Ranking "In Memoriam" Packers midway through 2012

There has been a fair amount of roster turnover for the 2012 Green Bay Packers.  In just nine weeks, six players that started the season on the initial 53-man roster were either cut or put on injured reserve.  To get a feel for how much the Packers are missing each of the six players no longer on the initial 53-man roster, here is a quick look at where I ranked the six of them in my initial player rankings:

#52) Brandian Ross (CB) - the biggest surprise to me on the initial 53-man roster was cut and signed to the practice squad to make way for Erik Walden once he served his one game suspension for off the field transgressions.  Ross was signed to the Oakland Raiders 53-man roster by former Green Bay Packers director of player personal Reggie McKenzie, who is now the general manger for the Oakland Raiders.  Look for a number of players that are cut by the Packers over the next few years to land with the Raiders thanks to McKenzie's connection to the Packers.

#49) Phillip Merling (DL) - I questioned the decision to keep Merling instead of Daniel Muir but either one was going to be cut once Mike Neal returned from suspension a quarter of the way through the season anyhow since Neal clearly has incriminating information on one of the higher ups in the Packers organization.

#47) Brandon Saine (RB) - A quality special teams player that never got a real chance to play offensively is lost for the season with a knee injury.  Fellow running back Alex Green went through the same thing between last year so Green will be a good resource for Saine since next year will be a make-or-break year for Saine's NFL career.

#31) Cedric Benson (RB) - I have always been skeptical that the Packers actually need a three-down running back.  After seeing how well Benson performed in limited action early in the season running with a real purpose, he suffered a lis franc injury.  The Packers put Benson on the "modified injured reserve" so they have the option to add him back to the active roster eight weeks from October 10th.  Hopefully Benson can return healthy because the Packers have gotten below average results from their other running back (Green, Kuhn, and Starks).

#20) D.J. Smith (MLB) - According to NFL advanced stats nerds, middle linebacker and safety are two easiest positions to replace on defense.  Since the Packers play a 3-4 defense they need at least two middle linebackers.  The Packers lost their best middle linebacker (Desmond Bishop) before the season started so it looked like they could ill afford to lose their second best middle linebacker as well.  A.J. Hawk and Brad Jones have been pretty good filling in for Bishop and Smith so may be the stat hears are right.

#15) Nick Perry (OLB) - When news reports surfaced that Perry was "going for a second opinion on his knee" he was actually having season ending hand surgery.  Perry being lost for the season coincided with Claymaker getting hurt as well so the Packers might be forced to start two new outside linebackers when they return from their bye.  Obviously Claymaker is irreplaceable but I feel confident that Erik Walden is better than Perry now (may be not in 2013 though) so that might actually be an upgrade.  Leaving Walden aside though, I question whether Dezman Moses or Frank Zombo can even be 50% of Claymaker.

Thompson replaced the six players discussed above with Andrew Quarless (TE), Mike Neal (DE), Greg Van Roten (OG), Erik Walden (OLB), Johnny White (RB), and Frank Zombo (OLB).  Check back tomorrow for where I rank the new roster additions along with their 47 teammates in my mid-season player rankings for the current 53-man Green Bay Packers roster.

2012 Green Bay Packers Initial Practice Squad

Just like every other team in the NFL, the Green Bay Packers signed eight players to their practice squad the day after finalizing their initial 53-man roster.  Much like I did last year, here are my rankings of the initial 2012 Green Bay Packers eight player practice squad

#8) Marc Tyler (RB) - Looked like a bruising, physically imposing running back cut from the same cloth as Michael Bush early in training camp but that performance has to be taken with a grain of salt since it was against a bunch of 3rd stringers.

#7) Brandon Bostick (TE) - The Packers and Patriots are roster trend setter for the NFL.  Keeping a guy like Bostick allows Thompson to keep continue to chase his roster dream of having more tight ends than wide receivers on the active roster.

#6) Lawrence Guy (DE) - Landed on IR last year and the practice squad this year so hopefully Guy can get some practice reps under his belt to challenge for a roster spot next year since he looks to have the right body-type to play any position along the defensive line in a 3-4 defense.

#5) Chris Scott (G/T) - Not often do the Packers add players to their practice squad that spent time on other practice squads since usually they usually have to get so many quality players cut.  Scott sure looks the part of an imposing NFL offensive lineman at 6'5" and 332-pounds but whether the former Tennessee Volunteer and Pittsburgh Steelers draft pick (151st pick in the 2010 NFL Draft) is a roster filler or something more is hard to say until Scott actually practices with the team.

#4) Greg Van Roten (G) - Had a great camp and if Don Barclay didn't make the final 53-man roster, there is a good chance that Van Roten would have been the last offensive lineman kept on the active roster.  Look for Van Roten to get promoted to the active roster between Week 2 and Week 6 if the Packers suffer any serious injuries along the offensive line.  I say Week 2 through Week 6 because Derek Sherrod is scheduled to come off the PUP last after Week 6, if his leg continues to heal properly.

#3) B.J. Coleman (QB) - The whole coaching staff loves Coleman's attitude but it is way too early to tell if Coleman will be another successful backup quarterback that progresses through the system to earn big dollars from another NFL franchise along the lines of Matt Hasselback or Matt Flynn.

#2) Andrew Datko (T) - Injuries are always going to be the issue for Datko so spending some time on the practice squad might allow him the chance to recover but he needs to show that he can string together a number of healthy weeks otherwise the Packers might as well add a different offensive lineman to the practice squad because I would be shocked if at least one offensive lineman wasn't promoted from the practice squad to the active roster this season.

#1) Diondre Borel (WR) - It turns out that the three-horse race between Borel, Jarrett Boykin, and Tori Gurley for the illusive 6th wide receiver spot saw Boykin winning and Gurley signing with the Minnesota Vikings so that left Borel to sign with the Packers.  Borel had the least impressive training camp of the three but I still suspect another team will try to poach Borel off the practice squad to their active roster before the end of the season.

Check back Wednesday for my thoughts on the Most Overpaid and Most Underpaid 2012 Green Bay Packers and next Sunday for my ranking of the initial 53-man roster for the 2012 Green Bay Packers.