NFL Roster Cuts: Packers Final Cuts

The Green Bay Packers have set their 53 man roster. Here's Greg Bedard's handy dandy chart. Many of the bigger names were discussed in an earlier post, so here are the nine players released that I didn't mention earlier. Here's the list from the Journal-Sentinel:

P Chris Bryan. When I read recaps from practice, via Twitter or elsewhere, it seemed like Bryan was ahead in the punting battle. But P Tim Masthay always looked better during the preseason games. Still there wasn't actually a lot of punting this preseason, so I'm not really sure how good they are. Masthay seemed to have a big leg with not much accuracy.

OL Chris Campbell. I thought he was the worst player this preseason. Many lineman were badly beaten in pass protection (Allen Barbre, Breno Giacomini...), but Campbell was the worst.

CB D.J. Clark. He did little during the preseason games, which was probably part of his problem. I can't actually swear that CB Pat Lee is better than him, but Lee will get a second chance because he's a former 2nd round pick. 

LB Robert Francois. I hope he gets through waivers and makes it onto the practice squad. He seemed to be a solid tackler and an aggressive player on a second unit that had problems tackling. He also leveled Colts RB Joseph Addai on a fumble return. Even if he had made the team, it was unlikely he'd get much playing time.

QB Graham Harrell. He didn't look bad, but he didn't look great either. The Packers were expected to keep only 2 QBs, so he needed to play great to force them to keep him off waivers. He'll either be signed to the practice squad, or the Packers will sign a different QB to it.

DB Anthony Levine. I had been reading about this guy since before the draft and was really excited to read that they signed him as an undrafted free agent. And then he showed the tendency to take bad angles and miss tackles. That's unacceptable for any defender, but especially for a safety who is the last line of defense. Unfortunately, his release is no surprise.

LB Maurice Simpkins. The former arena football league player never had a chance. He was signed only after LB Clay Matthews and LB Brad Jones got hurt. Also, LB Nick Barnett was held out nearly the entire preseason, so they really just needed an extra body at linebacker. He looked like he could be a special teams ace if given a chance.

WR Chastin West. He sounded like a promising player when they signed him back in April. Instead he showed poor instincts as a receiver and bad hands (he only caught 1 of the 6 passes thrown his way against the Chiefs). He didn't show much speed as a return man either. It's no surprise he was released.

WR Patrick Williams. I always wondered if he was running the right route which is never a good sign for a receiver. But he did show some ability to separate from his defender. I wouldn't be upset if he ended up on the practice squad, but he's a long-term project at best.