After trading two players for draft picks on Tuesday, the Green Bay Packers have two open roster spots. They also have two players eligible to return from injured reserve.
Those players are receivers Trevor Davis and Jake Kumerow.
Nothing has been announced yet, but logic says the Packers will activate Davis this week. One of the team’s deadline trades was to send running back Ty Montgomery to Baltimore. Montgomery was the Packers primary kick returner. That’s a role Davis filled more than capably last season.
Davis was also the Packers primary punt returner. Cornerback Tramon Williams has been filling in there this year.
Davis has offered nothing as a receiver in his three-year career. He is a threat as a return man, however. Mel Gray he is not, but the comparison is fair. When he played for the Lions, pretty much all Gray did was return kicks and punts. In some years he didn’t even get touches as a running back or receiver.
Davis averaged 22.8 yards per kick return and 12.0 yards per punt return last year. By comparison, Montgomery averaged 21.0 per kick return with the Packers this season. Williams has averaged just 5.1 yards per punt return.
Davis could add another element to the Packers when he returns — a return man you have to worry about. What’s more, the Packers NEED a kickoff returner now that Montgomery is gone.
Kumerow’s situation isn’t so clear. The Packers need another receiver right now like Mike McCarthy needs another cheeseburger. They already have six on the roster. Technically, Davis would make seven.
In addition to that, if the Packers bring Kumerow back, they will have burned both of their IR designations to return. Yes, the time to use a designation to return is running out. A player who gets such a designation has to be out eight weeks and there are only nine left in the regular season. The belief here is the Packers sit on that designation and keep Kumerow where he is for another week.