Packers' 46-Man Roster Prediction for Wildcard Round vs. Vikings

Seven players must be listed as inactive on Saturday. Cheesehead TV has the prediction on who those players will be.

Here's our best guess at predicting the Green Bay Packers' gameday roster for the Saturday's Wildcard playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings at Lambeau Field. Reminder, only 46 players can be active...

The entire roster is included. Those bold and italicized are predicted to be inactive...

Quarterbacks: Aaron Rodgers, Graham Harrell

Running backs: John Kuhn, James Starks, Alex Green, Ryan GrantDuJuan Harris

Wide receivers: Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, Donald Driver, Randall Cobb, James Jones, Jarrett Boykin, Jeremy Ross

Tight ends: Jermichael Finley, Tom Crabtree, D.J. Williams, Ryan Taylor

Offensive line: Marshall Newhouse, T.J. Lang, Jeff Saturday, Josh Sitton, Evan Dietrich-Smith, Don Barclay, Greg Van Roten

Defensive line: B.J. Raji, Ryan Pickett, C.J. Wilson, Jerel Worthy, Mike Daniels, Mike NealJordan Miller

Outside linebackers: Clay Matthews, Erik Walden, Dezman Moses, Frank Zombo

Inside linebackers: A.J. Hawk, Brad Jones, Rob Francois, Jamari Lattimore, Terrell Manning

Cornerbacks: Tramon Williams, Sam Shields, Jarrett Bush, Davon House, Casey Hayward

Safeties: Charles Woodson, Morgan Burnett, Jerron McMillian, M.D. Jennings

Specialists: Mason Crosby, Tim Masthay, Brett Goode

Commentary:

  • Only two players have been ruled out of Saturday's game: Jerel Worthy (knee) and Jarrett Boykin (ankle). They'll be missed, but the Packers are surely happy not lose the services of any starters.
  • James Starks (knee) is questionable and likely won't play. The Packers have sufficient depth at running back with Ryan Grant, DuJuan Harris and Alex Green. They can afford to let Starks get healthy.
  • Jordy Nelson (knee), Randall Cobb (ankle), Jermichael Finley (quad), Charles Woodson (collarbone), Alex Green (knee) and Davon House (hip) are all listed as probable. All except House are expected to play.
  • Now that the Packers are getting relatively healthy, it's becoming increasingly difficult to make predictions on the active and inactive lists.
  • One of the toughest decisions comes down to the ever-popular Donald Driver. Boykin's injury may have opened up a door, but Driver is the fifth wide receiver and best and they can probably get by without him. It doesn't help that he doesn't offer anything on special teams. He was inactive last week for last week's game against Minnesota. However, this could be his last home game ever at Lambeau Field, and he always gets an ovation from the crowd. At the very least, he can fire up the fans.
  • A decision could come down to Davon House and Jerron McMillian in the defensive backfield. Now that Charles Woodson is back, McMillian probably won't be needed on defense, so it could come down to who's the better special teams player. House is predicted to be inactive because he's coming off an injury, even though he's listed as probable.
  • It makes sense that Terrell Manning and Jordan Miller would be inactive. Manning could help on special teams, but he's just too far down the depth chart. Miller would help the defensive line depth, but the Packers can get by with five.
  • If I'm wrong anywhere else, it could be with Frank Zombo or D.J. Williams. The Packers can get by without Zombo on defense, but he does offer special teams help. Same with Williams on offense, although it should be noted that Williams might be playing at his highest level ever the past two weeks.
0 points
 

Comments (2)

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

January 04, 2013 at 03:53 pm

Can someone tell me why there are 53 man rosters but only 46 active on game day? with all the injuries this time of year, why is that remotely logical?

0 points
0
0
Brian Carriveau's picture

January 04, 2013 at 04:03 pm

To keep things on a level playing field. Also, it provides job security to the players. If a team could suit up 53 players, that team could conceivably drop a player with a minor injury just to have someone active, and that would be a pretty unfair practice. It's the same for all teams in the NFL, so there's no advantage gained.

0 points
0
0