Packers Release Five: Led By Anthony Hargrove

Here's the report from Packers.com on the five players they released on Friday, as they work on trimming the roster to 75 players by Monday, and they still have 10 more players to go. As for the first five, it included a couple of better known players but really no surprises.

WR Andy Brewer. He was recently claimed off waivers from the Eagles, and with a deep group of receivers already on the roster, he was the longest of long shots. No surprise here.

DE Anthony Hargrove. A lot was written about the troubled free agent and his ongoing battle over bounties with the commissioner's office. Instead, his release comes earlier than expected, but it shouldn't be a surprise because he never played with the first team defense this preseason. He was a poor fit from the start because he was an undersized 3-4 defensive end. He really had to standout to earn a roster spot, and it never happened.

S Micah Pellerin and CB Dion Turner. A couple of undrafted free agents who played little during the preseason. Again, it's no surprise that they've been released.

T Herb Taylor. The season ending injury to Derek Sherrod led to his signing last December. Sherrod's continued absence, and an injury to Marshall Newhouse, briefly led to Taylor becoming the starting left tackle for the preseason opener. His fate was probably sealed the moment he allowed a big hit on Aaron Rodgers. He wasn't good as a run or pass blocker, and only a show of supreme optimism could have kept him on the roster any longer.

The Packers 90-man Roster: Cornerbacks

One of the biggest surprises in last April's draft was that the Green Bay Packers selected a cornerback (Casey Hayward) in the 2nd round. Maybe it shouldn't have been a surprise based on the terrible 2011 season, but I thought the coaches were looking for a bounce back season from Tramon Williams and/or Sam Shields. Instead, they added a shot of competition to the position.

Player	Height	Weight	Age	Experience
Bush, Jarrett	6-0	200	28	7
Hayward, Casey	5-11	192	22	Rookie
House, Davon	6-0	195	22	2
Merrill, Otis	5-11	188	24	Rookie
Ross, Brandian	6-0	191	22	1
Shields, Sam	5-11	184	24	3
Turner, Dion	5-11	194	23	Rookie
Williams, Tramon	5-11	191	29	6
Woodson, Charles	6-1	202	35	15

At first glance this looks like a tough spot for three rookies, and a 2011 practice squad member (Ross) who's had zero regular season experience. Unless Hayward is a complete disaster in training camp, which is very unlikely, he'll move into the spot vacated by former Packer Pat Lee, who's now with the Raiders.

Then it comes down to whether one of the three undrafted free agents (Merrill, Ross, Turner) can move ahead of House. While the most likely result is that they're only competing against each other for a spot on the practice squad, the fact remains that House was given zero opportunities last season while the secondary was imploding. If House struggles during the preseason, he could have reason to worry.

But other than a possible competition for the final spot on the 53-man roster, the depth chart should remain the same. Woodson is back, and Bush was re-signed to back him up. Shields took a big step back in 2011, but he played with the first team defense during the open OTAs. Some concern remains about whether Williams is fully recovered from his shoulder injury, but his injured nerve will heal at some point and he kept his starting job throughout 2011 despite his bad shoulder.

Overall competition level: low. Other than a potential battle between Shields and Hayward/House/Bush for the nickelback, there shouldn't be too many surprises here once the longshot, undrafted undrafted cornerbacks fail to move up the depth chart. The cornerbacks need to play a lot better in 2012, but that doesn't mean that there will be a lot of changes to the roster.

The Packers 2012 Undrafted Free Agent Class

The Green Bay Packers signed 15 undrafted free agents after the 2012 NFL draft, and I came away pretty underwhelmed. Even the big name player, USC RB Marc Tyler, isn't someone who should be considered a find. He deserved to be undrafted.

He ran a lousy 4.76 in the 40 at the NFL combine, and it gave him a poor 85 Speed Score. I would put him way behind Brandon Saine, who ran a 4.43 in the 40, and has a very good 114 Speed Score. But Tyler does a good job of avoiding defenders (field vision), following his blockers, and catching the football as a receiver.



However, these undrafted free agents may make up a big part of the roster. Looking back at the list of 15 undrafted free agents signed before the start of the 2011 season, I see that 11 of those players are currently on the roster. Some of them were released and re-signed, while Shaky Smithson spent all season on I.R., but there's no denying that they provided depth.

Though the 2011 undrafted free agent class might be a high water mark. The Packers didn't lose as many free agents as they had the previous year, and many of those 2011 undrafted free agents will still be eligible for the practice squad next season. The 2012 undrafted free agent class is going to have to outplay the returning players. Maybe they can do it, but right now it's just speculation whether any of them can. Here's the rest of the players signed:

South Dakota State WR Dale Moss.
Iowa State WR Darius Reynolds.
Vanderbilt DB Sean Richardson.
Buffalo WR Marcus Rivers.
Winston-Salem FB Nic Cooper.
Minnesota TE Eric Lair.
Gannon NT Randy Colling.
Tulane DE/LB Dezman Moses.
Southern Utah DB Dion Turner.
SD State OL Tommie Draheim.
Minnesota RB Duane Bennett.
Wake Forest TE Cameron Ford.
West Virginia OL Don Barclay.
Michigan Tech DE Drew Vanderlin.