2023 Packers roster ranking, 81-71: Odds are greater than zero but not by much

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 slate features mostly players who won’t make the final 53-man squad, but there’s a good chance there are some practice-squad guys to consider if only by basic math: 53 players on the final roster plus 16 on the practice squad gets us to 69 (nice). And there are always injuries, which means there is a good chance a name or two from this list will be around longer than we think.

T-80. Jason Lewan

Position: defensive lineman
How acquired: undrafted rookie (2023)

Joe Barry’s defense desperately needs a fringe roster guy to pop because the defensive line lacks … There are myriad things that sentence could have been finished with, but it’s best unfinished in that way because that’s the truth. It just lacks.

Lewan could be that fringe guy. He has a 6-foot-6 frame with good athleticism (an 8.54 Relative Athletic Score) who played on the edge at Illinois State. He’s a different type of body type than the Packers currently have on the roster and that athleticism could make him a potential value on special teams. This is a name to watch.

T-80. Keshawn Banks

Position: outside linebacker
How acquired: undrafted rookie (2023)

These two should probably not be tied and full disclosure, that’s my fault for the voting. I put Banks higher for positional value purposes, but Banks has poor athleticism with an RAS under 2.0 and because of that will be hard-pressed to find a role on special teams which is where these fringe players have to make their bed.

If Banks is going to push for a roster spot, it will have to be with strong preseason play because his production at San Diego State did outshine his athletic testing. He finished sixth in Aztecs history in TFLs for his career, so he’s shown he can make plays. Being a gamer will have to be enough.