Packers Notebook (Sept. 13)

Young again

The Green Bay Packers have little in common with Rod Stewart, but they are “Forever Young.”

In an examination of the rosters that emerged Saturday night by Philly Voice NFL writer Jimmy Kempski, the average member of the Packers is 25.5 years old. For the second year in a row, that meant Green Bay had the NFL’s fifth-youngest roster. Green Bay ranked 10th in 2018 (25.7), 11th in 2017 (25.7) and third in 2016 (25.4).

Helping to lower the age was the decision to not re-sign Tramon Williams, the NFL’s oldest full-time starting defensive back last year. Seven of the team’s nine draft picks made the 53-man roster, with the exceptions being sixth-round center Jake Hanson (released but on the practice squad) and sixth-round guard Simon Stepaniak (non-football injury list; knee). In fact, of general manager Brian Gutekunst’s roster moves on Saturday, he released only two former draft picks. The other was running back Dexter Williams, a sixth-round pick last year.

“I think that whenever you make investments in players, you obviously have done a lot of work on those players, so you’re not going to overreact to maybe a bad week here or there,” Gutekunst said of keeping draft picks. “At the same time, I think what the job is, is to put the best team together that has the best chance to win — not only immediately but through the course of the season. And that’s really what it’s about.”

“I do think the players you have more invested in, you’re not going to overreact. But this is about winning. It’s all about winning, and that’s all it’ll ever really be about.”

Opening depth chart

The depth chart published at Packers.com comes with the caveat that it’s “unofficial.” Regardless of its accuracy, the team lists Billy Turner as the No. 1 right tackle, made official that Lane Taylor won the starting job at right guard and listed inside linebacker Oren Burks and defensive tackle Tyler Lancaster as starters.

Whether Turner will actually start Sunday at Minnesota remains to be seen. He sustained a knee injury at practice on Aug. 30 and wasn’t on the practice field when the team reconvened on Labor Day. Veteran Rick Wagner is listed as the No. 2 at the position, though the team could play musical chairs and shuffle Elgton Jenkins over from left guard.

“I think we’re looking at every combination,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “The goal is to always get your best five out there to give you the best chance to win. So, we’ll look at everything.”

Not surprisingly, Tim Boyle beat out first-round draft pick Jordan Love to be the No. 2 quarterback. In fact, all seven draft picks are listed at the bottom of their position groups.

“Both Tim and Jordan had excellent camps,” Gutekunst said. “Obviously, Tim’s quite a bit further ahead of Jordan from knowing the offense, being in year two of it, being in year three of the NFL. That springtime, not having that foundation and then not having the preseason games to go through I think hurt all the young players. We feel really good about both our backup quarterbacks and feel they both have bright futures in the National Football League.”

Their bubbles didn’t burst

There were few surprises when Gutekunst cut the roster to 53 players Saturday. Among the noteworthy moves were Malik Taylor beating out veteran Jake Kumerow at receiver, Yosh Nijman knocking off Alex Light for a spot on the offensive line and Randy Ramsey edging Tim Williams at outside linebacker.

All three have interesting paths. For Taylor, it was a hamstring injury that sidelined him for most of his senior year at Division II Ferris State. After big sophomore and junior years, the injury knocked him off NFL radars. He went undrafted in 2019, spent a few days in Tampa Bay and joined the Packers just before training camp. While he failed to make the team, he spent his rookie season on the practice squad.

“For me, it didn’t hit me. It still hasn’t hit me yet. I don’t think it’s going to hit me until we get into the Vikings’ stadium,” Taylor said. “But if anything happened to me, I think it lit another fire. Going into this, I thought the feeling I will have is, ‘I made it. It’s like a big weight off my shoulders.’ But it really wasn’t that feeling. It was more of another flame lit inside of me. It’s just another level of motion, another level of determination and I’m just ready to attack this thing.”

Nijman was the No. 1-ranked prep-school defensive lineman and chose Virginia Tech. During spring practice as a freshman, he grudgingly accepted a move to offensive tackle.

“They were like, ‘Hey, we think you would do a phenomenal job playing offensive line,’” Nijman recalled. “And I was like, ‘Argh.’ I didn’t really want to do that at the time. But I know going to Virginia Tech, that was kind of the lingering topic, so I was like, ‘OK, I might as well play it.’”

Ramsey’s problems were self-inflicted, with poor grades meaning he was bounced from Arkansas in 2015. He took online classes back home in Florida in his mom’s high school classroom.

“That was one of the lowest points of my life,” Ramsey said. “I honestly didn’t know if I was going to play football again.”

Cutdown Saturday can be a stressful time for those on the bubble. Nijman admitted to feeling “anxious.” Not so much for Ramsey, who said he felt calm as the 3 p.m. deadline approached.

“To be here and to make the 53, it’s a surreal moment,” Ramsey said. “I don’t even know how to put it into one word. I just think it’s a testimony.”

Preseason’s not pointless

With training camps starting late as teams wrestled with the COVID-19 pandemic, the preseason was canceled.

Veteran players like Aaron Rodgers certainly didn’t miss the exhibition games, but Gutekunst lost key evaluation time and the undrafted players lost an opportunity to show what they can do under the lights.

“There is a lot of value,” LaFleur said. “The dangers of it are that you play somebody and they go out and potentially get injured, especially if it’s somebody you’re counting on. That’s just the nature of the game. But I do think there’s a lot of value in the preseason in terms of just kind of getting your routine down, whether it’s the preparation that leads up to a game, from the traveling, whether it’s your home schedule, just that process.”

“It’s always good to give everybody a dress rehearsal. You think about the lack of opportunity for some of these young guys that you want to see in game action.”