With one spot now open on the roster, the Packers will likely sign one of these players shortly. But don\u2019t rule out the possibility that more than one ends up back in Green Bay at some point this summer.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Green Bay Packers\u00a0hosted rookie minicamp over the weekend, and along with 27 players currently counting on the team\u2019s 91-man roster, the Packers also invited 11 additional prospects in on a tryout basis.<\/p>\n
The Packers have not announced the signing of any of these 11 players, but they did free up one roster spot on Monday afternoon\u00a0with the release of wide receiver Tulu Griffen.<\/p>\n
That move would suggest that the Packers plan to sign at least one member of the tryout group to a contract as they head towards OTAs and veteran minicamp, though they could choose to being multiple aboard with additional releases.<\/p>\n
Of course, the Packers are no strangers to bringing back rookie camp invitees on contracts later on in the offseason, so it\u2019s worth a quick examination of each of these 11 players to see what value they might be able to bring to the team in 2025 or beyond.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s start with the most-discussed player among the group and work out from there.<\/p>\n
The winner of Canada\u2019s equivalent of the Heisman Trophy, Elgersma was the focus of a profile here at APC after he came to Green Bay on a pre-draft visit.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s big (6\u20195, 227) and he apparently has a big arm, at least according to Matt LaFleur. A \u201clive arm\u201d alone might make him a more appealing option than Sean Clifford as a developmental quarterback. For more than Elgersma,\u00a0check out Justis\u2019 breakdown here.<\/p>\n
Jennings played two seasons each at three different programs, starting at West Virginia in 2019 before transferring to Old Dominion in 2021 and\u00a0Virginia Tech\u00a0in 2023.<\/p>\n
His best numbers came for ODU, as he put up back-to-back seasons with at least 50 catches and 950 yards. With that said, he had a pair of big plays for the Hokies in 2024, including a 62-yard touchdown in the opener against Vanderbilt and a 6-catch, 158-yard game against Duke that included another score of 60-plus.<\/p>\n
Dane Brugler of The Athletic reported his Pro Day measurements, which included a 4.65 40 at 6-foot-1 and 198 pounds. His numbers as a whole would provide an overall RAS of 2.92, however.<\/p>\n
Smith looks the part of a Packers receiver, standing an impressive 6-foot-5 and weighing in at 209 pounds. While not a burner (4.57 40), he has at least acceptable agility times and good jumping numbers from his Pro Day, while also having very long arms (34\u201d).<\/p>\n
In fact,\u00a0he compares fairly well athletically to current Packer Malik Heath,\u00a0albeit with a bit of a taller, leaner frame.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a theme here, as Smith started his career at Montana State before transferring to Tarleton State and eventually to Nevada for 2024. There, he led the Wolfpack in all receiving categories, posting a line of 62 catches, 849 yards, and seven scores.<\/p>\n
Based solely on his build and a solid final college campaign, he seems like a player who could stay on the Packers\u2019 radar through this offseason and into future practice squad consideration.<\/p>\n
Studer was a two-time 1,000-yard receiver at La Crosse, having set career highs in 2023 with 70 catches, 1,567 yards (at 22.4 yards per catch!), and 15 touchdowns.<\/p>\n
The Eagles won the WIAC that year, even defeating powerhouse UW-Whitewater in a 37-34 thriller that saw Studer score twice and cross the 100-yard mark.<\/p>\n
Studer has an odd athletic profile, however.<\/p>\n
Check out his RAS card to see what I mean. He\u2019s decently-sized (6-foot-1, 203) and has very good explosiveness; his agility numbers are above-average as well, but the straight-line speed just isn\u2019t there (4.69 40, 1.66 10-yard split). That\u2019s the athletic profile of a slot receiver if I\u2019ve ever seen one.<\/p>\n
We found a FBS player who didn\u2019t transfer! Fillinger started 37 games for the Utes over his career, primarily playing defensive end, and posted at least five sacks in three different seasons. A Utah native, Fillinger was a consensus 4-star recruit coming out of high school in 2020.<\/p>\n
Outside of a slow 40 time, he has a solid testing profile at 6-foot-3-1\/2 and 247 pounds \u2014 and his first step is apparently pretty good, coming in at an 80th percentile number. His 30 bench press reps at 225 are impressive as well.<\/p>\n
Ooh, look at that bright green RAS. Gunderson\u2019s Pro Day gave him a 9.29 RAS overall, with elite numbers in the 3-cone, 10-yard split, and bench press. Those movement skills are pretty impressive, and he put up those numbers at a decent enough size (6\u20192\u201d 241).<\/p>\n
Now, you may be thinking \u201cwhere is Northern State University?\u201d And that\u2019s entirely fair. It\u2019s in Aberdeen, South Dakota, and the athletics programs play in the NSIC in Division II. The Wolves finished 6-4 in the conference last season, coming in behind the likes of Minnesota State, Bemidji State, Minnesota-Duluth, and the conference winners, Augustana University.<\/p>\n
For a player at that level of football who is trying to break into the NFL, you\u2019d like to see the stats pop a bit more than Gunderson\u2019s did.<\/p>\n
He recorded 14.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, three interceptions, and ten pass breakups over about two-and-a-half seasons as a starter. Still, there\u2019s athletic ability to work with here, and if nothing else he could be an interesting body type and profile to consider as a special teamer for the near term.<\/p>\n
Where Gunderson has stats that don\u2019t jump but athleticism that does, Mueller is a bit the opposite.<\/p>\n
Still, Mueller\u2019s 7.07 RAS is deflated quite a bit by a poor bench press performance at Pro Day (12 reps) and a mediocre 10-yard split, as he actually posted excellent agility times and a very solid 4.69 40.<\/p>\n
His production is more impressive, however, racking up tackles and numbers in the Big Ten. Mueller was a three-year starter, totaling 28 TFLs, nine sacks, six interceptions, and three forced fumbles in his career. He also hit triple digits in total tackles in 2023 with 110.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s high-level production in a big conference, even if he did have a ridiculous 19 tackles in a single game (though naturally, that came in a 10-7 loss to Iowa).<\/p>\n
While Shay is one of the better-known tryout names in camp \u2014\u00a0largely because he is projected to be the #1 overall pick in the CFL Draft this year\u00a0\u2014 he doesn\u2019t have huge college production like Mueller to match up with his impressive athletic profile.<\/p>\n
Shay only barely trails Gunderson in overall RAS with a 9.18, but that\u2019s largely due to size as he\u2019s just 6-foot-1-1\/2 and 227 pounds.<\/p>\n
Notably, however, Shay also has some of the shortest arms you\u2019ll see on a player over six feet, listed at just 30-1\/4 inches.<\/p>\n
A one-year starter for the Cowboys, Shay totaled 76 tackles, 7.5 TFLs, 1.5 sacks, and a pick as a senior. Like Gunderson, this might be a player the Packers would consider giving to Rich Bisaccia to mold into a special teams maniac.<\/p>\n
Stewart spent four years at\u00a0Georgia Tech, splitting time as the Yellow Jackets\u2019 place-kicker while spending three years as the kickoff specialist.<\/p>\n
He went 14-for-20 on field goals, but hit 12 of 13 as a sophomore in 2022. After being pushed back to kickoffs only in 2023, Stewart transferred down the road to Georgia Southern for his final college season.<\/p>\n
There, he finally got a chance to be the full-time kicker and delivered a solid season, going 37-for-39 on PATs and 15-for-18 on field goal attempts (with seven makes from 40-plus and one from 53).<\/p>\n
The biggest thing to know about Hall is that he is, well, big. Remember how J.K. Scott looked goofy punting a football? Hall is 6-foot-9, a whopping\u00a0four inches taller\u00a0than Scott.\u00a0Just look at this photo\u00a0\u2014 I swear, 75 percent of his height is in his legs.<\/p>\n
Hall isn\u2019t your average FCS player, either; he played at SMU for two years before transferring to Montana State. There, he was both the punter and kickoff specialist for two years, while also serving as the place-kicker for part of the 2023 season.<\/p>\n
Hall averaged nearly 46 gross yards per punt last year, pinning 21 of his 44 attempts inside the 20-yard line against just five touchbacks.<\/p>\n
King has been around college football for a long time, having walked on at\u00a0Arizona State\u00a0way back in 2019.<\/p>\n
He redshirted that season, then spent three more years as the Sun Devils\u2019 backup long snapper before transferring to UCF for 2023.<\/p>\n
With two years of eligibility remaining due to the 2020 COVID year, King spent two years with the Knights and handled all of their snapping duties, with solid success. Matt Orzech is on the Packers\u2019 roster, but King could be a candidate to help out in the future if the team wants a second player in training camp or if Orzech were to suffer some kind of injury.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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