might play a factor, unfortunately. The two guys who really need to do something (anything?) Are Moore and Davis. I haven’t seen much of anything from either one. Camp and pre season games are that time. Kumerow needs to stay healthy but at least he has flashed some of that talent on occasion.

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4thand1's picture

June 16, 2019 at 12:58 pm

Kumerow needs to not dive in the end zone and land on his shoulder in a pre season game.

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IceBowl's picture

June 16, 2019 at 01:15 pm

4thand1.

LOL Boy is that true. I can only hope those antics are behind him.

With all the "versatility" propositions being thrown around by MLF and the possibility of keeping a FB, 6 WR's or 3 TE's are a good possibility.

Kumerow makes the team.

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RWood832's picture

June 16, 2019 at 01:07 pm

I don't see the need for more than six WR's on the roster this year. The offense that MLF will run will often feature 2 TE sets. This will reduce the role of the slot WR and require more TE's on the 53 man roster.

The new offense will probably make FB a valuable roster spot again so there may be two FB's on the 53. Hopefully the FB has some ability to carry the rock, ala Kuhn, because I doubt that more than 3 RB's will be on the 53.

Will the offense claim 25 spots or will there be more or fewer bodies? With the depth I expect to be employed in the front 7 on defense, my vote is that the defense will claim 26 spots and the offense will claim 24 making more than six WR's a luxury they cannot afford.

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Rak43's picture

June 16, 2019 at 03:50 pm

I don't see any way they can really keep 7 WR's on this years roster. There are too many good offensive lineman, RB's and TE's this year to keep 7 WR's.
It looks likely the Packers will keep at least 9 maybe 10 lineman, along with possibly 4 TE's. If you go on the high end of all 3 positions that 21 out of 24 may be 25 positions for the offense and that doesn't account for 3-4 RB's and 2-3 QB's. Something has to give and personally I think carrying 7 WR's on roster is a luxury they may not be able to afford. Although they probably have at least 7 good enough to play in the NFL.

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sonomaca's picture

June 16, 2019 at 09:22 pm

Our head coach is MLF? Can we just go with ML?

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IceBowl's picture

June 16, 2019 at 09:32 pm

Just going with the flow buddy. I am happy to go with your flow.

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sonomaca's picture

June 17, 2019 at 01:05 pm

Well, MLF sounds a lot like MiLF, and we don’t want that to become some kind of joke.

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Lare's picture

June 16, 2019 at 01:07 pm

We can't base opinions on how players did in McCarthy's system, it's a whole new ballgame now.

Players will battle it out in Training Camp and the team will be better when the best man wins.

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NickPerry's picture

June 17, 2019 at 04:01 am

"We can't base opinions on how players did in McCarthy's system, it's a whole new ballgame now."

EXACTLY... We've trying to figure out something new for the first time in 13 seasons. If I HAD to guess I'd guess Davis but I really don't know.

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jannes bjornson's picture

June 16, 2019 at 01:18 pm

Six is about right. The need to keep four TEs will balance
out the WRs. It makes more sense to keep depth on the defensive and offensive lines.

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Coldworld's picture

June 16, 2019 at 02:14 pm

The wild card is the returner. Last year Davis was not on the roster as a receiver except in name only. If he wins the return battle, I can see 7 as a possibility. That’s about the only way we will have more than 6.

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IceBowl's picture

June 16, 2019 at 02:38 pm

Coldworld,

If only we were GMs.

From camp talk, Davis has made tape as a WR.

That would be very useful. (T Hill type)

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Coldworld's picture

June 16, 2019 at 03:50 pm

If he does, and that factored into my comment then I would expect 6 WRs. I think that there is more to shake out yet. I don’t think Davis has made it as a WR or returner yet though. I expect the competition to begin in earnest in camp with pads and rookies getting opportunities. I do think he has ensured that he has not not written himself off yet though.

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jannes bjornson's picture

June 17, 2019 at 07:59 pm

Moore will be the return guy and Dexter Williams.

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Jack_Vainisi's picture

June 16, 2019 at 02:57 pm

At present I see 26 offensive and 24 defense players being kept: Offense 2 QB, 3 RB, 1 FB, 9 OL, 7 WR, 4 TE; Defense 10 DB and 14 DL/LB. The 7 WR is based on there being no better return specialist than Davis. There will be more multipositional players on defense. Designating 43 game day actives from these position players will be more interesting.

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IceBowl's picture

June 16, 2019 at 04:36 pm

Jack Vainisi,

Only 43? or 50?? Where are you going??

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Qoojo's picture

June 16, 2019 at 04:05 pm

I can see them keeping 4 TEs. It kind of depends on who develops as a returner too, and how useful the WRs are on special teams.

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Lare's picture

June 16, 2019 at 04:42 pm

If they keep 4 TE's and a FB then I'm afraid it may come down to either Moore, Davis or Kumerow being cut.

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Qoojo's picture

June 16, 2019 at 05:28 pm

From what I have read so far, Davis has been mentioned as having improved, then Rodgers brought up Kumerow. I think it's been pretty quiet about Moore.

I kind of doubt they would give up on Moore so early when it takes about 3 years for a WR.

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Coldworld's picture

June 16, 2019 at 06:07 pm

Before he mentioned either he mentioned Moore.

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Turophile's picture

June 17, 2019 at 03:06 pm

4 TEs being kept is likely, simply because the Packers will lose two of them at the end of 2019. (Graham, Lewis). After that, it's Sternberger, Tonyan and whoever else they pick up.

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IceBowl's picture

June 16, 2019 at 04:36 pm

My children offered up "A Happy Fathers Day" to the Pack pack.

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Turophile's picture

June 17, 2019 at 03:53 am

So let's do the numbers game.
Adams, Allison, Valdes-Scantling, St. Brown, Kumerow, Moore, Davis.

Seven guys, all have either already shown enough to interest, or have enough potential to keep around for another year.

You could drop Davis and find another returner, but he has been getting positive press this year. You could drop one of Kumerow/Allison as they are similar players, but both have a fair bit of talent.

I wouldn't expose Moore to the PS this year, so I'm down with keeping 7. chances are pretty good that by the time the regular season starts that the seven will have shrunk, anyway.

If any of the receivers is lost to injury for much of the season, I'd expect them to go 6, if all stay relatively healthy, I'd expect 7...... fairly straightforward.

It's not impossible that a receiver low in the Packers heirarchy gets traded, but that is a long shot.

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Coldworld's picture

June 17, 2019 at 05:33 am

I think that pretty much sums up my take. Thus far, we saw pretty much only returning vets getting opportunities with the ones and twos. In my view that’s partly experience but perhaps more so giving the coaches a chance to get an early look. Most of these coaches are new.

Once Camp starts, in addition to pads and contact, I expect them to start giving the less experienced players opportunities. That’s when players will start to emerge and push or slide backwards. It’s also when availability and injuries start to shake up the pile.

Right now, I don’t think we can read too much into any OTA showings. Other than Savage, because they have made it clear he is expected to start, and the no contest starters such as Rodgers, Adams, Bakhtiari, Smiths, Amos and so on, i doubt much is set in stone.

It is going to be an interesting camp. Roster spots as well as roles in various alignments and special teams roles are pretty much all up for grabs. Looking forward to letting the players sort themselves out on the field.

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jannes bjornson's picture

June 17, 2019 at 08:02 pm

Remember how Davis played the past two years; move him along out the door.

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Turophile's picture

June 18, 2019 at 11:45 am

Remember how Davante Adams played his first two years. Would you have cut him as well ?

The WR room has plenty of potential, LET IT PLAY OUT. If Davis is good enough to push onto the final 53 fine, if not, someone else is returner.

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Lphill's picture

June 17, 2019 at 05:42 am

The article said the way I read it Kumerow might not make it past the cuts then it goes on to say Kumerow is showing in camp that he should be part of the 53 ,in any event I think that if Rodgers develops a chemistry with him he stays , I don’t think they keep 4 tight ends because the fullback stays.

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Brian Ringwood's picture

June 18, 2019 at 07:34 am

they are definitely keeping 4 TE, no fullback

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OldTimer's picture

June 17, 2019 at 08:38 am

I think the practice squad will play a part in the final roster more than ever this year. I expect no more than six receivers, three tight ends and nine offensive linemen, with a good practice squad for back ups. I also expect some practice squad poaching this year. Should get interesting!

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EddieLeeIvory's picture

June 17, 2019 at 03:46 pm

Whatever it ends up, as long as it's decided based on coaches evaluations, I'm good with it. We don't want it based on injuries to anyone.

My ratings:

Adams
GMo
MVS
Kumerow
EQ

That's it for me but until he is hurt, hate to but have to keep Trevor Davis as return specialist.

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Grandfathered's picture

June 17, 2019 at 08:15 pm

I don't know about the ratings, but I agree they only keep 5 WR

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IceBowl's picture

June 17, 2019 at 08:46 pm

EddieLeeIvory ,

Oh my Golly,,

Now we have created a roster spot called return specialist??

We may have a "long snapper" but I do not think the Pack keeps a "return specialist". They will have 3 or 4 candidates that will return kicks and punts, but they will also play other positions, ie: WR, DB, or RB, or??

The current Pack spouts versatility. Whoever returns kicks better be able to do a lot more.

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wildbill's picture

June 17, 2019 at 06:45 pm

Seems like we have been focusing on the receivers air attack abilities but feel with the new offense their blocking may be a wildcard on who is on the field.

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IceBowl's picture

June 17, 2019 at 09:13 pm

wildbill,

I agree. Winning teams have players that play all the way down the field.

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Doug Niemczynski's picture

June 18, 2019 at 10:00 am

If Moore has too many drops in preseason I assume he probably will be cut. He will have to get rid of the droppsies!!

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