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On Wednesday, Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst opened up a spot on his team’s 90-man roster when he cut veteran defensive lineman Mike Daniels. When asked about the roster that afternoon, he suggested that he would not stay below the 90-man limit for very long.
By Thursday night, that spot was filled. In to compete for a regular season job is running back Corey Grant, who spent the last four years with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Grant’s agency first Tweeted the news of his signing, which should become official on Friday’s transaction report.
Grant, who measures 5-foot-9 and just over 200 pounds, suited up in 38 games for the Jaguars over the past four seasons, carrying the football 81 times for 454 yards and three touchdowns. He also added 18 receptions for 156 yards and another score. However, Grant could provide a boost to the return game as well; he has a 23.6-yard average on 41 kickoff returns in his NFL career as well, and averaged 24.5 yards per return on kicks in college at Auburn.
Although he went undrafted in 2015, Grant had a tremendous Pro Day workout at Auburn that spring. He showed off blazing speed there, reportedly timing at 4.28 seconds in the 40-yard dash while posting impressive numbers in the vertical (37 inches) and broad jumps (10-foot-7) and hitting seven seconds even in the 3-cone drill.
The other benefit that Grant can bring is familiarity with Nathaniel Hackett, the Packers’ offensive coordinator. Hackett was in Jacksonville for all of Grant’s tenure there, first as quarterbacks coach then for parts of three different seasons as offensive coordinator. Grant’s best season came in 2017, Hackett’s one full year as OC, as Grant totaled 289 yards from scrimmage while playing all 16 games.
One notable concern is Grant’s recent injury history, however. He played just five games in 2018, being shut down for the season in October because of a lisfranc injury in his foot. Hopefully he is fully healed up from that injury and will be able to fully participate in training camp.