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My One and Only 2026 Packers 53-man Roster Prediction Jersey Al takes his annual shot at predicting the Packers roster just before cutdown day. By JerseyAl By now, you've surely read way too many 53-man roster predictions, you say? No kidding! Weekly predictions seem to be the norm nowadays. Going back over a decade, I've tried to be kind to you and only do one of these. So here it is, my annual stab at predicting the Packers' 53-man roster. Note that for the majority of this prediction, this is what I think the Packers will do, but it's hard to not let a little personal preference sneak in at times. The Turk is a cruel taskmaster, and soon, 39 Packers' NFL dreams will hit a bump in the road or be ended completely. Cutdowns are never a fun time, but it is a fun exercise to try to predict the outcomes. Here goes:. OFFENSE: 25 QB: Love, Taylor, McCord (3) RB: Jacobs, LLoyd, Brooks (3) TE: Kraft, Smith, Whylie (3) WR: Watson, Reed, Golden, Melton, Moore, Sturdivant (6) OL: Morgan, A. Banks, Rhyan, Monk, Bako-Bewele, Belton, Burton, Kinnard, Williams, Jennings (10) COMMENTS: I rarely feel like the Packers will keep 3 quarterbacks on their roster but McCord has been a true revelation. He looked shaky on family night, but I guess that was just first-action jitters. In the preseason games, he has shown he's in control and has exhibited surprising poise in some high-pressure situations. With the paucity of decent backup QBs in the league, I have to think someone will claim him if released. Taylor has looked mediocre at best, but the Packers want that experience on the bench. So they both stay. With the Jacobs issue still looming large, I was tempted to keep Pierre Strong, but having him on the PS for emergency callup duty should be good enough. I'm not particularly comfortable with only three tight ends, so I believe the Packers will look to add another, but not necessarily this weekend. I don't think the Packers want to go with 7 WRs, but I also think they don't want to lose Sturdivant, so putting Saviion Willams on recallable IR to start the season accomplishes both goals for now. I'm going heavy on the offensive line with 10 players, at least for the first roster. With the relative weakness in their backups, better to have more options. DEFENSE: 25 DL: Wyatt, Brooks, Hargrave, McClellan, Ford, Campbell (6) DE/OLB: Van Ness, Cox, Sorrell , Dennis-Sutton, Oliver (5) ILB: Cooper, Franklin, McDuffie, Hopper, Neimann (5) CB: Nixon, Cisse, Valentine, Hadden, St-Juste (5) S: McKinney, Williams, Bullard, Oladapo, (4) COMMENTS: It's been a LOOOOOOOONNNNGGGGG time since the Packers had this much quality DL depth. For a 3-4 defense where they'll likely be in nickel most of the time anyway, 7 DL would be a waste of a roster spot. My play here is to put Brinson on recallable IR to start the season. They'll stash Crumedy and/or Stackhouse on the PS in case someone has an early serious injury and Brinson can later come back and take the spot. The DE/OLB group should be straightforward, unless the Packers choose to reward Nyjalik Kelly, who has thoroughly outplayed Collin Oliver. However, the Packers don't like to give up on draft picks that quickly, so they keep Oliver and stash Kelly on the PS. ILB might be the most set in stone group - no one is breaking through these five. At the cornerback spot, I'm taking a chance here by only keeping five. Domani Jackson is the odd man out and frankly he's been a disappointment from college to the NFL, despite being an elite athlete. He has looked terrible when given a chance in preseason. Sorry Domani, you're going to the practice squad to try to figure it out - no one's claiming you. The safety group is set. Only Mark Perry has distinguished himself beyond these four, but it's the PS for him. Personally, I don't think Oladapo has looked very good at all and I wouldn't be disappointed if the Packers kept Perry over Oladapo, but I don't think the Packers will do that. SPECIALISTS: 3 Smack, Whelan, Adomitis COMMENTS: It's only about the long snapper here. Even if Matt Orzech is back ready to practice, would you want to disrupt the kicking operation that has been perfect in preseason? I wouldn't. PUP/IR: Parsons, Musgrave, Riley, Orzech / Brinson, Williams, PRACTICE SQUAD: Strong, Dabney, Glover, Nixon, Nayor, Sheppard, Kelly, Stackhouse, Mosby, Quinn, Perry, Crumedy, Gesky, Bartholemew, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO OUR CHEESEHEAD NATION WEEKLY NEWSLETTER HERE. __________________________ "Jersey Al" Bracco is the Editor-In-Chief, part owner and wearer of various hats for CheeseheadTV.com and PackersTalk.com. He's a lifetime Packers fan living in the land of the Giants (and Jets). Follow Al on twitter at @JerseyalGBP. __________________________