2023 Packers roster ranking, 40-32: unproven young players and the punter

The Leap ranks the Green Bay Packers' 90-man roster in order of player caliber.

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With the Green Bay Packers on break until training camp and the personnel essentially frozen for the foreseeable future, The Leap has decided to use this time to release its 90-man roster rankings.

Our methodology: We ordered the players based on ability relative to their respective positions rather than the value of those positions. Put another way, this exercise prioritizes the "best" players, not necessarily the "most valuable" ones. That means the starting quarterback doesn't necessarily have to top the list because of the position he plays.

Each edition of the 90-man roster ranking will include a batch of roughly 10 players. Due to voting ties, some batches will feature one more or one fewer.

Today's group features four rookies, three primarily special-teams players, and the two veteran safeties the team added this offseason.

40. Tariq Carpenter

Position: inside linebacker
How acquired: seventh-round draft pick (2022)

If you raised your eyebrow when you read his position, you’re not alone. Tariq Carpenter did too, as he makes the transition from safety to linebacker.

“I never played linebacker in my life. It’s like I’m learning freaking Portuguese. It’s a whole new language … [I am] still feeling like a fish out of water,” Carpenter said back in June.

“It’s on me. I’ve got to spend my time in the playbook. It’s a whole new language. Me coming from playing safety, I didn’t need to know what the D-line is doing and what gap I’ve got to fit and get the defensive linemen set and know what the back-end coverage is, as well. So, there’s a lot more to it.”

The ex-Georgia Tech defender played just 16 defensive snaps as a rookie in 2022, so it’s not as if he has hundreds of snaps of NFL sweat equity in the position, but it is the position Carpenter has played his entire adult life. His role won’t be to play meaningful reps at linebacker this year but rather be a core special-teams player.

39. Karl Brooks

Position: defensive lineman
How acquired: sixth-round draft pick (2023)

The second of two former edge defenders expected to play defensive tackle for the Packers, Karl Brooks comes to Green Bay a former oversized defensive end who dominated everyone in front of him at Bowling Green. He underlined that performance by proving he could hang at the Senior Bowl, both against the better competition and with his expected position change.

In fact, he was so superlative in college, Pro Football Focus ranked him in the top 100 of their NFL draft big board thanks to run and pass defense grades over 90 last season. Average athletic testing numbers (5.73 Relative Athletic Score as a DT) scuttled any chance he had of hearing his name called on Day 2 and he fell to the Packers in the sixth round.

Brooks offers versatility, able to play true 3-4 DE as well as rush from a reduced set inside as a three-technique. Green Bay will need him to play meaningful reps right away to help a run defense that ranks dead last in EPA/rush in the Matt LaFleur era.