Ranking Every Player on Packers’ Roster, Part 10: ‘A Gift and a Curse’

The Green Bay Packers will take a 90-player roster to the field for their first practice of training camp on July 23.

In a Packers On SI tradition, we will rank every player on the roster. This isn’t just a list of the best players. Rather, we take talent, contract, draft history, importance of the position and depth at the position into consideration.

More than the ranking, we hope you learn a little something about every player on the roster.

No. 45: S Zayne Anderson

Zayne Anderson entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Chiefs in 2021. After playing a total of seven games for the Chiefs during his first two seasons and failing to make the Bills’ roster in 2023, the Packers claimed him off waivers.

He’s been quite a find.

Anderson entered the 2024 season having played exactly zero snaps on defense. Last season, he wound up starting two games and intercepted one pass. On special teams, he was tied for the team lead with nine solo tackles.

“It's been awesome to see 39,” defensive backs coach Ryan Downard said late last season. “He’s relentless in taking notes. He does that every meeting, and one of the best things he does, when he wasn’t playing, he would stand behind and I would have him rep behind as if he was in the play, and he really took that seriously, whether we were in our walk-throughs or out at practice.

“I just try to re-emphasize to these guys that your time is coming. It’s coming sooner than you know. I tell the rookies that, I told him that, and then to see him get an opportunity, that’s a credit to him and his preparation to just go out there and do your job and let the plays come to you. I’m actually getting chills talking about it, because it’s such a good story for him, so I’m really proud of Zayne.”

Listed at BYU as a linebacker/safety, the interception against the Saints in Week 16 of last season was his first since 2018.

“It’s a surreal feeling,” he said after the game. “I’ve been going at this for some years now and finally starting to play a little defense. I feel like it’s been a long time coming, but I’ve got to praise God for being with me all throughout these years, and just the opportunity and the coaches giving me this opportunity. So, I’m super-blessed.”

No. 44: LB Isaiah Simmons

Isaiah Simmons was the eighth pick of the 2020 draft by the Cardinals. Statistically, he’s had some big-time production.

Of the entire draft class, Simmons is one of only four players with at least 300 tackles, eight sacks, 15 tackles for losses and 15 passes defensed. Add interceptions to the mix, Buccaneers safety Antoine Winfield and Simmons are the only players with the aforementioned stats and five interceptions.

Nonetheless, Simmons was traded to the Giants after three seasons in Arizona, and he was a bit of an afterthought for the lousy Giants, with just five starts in two seasons.

A player with the elite athleticism of a defensive back and the size of a linebacker, Simmons has played all over the defense in his career. In 2021 with the Cardinals, he played most of his snaps as a linebacker. In 2022, he played most of his snaps in the slot.

With Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, he was anchored at linebacker throughout the offseason. He appreciated the simplicity.

“I think really what I ran into most of my career is everybody wants me to do everything as opposed to letting me get really good at one thing first,” Simmons said during minicamp. “I fully believe in Haf’s plan. He’s letting me just lock in and learn a small portion first before we even think about expanding to anything else. That’s something I really appreciate because I never really had that opportunity to really just hone in on one position.

“It’s hard enough to get into the NFL, let alone stay, as well as be effective at a position, so just being able to lock in on one thing has been huge for me. It’s something that hasn’t been presented to me because my versatility, I feel like it’s a little bit of a gift and a curse, where they want you to do everything but, at the end of the day, I’m still human.”

The top three linebackers, Quay Walker, Edgerrin Cooper and Isaiah McDuffie, are back from last year, as is last year’s third-round pick, Ty’Ron Hopper. Simmons, veteran free agent Kristian Welch and undrafted rookie Jamon Johnson figure to compete for one spot on the 53.

“I believe everything happens for a reason,” Simmons said. “I’m definitely looking forward to just getting back out there and just showing everybody what’s really good.”

No. 43: LB Ty’Ron Hopper

Ty’Ron Hopper, a third-round pick last year, is the great unknown. Presumably, the Packers let Eric Wilson sign with the Vikings in order for Hopper to move from No. 5 to No. 4 on the depth chart.

Last year, 44 defensive players were selected in the first three rounds. None played fewer snaps from scrimmage than Hopper, who played 18 at the end of three blowout wins.

On the practice field, coach Matt LaFleur likes to split the team into two groups, with starters and key backups on one side of the field and everyone else on the other side. Hopper was the middle linebacker with the young players at the bottom of the depth chart throughout the spring.

“I think I got a guy that’s going to come downhill and hit you,” new linebackers coach Sean Duggan said. “He’s a big, physical guy. He embraces contact, he enjoys the physical aspect of the game. I think he’s more comfortable now in Year 2, just like all the rookies are. It’s the second time they’ve gone through an offseason. He’s in great shape, he’s moving around, he knows what he’s doing now, so he looks good.”

Hopper was coached at Missouri by former Packers linebacker D.J. Smith. He was second-team all-SEC in 2023.

“He’s a four-down player,” Smith said after last year’s draft. “The size, speed, athleticism, the ability to play multiple spots. I mean, on third down, he can come off as your edge rusher. First and second down, he can play your inside backer. He can line up and cover. Confidently, he can line up and cover the slots, he can cover the Travis Kelces of the world, those big-time tight ends, those Christian McCaffrey’s out of the backfield.”

No. 42: DE Barryn Sorrell

The Packers entered the offseason needing to improve their front-four pass rush. As a fourth-round pick, Barryn Sorrell was the biggest addition to the team’s front.

Sorrell had 15.5 sacks and 25 tackles for losses during his final three seasons at Texas. In 16 games as a senior, he set career highs with six sacks and 11 TFLs. Will Sorrell be that big-time disruptor? Perhaps not. However, with Kingsley Enagbare entering his final season under contract, he could become a three-down player in 2026 because he does everything at a quality level.

According to PFF, there were 98 FBS-level, draft-eligible edge defenders who got at least 240 pass-rushing opportunities last season. Sorrell ranked 14th in pressures, 34th in pass-rush win rate and 19th in pass-rush productivity, which measures sacks, hits and hurries per pass-rushing opportunity.

“He’s physical, explosive,” Texas defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski said after the draft. “Where he can keep getting better is with his hands and his pass rush, reading the sets, because he’s definitely a power rusher. He’s not going to just run by guys. He didn’t get a lot of sacks over his career as far as where guys think you’re a sack specialist, but he affected the quarterback in multiple different ways with his pass rush.”

Plus, he can stop the run.

“This dude, talk about a guy that can set the edge of your defense,” the Senior Bowl’s Jack Gilmore said.

Of course, Sorrell was one of the great stories in the draft. Sorrell wasn’t one of the top prospects invited by the NFL to be in Green Bay. Rather, Sorrell invited himself and was integrated into the experience by Commissioner Roger Goodell. He thought about going home after he wasn’t drafted in the first three rounds but stuck around for Day 3, only to be selected by the home team.

“It was a dream for me,” Sorrell said the following week at Packers rookie camp. “I think that’s the case for a lot of people. I would encourage everybody to follow your dreams, don’t let anybody put you in a box and tell you what you can or can’t do.

“If you have a dream and that’s something you always wanted to do, go for it. However things turn out, that’s how they turn out. For me, it was my dream to walk the stage so, from Day 1 before the season, I knew that was what I wanted to do and I woke up every day trying to work towards that. I’m going to follow through the opportunity, no matter the projections, no matter how things look.

“Just taking that moment, man, and move forward and realize that’s just a starting point; it’s not the end.”

No. 41: RB Emanuel Wilson

Emanuel Wilson’s dream came true. While the former Fort Valley State star went undrafted in 2023, he signed with the Denver Broncos. A few days later, the dream was gone. After the team’s minicamp, he was released.

“Just felt like it was the end of the road for me,” Wilson said before last year’s preseason trip to Denver.

The Packers signed him about a week later. He’s been incredibly reliable.

Reliable physically: With AJ Dillon spending the season on injured reserve, Wilson carried 103 times for 502 yards and four touchdowns. Of 46 running backs with at least 100 carries, he ranked seventh with 4.9 yards per carry. He wasn’t much of a factor as a receiver with 11 catches for 48 yards, but he didn’t fumble and he was just outside the top 10 in yards after contact per carry.

Reliably mentally, too: “To have only one mistake [last season] just speaks volumes to how he has grown,” running backs coach Ben Sirmans said before OTAs. “Even this year, he seems a lot more comfortable in the offense, he’s practicing a lot harder, so I think he’s finally gotten to that point where he’s kind of evolved a lot more. So, definitely expecting a lot of things out of him.”

Nothing will be handed to Wilson. The Packers have high hopes for MarShawn Lloyd after an injury-plagued rookie season, and undrafted rookies Amar Johnson and Jalen White were quality players in college.

“The experience working with Josh was amazing,” Wilson said during minicamp. “I’lI be asking him questions about the playbook, how he makes his reads and stuff like that. And also off-the-field, ask him about what businesses he’s invested in. It’s more than football with me, so I just have to a special connection with me. And also from Aaron (Jones), learning from him my rookie year and always telling me to keep my head up. Because when I used to get yelled at, I used to have my head down but now I just keep my head up a lot.”