Ted Thompson’s second to last draft class in 2016 remains a mystery looking back just a short two years down the road from where we are at today.  With seven selections in 2016, Thompson produced solid defensive players by selecting Kenny Clark in the first round and both Blake Martinez and Dean Lowry in the fourth round.  All three players have been productive through their first two seasons with the Packers and remain with their arrows pointing up looking towards the future.

The real mystery lies in Thompson’s four other selections of that draft class that includes outside linebacker Kyler Fackrell, wide receiver Trevor Davis and offensive tackles Jason Spriggs and Kyle Murphy.  All four players have seen significant playing time in their respective roles on the team and now, as they enter their third year in the NFL, the question looms on whether they have a role with the Green Bay Packers moving forward.  With the experience that these men bring to the table entering 2018, this training camp and preseason should have been the time to separate the men from the boys at the NFL level. 

The determination as to whether or not the four players have made the jump required to make the team falls solely on new GM Brian Gutekunst.  As most of the armchair GM’s of the Packers would most likely vote a resounding “no” to most of these players, Gutekunst must weigh many factors when determining their future fate.

Kyler Fackrell

Immediately after being selected in the third round out of Utah State in 2016, opinions on Fackrell differed greatly.  While having the physical gifts of being tall, long and fast made him intriguing, his lack of physicality at the outside linebacker position raised a lot of red flags with people.  And after two years of seeing pretty significant action on the Packers defense, his production has left a lot to be desired with only five sacks, two tackles for loss and 34 total tackles to his credit.

 With the Packers front office doing little to help bolster the depth at the outside linebacker position this past offseason, Fackrell sits among the top four on the depth chart currently.  But throwing depth charts aside, Fackrell has surely been surpassed in playing time this season by what Reggie Gilbert has shown he is capable of and he also has the like of Vince Biegel, Chris Odom and potentially Kendall Donnerson nipping at his heels.

The question of whether Fackrell is truly battling for a final roster spot will remain a mystery until final cutdowns happen this Saturday.  At a position where production matters and Fackrell not having shown a lot of it in his short time in Green Bay, I wouldn’t be surprised if the team moves on from his services.  But in the same breath, a lack of depth behind Clay Matthews and Nick Perry could mean another season of Fackrell seeing plenty of playing time.  If the latter situation proves to be true, Fackrell needs to make a giant leap in his play.

Trevor Davis

Davis joined the Packers in 2016 after being selected out of Cal in the fifth round.  The small, shifty wide receiver entered the league with a scouted specialization in the punt and kick return games and that is where he has shined during his two years with the Packers.  Davis never latched on as a wide receiver that Aaron Rodgers could trust, but his dynamic punt return abilities have been impressive.

With the successes in Davis’ return game have come some frustrations with his judgement making abilities, both on and off the field.  And after missing significant time this preseason with a hamstring injury, Davis will be looking to make his 2018 debut in Kansas City on Thursday night.  And judging by head coach Mike McCarthy’s comments that a priority will be placed on him seeing significant work on special teams on Thursday, his potential role on this team moving forward is clear.

With roster cuts looming and a wide receiver room that is beaming with young talent, the question of whether there is a seat at the table for a return specialist will ultimately need to be determined by Gutekunst.  The roster battles at other positions will also weigh heavily in this decision for the GM.  In Davis’ absence so far in the preseason, the Packers have worked others into the mix returning punts and kickoffs.  Whether or not there are suitors for those roles may go a long way in determining Davis’ fate with the Packers.

Jason Spriggs and Kyle Murphy

Fans saw a poor display of offensive line play last Friday evening in Oakland when the coaching staff rested the starters.  Quarterbacks Brett Hundley and DeShone Kizer were never able to find any sort of rhythm due to the constant pressure that they were under during the game.  Two of the men seeing significant time in that game were tackles Jason Spriggs and Kyle Murphy.

In a head-scratching move at the time, the Packers traded up in the second round in 2016 to draft Spriggs out of Indiana and his career has frankly been all downhill from there.  Through several stints in his first two years, Spriggs has been thrown to wolves on the starting offensive line and the wolves have made quick work of him.  But, in wanting to stick to their guns, the Packers have held steadfast on Spriggs.  The third-year tackle put on some weight this past offseason and entered training camp looking the part of an NFL tackle, but unfortunately, his play still hasn’t shown up through three preseason games as many have hoped.

In the sixth round of the 2016 draft, the Packers selected Kyle Murphy out of Stanford.  Murphy proved he could step in last season when he started the first three games of the year at both right and left tackle.  Unfortunately, his season was cut short with a foot injury that placed him on injured reserve.  Entering his third year in the league, hopes were high that Murphy could secure the spot as the reserve tackle that could cover both sides if needed.  But after last Friday in Oakland, where Murphy appeared to be playing with an injured foot once again, questions remain on his ability as he was pushed around for his entire time in the game.

Outside of the starting five on the offensive line, there are huge questions on the Packers roster.  And if history will teach us anything, the need for a solid backup or two is a necessity as an entire offensive line unit rarely makes it through 16 regular season games intact.  With the addition of Byron Bell looking like a flop and the general consensus that solid backup linemen are hard to come by in the NFL, the future of Spriggs as the primary backup to the tackles seems almost set in stone.  The extent of Murphy’s injury remains unknown to this point, so where he falls on the final roster remains to be seen.

As roster cuts come in just under four days, Packers fans will find out more about how Gutekunst will handle his duties as the team’s new GM moving forward.  Having been active in free agency, positioning during the draft and even pulling off some player for player trades, fans are getting the sense that the final assembly of the roster may take a fundamental shift from how Thompson organized the team.  Where Ted was always hesitant to move on from his draft picks that may not have been up to par, Gutekunst may be more likely to rid the team of the dirty laundry that he wasn’t responsible for.  Gutekunst just needs to determine whether Fackrell, Davis, Spriggs and Murphy are serviceable players moving forward or just Ted Thompson’s dirty socks.