Family Night: Packers’ snap counts with “the ones”

With starters playing in the preseason less and less each year, our best look at the usage of the 2022 Green Bay Packers’ personnel this summer may come on Family Night or the team’s scheduled joint practices against the New Orleans Saints. With that in mind, Acme Packing Company charted the player participation and alignment of the Packers’ first-string reps that were broadcast on Friday’s stream of Family Night practice.

Before we dive into the offense and defense, let’s get the easy ones out of the way. The quarterback was Aaron Rodgers...for every single snap. The offensive line (left to right) was Yosh Nijman, Jon Runyan Jr., Josh Myers, Jake Hanson and Royce Newman for the majority of practice until rookie Zach Tom was subbed in at right tackle, pushing Newman to right guard and moving Hanson to the second team.

Now let’s get into the fun stuff.

Offensive Skill Players

Running Back

• 14 snaps: AJ Dillon
• 12: Aaron Jones
• 1: Josiah Deguara

Offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich stated back in May that the team wanted to get Dillon and Jones on the field together, but we hardly saw those “Pony” personnel sets on Family Night. Only twice were they on the field at the same time, both leading to Jones being used as a jet motion man.

For the most part, the reps were split right down the middle between Jones and Dillon. The Packers had only one rep of split back gun, which featured Deguara as a running back on a play where he was the designed lead blocker.

Fullback

• 3: Josiah Deguara
• 1: Dominique Dafney

The players who got reps are fullback weren’t surprising, but the percentage of plays that featured a fullback was a significant uptick when compared to the 2021 season. Really, the games against the Detroit Lions were the only times last season in which the Packers used a fullback once every six or seven plays.

Outside Receiver

• 13: Sammy Watkins
• 10: Allen Lazard
• 6: Romeo Doubs
• 5: Juwann Winfree
• 1: Dominique Dafney

Slot/Condensed Receiver

• 8: Allen Lazard
• 7: Romeo Doubs
• 6: Randall Cobb
• 5: Amari Rodgers
• 3: Sammy Watkins
• 2: Tyler Davis, Juwann Winfree
• 1: Marcedes Lewis, AJ Dillon

This is where things started to get interesting. At this point in the summer, it seems like Watkins, Lazard, Doubs, Cobb and Watson will make the team, leaving room for one or maybe two other receivers to make the roster.

With Winfree out-snapping Rodgers for most of camp with “the ones,” I thought Winfree had the best chance to make the team as WR6. After I broke down who played inside or outside, though, I wasn’t so sure. Watkins and Winfree, along with Watson, are being used primarily as outside receivers with Lazard and Doubs being used inside and outside and Cobb and Rodgers being used as slots. As far as the roster spots go, the question boils down to if it’s more important to roster Cobb’s backup (Rodgers) or a fifth outside receiver (Winfree) who rarely lines up inside. I think Rodgers, particularly if he can contribute as a return man, wins out there.

Inline Tight End

• 8: Tyler Davis
• 5: Marcedes Lewis
• 2: Josiah Deguara

Wing Tight End

• 3: Josiah Deguara, Tyler Davis
• 2: Marcedes Lewis
• 1: Allen Lazard, Dominique Dafney, Juwann Winfree

Deguara only got five true tight end reps in team looks on Family Night, compared to Davis’ 11 and Lewis’ seven, but had the most total snaps of a tight end (15) because of his backfield and slot reps. That will change significantly when Robert Tonyan returns to the squad, as he will be the team’s primary pass-catching tight end, but the usage of Deguara is worth tracking for the early portion of the season. No matter how you slice it, this is a room of role players rather than a group led by a single true starter.

Live Motion

• 2: Aaron Jones

As mentioned in the running back section, Jones was the only player used as a live snap jet motion player with “the ones.” From the limited looks that we’ve gotten of it, the Packers’ Pony personnel package mimics what they’ve done in the past.

Offensive Skill Players, Total

• 19: Allen Lazard
• 16: Sammy Watkins
• 15: AJ Dillon, Josiah Deguara
• 14: Aaron Jones
• 13: Romeo Doubs, Tyler Davis
• 8: Juwann Winfree, Marcedes Lewis
• 6: Randall Cobb
• 5: Amari Rodgers
• 3: Dominique Dafney

Defense

3-4 Defensive End

• 15: Jarran Reed
• 14: Dean Lowry
• 2: Kenny Clark
• 1: Devonte Wyatt

3-4 Nose Tackle

• 11: Kenny Clark
• 5: TJ Slaton

Defensive Tackle

• 8: Kenny Clark
• 6: Dean Lowry
• 5: Jarran Reed
• 2: TJ Slaton
• 1: Devonte Wyatt

The Packers’ three most-played defensive linemen were clearly Clark, Lowry and Reed, be it in their 3-4 defense or their nickel set. Wyatt got a few snaps with “the ones” while Slaton mostly saw playing time with the starters when he spelled Clark as a nose tackle. Clark’s only snaps as a 3-4 end were when Slaton was at the nose. It should be noted that Wyatt looked great against the second-team offensive line on Friday, but for whatever reason is not cracking the lineup with “the ones.”

With the second-string line, Slaton got some burn as a 3-4 defensive end as rookie Jonathan Ford played base reps as a nose tackle. Jack Heflin, last season’s preseason breakout, also got snaps with the twos as a 3-4 defense end.

Outside Linebacker

• 17: Rashan Gary
• 15: Preston Smith
• 6: Jonathan Garvin, Kingsley Enagbare, La’Darius Hamilton
• 4: Kobe Jones

Tipa Gleai worked with the ones as recently as last week but saw most of his snaps with “the threes” on Friday night. It appears that in a short amount of time, he’s been passed on the depth chart by Garvin and Enagbare, who tied with Hamilton for the most outside linebacker snaps behind the starters. Jones, who was signed by the team in May after he was waived by the Titans, also saw playing time with the ones, which was surprising.

As a reminder, Randy Ramsey, who was recently activated off of the physically unable to perform list, was held out of practice yesterday. Once he returns, he is expected to be in the mix for a roster spot and special teams contribution.

Inside Linebacker

• 27: De’Vondre Campbell
• 23: Quay Walker

In total, the Packers’ defense played 12 base 3-4 snaps, 11 nickel snaps and four penny snaps. In each of those sets, Campbell was on the field, with Walker only being pulled off for the team’s penny sets. The team did not play a single down of dime, be it three-safety dime or four-corner dime.

Krys Barnes called plays for the second team and Isaiah McDuffie was the linebacker to take reps next to him. In camp, McDuffie and Ray Wilborn have seen time with “the ones,” while the Packers have made it a point to have Barnes be the signal-caller on Team 2 rather than have him sit on the bench for the majority of team reps.

Outside Cornerback

• 23: Eric Stokes
• 22: Jaire Alexander
• 5: Rico Gafford
• 3: Shemar Jean-Charles
• 1: Kiondre Thomas

Slot Cornerback

• 14: Rasul Douglas
• 1: Shemar Jean-Charles

There was nothing too surprising at cornerback, with Stokes, Alexander and Douglas taking up most of the snaps with the first-string defense. Douglas also saw some outside cornerback snaps with the second team.

With Keisean Nixon, who was the team’s fourth cornerback in camp until injury, out, it’s interesting to note how close the race between Jean-Charles and Gafford seems to be. It appears that the team likes Gafford more as an outside corner while Jean-Charles specializes in the slot when given the opportunity. Thomas got a look over the likes of Kabion Ento, who has spent the last two seasons on the Packers’ practice squad, for a nickel rep that kicked Jean-Charles inside. When Gafford, Thomas and Jean-Charles played together with “the twos,” Jean-Charles also played in the slot.

Safety

• 24: Adrian Amos
• 23: Vernon Scott
• 3: Shawn Davis
• 2: Dallin Leavitt, Darnell Savage*

Savage went down with an injury in between the warmup and the first real team period, which led to Scott taking over for the majority of practice. The injury is not expected to be serious. Previously, it was assumed that Davis, who reportedly saw most of the team’s snaps as their third safety this summer, would have been the player to be called up. Davis did get some looks with the first team, as did special teamer Leavitt, who appears to have a lead over rookie draft pick Tariq Carpenter at the moment.

Defensive Players, Total

• 27: De’Vondre Campbell
• 24: Adrian Amos
• 23: Eric Stokes, Quay Walker, Vernon Scott
• 22: Jaire Alexander
• 21: Kenny Clark
• 20: Dean Lowry, Jarran Reed
• 17: Rashan Gary
• 15: Preston Smith
• 14: Rasul Douglas
• 7: TJ Slaton
• 6: Jonathan Garvin, Kinglsey Enagbare, La’Darius Hamilton
• 5: Rico Gafford
• 4: Kobe Jones, Shemar Jean-Charles
• 3: Shawn Davis
• 2: Dallin Leavitt, Darnell Savage*, Devonte Wyatt
• 1: Kiondre Thomas

All participation/alignment charted by Acme Packing Company. First-string reps were defined as who was on the field for team periods when quarterback Aaron Rodgers was under center.