Here Are the Surprises on the Packers’ Final Roster

The Green Bay Packers’ 53-man roster may still be in flux today, but we’re going to take a look at the surprises anyway.

Not the guys who didn’t make it. We told you what we thought about those guys yesterday. We’re going to talk about the guys who did make it that raise some eyebrows.

Keep in mind, that one of these guys will likely be dismissed next week when Datone Jones returns from his suspension. Another will go after week 3, when Letroy Guion returns from his suspension.

Guard Josh Walker — The Packers kept nine offensive linemen, which is on the high side. We predicted they would do exactly that, but it really could have gone either way. And if you had to pick one, Walker was probably the last guy on that last. He was a practice squad guy in 2014 and came to the Packers after being released by the Colts. He was originally an undrafted free agent signing by Indianapolis in 2014 out of Middle Tennessee State. Walked got a lot of hype for a backup offensive linemen during camp and then he went and probably had his worst game in the final preseason tilt. Not a great time to have your worst game, but his whole body of work was apparently good enough.

Receiver Myles White — Again, not a surprise to us, but certainly a surprise to a lot of people. We had White on our 53 as the fifth and final receiver and that’s how the Packers decided to go. Essentially, they chose White over Jared Abbrederis. White actually led the Packers with 16 catches for 157 yards this preseason. His two receiving touchdowns were second. This is the third camp White has been in with the Packers. This is the first time he’s made the roster out of camp.

Running back Alonzo Harris — Here’s a guy we did not have on our 53. In fact, it certainly looked like Harris was outperformed by both Rajion Neal and John Crockett during the preseason. Harris was second in rushing, carrying 21 times for 85 yards and a touchdown. Crockett went 26 for 97 and a touchdown. Harris’ 4.0 yards per carry was higher than Crockett’s 3.7, but less than Neal’s 4.1. What’s more, both Neal and Crockett were huge factors in the passing game and Harris was nonexistent. Neal had 11 catches for 86 yards, Crockett had seven for 72, and Harris had just one for seven. So, you go ahead and make sense of that.

Defensive end Bruce Gaston — Gaston was signed off Arizona’s practice squad last December. That actually looks like a really nice pickup right now. While we had Gaston on our final roster, it was still a bit of a surprise since he came into camp as an unknown. Gaston played his way onto the roster, though. He was consistently in the opposing quarterback’s face throughout the preseason.

Cornerback LaDarius Gunter — He’s really only on this list because, like Harris, he was an undrafted free agent signing this offseason. Gunter actually played like a high draft pick. He has an NFL future and we hope it’s with the Packers.

Cornerback Demetri Goodson — This guy just hangs around like a cockroach. He should have been cut last training camp, but got a concussion just before the preseason ended, so the Packers felt they had to keep him around. On the bubble again this training camp and guess what. He suffers some sort of injury just before the final preseason game. We’re beginning to think Goodson is faking injuries so the Packers don’t have to pay him an injury settlement when they release him and thus, are more likely to keep him on the roster. Now, we will say that we’ve heard Goodson has shown quite a bit of improvement this year. However, Mike McCarthy always talks about how availability is just as important as effort and Goodson always has one injury or another. This and the Harris pick are the two that make absolutely no sense to us.