The Green Bay Packers have had several team activities and practice this offseason for players to make an impression on the coaching staff. However, all of those practices have been closer to walk-throughs as they have been held without pads and hitting.
For some, those are ideal conditions to show off their skill sets. Skill position players normally thrive in those kinds of practices as their athleticism is on full display. However, some players would prefer padded practices and having a chance to showcase their abilities.
Over at Packers Wire, Brandon Carwile shared a few Packers who will benefit the most from padded practices that will start in the coming days. The first player mentioned is rookie tight end, Tucker Kraft.
Kraft was the second tight end that the Packers selected in the 2023 NFL Draft, going in the third round after Luke Musgrave was taken in the second round. Musgrave was able to showcase his athletic ability earlier in the offseason, but Kraft will now have a chance to show the physicality in his game.
As we saw the last few seasons in Green Bay if you can block at the tight end position, there will be a role for you; just ask veteran Marcedes Lewis. Another playmaker on the offense that Carwile believes will benefit from the pads being on is wide receiver Grant DuBose.
DuBose has missed the entire offseason program to date with an undisclosed injury. That has put him behind his peers at the position and is far from being guaranteed a roster spot as a seventh-round rookie. The toughness and physical style of play he showed during the pre-draft process can be on display again.
On the defensive side of the ball, another rookie was selected in first-round pick, Lukas Van Ness. He was lauded for his strength at Iowa, where he earned the nickname “Hercules”. Many draft evaluators believed that Van Ness will need some time to develop at the next level as his strength may not translate.
There is only one way to find out if it does and that is during full-contact practices. This is the time for Van Ness to shine as he is expected to be a major part of the Packers’ rotation along the defensive front. After not starting a single game at Iowa, Van Ness could be in the starting lineup in Week 1 with a good training camp showing.
Last but not least, safety Jonathan Owens would benefit from padded practices. Owens was one of the few free agents that the Packers signed from another team, coming to Green Bay from the Houston Texans.
The competition at safety is wide open as starting jobs are up for grabs. Owens started 17 games for the Texans last season and will assuredly push Darnell Savage Jr. and Rudy Ford for a prominent role.
In 2022, Owens was a sound tackler, ranking 11th among safeties with a tackling grade of 80.9 per PFF via Carwile. That skill isn’t something he has been able to show thus far but will be able to unleash it during training camp.