Updates to the Packers’ roster: the team names 4-3 linebackers and defensive linemen

GREEN BAY PACKERS ROSTER

Packers roster updates, team announces 4-3 linebackers and defensive linemen
The only real question left is whether Colby Wooden is an end or tackle in Green Bay’s new 4-3 defense.

The Green Bay Packers officially updated their roster with the start of their organized team activities (OTAs) last week. This is most significant for the team’s front seven, as the team transitions from a 3-4 defense to a 4-3 defense this year. Based on how the team laid out their roster, though, don’t assume that there are going to be grand changes with personnel.

Many wondered whether 3-4 outside linebackers like Preston Smith will be able to take on the Sam (strongside) linebacker role in the 4-3. He, along with every single other 3-4 outside linebacker from the 2023 roster, was listed as a defensive lineman when the Packers updated their roster this week.

For the most part, assume the 3-4 defensive ends and nose tackles will be 4-3 defensive tackles, 3-4 outside linebackers will be 4-3 defensive ends and 3-4 inside linebackers will be 4-3 linebackers. That’s essentially the messaging out of Green Bay right now.

Packers front seven

Defensive Linemen (EDGE, 10): Desline Alexandre, Keshawn Banks, Brenton Cox Jr., Kingsley Enagbare, Rashan Gary, Deandre Johnson, Arron Mosby, Kenneth Odumegwu, Preston Smith and Lukas Van Ness

Defensive Linemen (iDL, 6): Karl Brooks, Kenny Clark, Jonathan Ford, T.J. Slaton, Colby Wooden and Devonte Wyatt
Linebackers (5): Isaiah McDuffie, Quay Walker, Kristian Welch, Eric Wilson and Christian Young

The one exception to this rule is Arron Mosby, a practice squad linebacker who was listed as a 3-4 inside linebacker last season. Mosby is more of a special teams ace than a defender anyway, but he has played multiple spots throughout his college and NFL career. Now, he’ll make the transition to 4-3 defensive end, according to the roster update.

It’s also worth mentioning here that Christian Young, another roster bubble player, is going to be a linebacker for new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley. Young played both linebacker and safety at the college level, which left some questions as to how he’d fit in with the new scheme.

Due to the fact that the Packers only list defensive linemen, rather than defensive tackles and defensive ends, there are still a few questions left to be unanswered here.

No one expected Lukas Van Ness to kick inside full-time in the near future, but Colby Wooden, who fell down the depth chart quickly after being the first man off the bench to start the season in 2023, is still only listed at 273 pounds.

Is Wooden a player that Green Bay would consider to be a defensive end in a 4-3? That has yet to be determined, at least in public. Still, the edge room has more bodies in it than any other position on the roster right now. Wooden going to defensive end would mean that the Packers would have 11 players at end compared to just 5 players at tackle.

Currently, the Packers have 72 players on their roster to go along with 11 draft choices in next week’s draft. That means that if Green Bay does turn in all those selections, they’ll only have eight roster spots available for undrafted free agents — once you include Kenneth Odumegwu’s roster exemption as an international pathways player.

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