Sunday Will Be A Glorified Tryout For Many Players and Positions

A roller coaster of a Green Bay Packers regular season is coming to an end, and, shortly after the holidays, Packer fans are getting the late gift of a fourth preseason game. Okay, not actually, this one will count towards the record. However, with Green Bay locked into the seventh seed and the Minnesota Vikings eliminated from the playoffs, this game will feel a lot like a preseason game.

While the Packers will be the seventh seed, win or lose, there will be high stakes for many players on the back end of the roster. The game will likely feature mostly backups, making it a glorified tryout for many players.

Jordan Morgan is the most intriguing. Morgan has played two solid games in relief of Zach Tom at right tackle, confirming the suspicion that he’s best suited to play tackle. In this game, with most of the starters likely sitting, he likely kicks over to left tackle and will get his first regular-season shot as the preferred LT, his natural position. 

In the preseason, Morgan played mostly LT and played very well, which made the right guard experiment during the regular season even more questionable. With Brian Flores' defense one of the more complex and difficult to play against, this will be the ultimate test of whether Green Bay should feel comfortable with Morgan as their LT heading into 2026.

Another potential tryout we’ll see is for 2026’s QB2. Jordan Love has cleared concussion protocol, but with the Packers locked into the seven seed and Malik Willis dealing with a shoulder injury, Matt LaFleur announced that Clayton Tune will start Sunday. That leaves Green Bay with Desmond Ridder as his backup. I have no confidence in either player as a future backup right now. I don’t know if LaFleur will treat the QB position like a preseason game and give both QBs a shot, but I think it would be wise to see what you have in both during this game.

Ridder has much more experience as a starter. However, throughout his 20 games played and 18 starts, he hasn’t inspired much confidence that he’s even a backup in this league. In 2023, when he was with the Atlanta Falcons, he started 13 games and had 17 total TDs, 12 interceptions, and 12 fumbles. Since then, he has bounced around, spending time with the Arizona Cardinals, Las Vegas Raiders, Cincinnati Bengals, Minnesota Vikings, and the Packers in just two full seasons.

On the other hand, we’ve seen much less of Tune. He has attempted just 27 passes in his career for 78 yards, no TDs, and three picks -- a very small sample size, but not inspiring to say the least.

However, as with Morgan, this Flores defense is a great test for evaluating the quality of your offensive line and QBs. If either of the quarterbacks shows flashes on Sunday, they could be in line to be the backup next season, with Willis likely leaving in free agency.

The last interesting tryout on the offense is the running backs. This week, Green Bay made a slew of transactions heading into its final game of the regular season. The most interesting of which was the signing of former Miami Hurricanes running back Damien Martinez to the practice squad.

Martinez had many fans in the draft process; some fans were even begging for him on Day 2. He came in ranked 101 on the consensus big board and was widely seen as a late Day 2 to early Day 3 prospect. The fact that he fell to the seventh round and hasn’t been able to stick on a roster has been a bit perplexing. 

However, going back and reading my draft notes on him, it makes a little more sense. My summary stated: 

Teams don’t like running backs who can’t pass block, and, on top of that, his receiving ability is limited at best. Once the NFL showed that they viewed Martinez as a late Day 3 pick, it was going to be nearly impossible to get an opportunity to show his running ability and be extremely tough to stick on the back end of any roster. Still, the pure running ability is worth a shot. 

I doubt we’ll see Josh Jacobs, who is dealing with a lingering injury. Given Jacobs’ health status, I’d expect they also will elect to keep Emanuel Wilson fresh. I’m not sure we see Chris Brooks, either, which leaves Green Bay with Pierre Strong and Martinez. That could be the opportunity Martinez is looking for to show off his running ability that was touted for in the draft process.

Strong has much more experience, appearing in 46 games so far in his career. He’s occasionally flashed, but he feels much more like a player that’s on the practice squad because he’s a vet that you would trust as an RB3 if Jacobs injury got worse or things got real bleak in the room, not someone who is a developmental project.

With Brooks and Wilson both restricted free agents, MarShawn Lloyd still MIA, and the Packers tight on cap, there could be an opportunity for a roster spot there heading into next season.

The last spot with some intrigue is inside linebacker. I’d expect Quay Walker and Edgerrin Cooper to sit, and likely McDuffie. That leaves a big opportunity for 2024 third-round pick, Ty’Ron Hopper, to make a case for himself as a starter next season. 

It would be a big jump from a fourth-string special teams player, but we’ve seen flashes throughout the first two seasons from him. They haven’t resulted in many defensive snaps in a deep room. With the room likely not being so deep on Sunday, Hopper has a chance to give Brian Gutekunst some things to think about this offseason when it comes to re-signing Walker, who’s an unrestricted free agent, and/or keeping McDuffie, who has a pseudo team option.

While Sunday's game is mostly meaningless to the Packers in terms of the 2025-26 season, there are stakes in every game when it comes to players' careers moving forward. Sunday will be a fun game to see some of the lesser-featured characters from the 2025 season.