Lawrence Guy Signs With The Colts: Ross and Vanderlin On The Practice Squad

The Green Bay Packers added a couple players to the practice squad after DE Lawrence Guy signed with the Colts and after they promoted OL Greg Van Roten to the 53-man roster last week.

New Insiders blog:Packers sign WR Ross, DE Vanderlin to practice squad dlvr.it/2L14S2 #Packers
— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) October 17, 2012

Guy was a 7th round draft choice in 2011 who never made a big impression. He had the size to be a good 3-4 DE for the Packers and it seemed like he came from Arizona State as a bit of an underachiever. He certainly didn't overachieve for the Packers. He's been a good fit for the practice squad, someone with the size to play inside or outside for the scout team, but I didn't expect him to have a future with the Packers.

DE Drew Vanderlin's name was familiar since the Packers gave him a tryout in May. I'm not sure this move was motivated as much by Vanderlin's ability as his availability. With Guy's departure before practice starts this week, they probably needed someone right now for the scout team. It's probably a sign that NT B.J. Raji isn't ready to return to practice, so they were down two lineman before signing Vanderlin.

I'm sure QB Aaron Rodgers is excited to see another Cal alum on the roster, but it looks like WR Jeremy Ross was signed just to fill out the practice squad. He was undrafted in 2011 and he's been released by the Patriots and the Colts since then. He's got 4.4 speed but he doesn't appear to have been much of a receiver at Cal; he was at his best in college as a punt returner. Unfortunately for Ross, there's usually a bunch of guys with his skill set looking for NFL jobs.

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.