Packers Scoop Up Ex-Ravens Running Back After Cutting QB

Getty Nate McCrary, newly added to the Packers depth chart.

Maybe all Nate McCrary needs is a chance. And maybe, with his signing by the Packers on Tuesday, he is about to get one.

McCrary, who went undrafted out of Saginaw Valley State in 2021, was picked up by Green Bay after the team dropped quarterback Danny Etling on Sunday. He is a big back (6-feet, 213 pounds) who was impressive during the run-up to the draft, but has been unable to latch on with a team despite stints in Baltimore, Denver, Carolina and Cleveland.

McCrary made his only NFL appearance with the Ravens, with one rushing attempt for minus-1 yard in 2021.

Ahead of that year’s draft, the website NFLDraftDiamonds.com wrote of McCrary: “He ran a 4.37 and a 4.42 40-yard dash. He also added a 36 inch-vertical and a 10-foot-5-inch broad jump. He crushed his 20-yard shuttle with a 4.06 and finished with 19 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press.”

Packers’ Depth Chart At RB is Solid

The Packers are solid at running back, with starter Aaron Jones and backup A.J. Dillon, but have been looking to add depth during training camp. McCrary was listed on the team’s initial depth chart with the third-stringers.

Tyler Goodson, who spent last season on the Packers’ practice squad, appears to have a line on the third-string role. Other contenders are Patrick Taylor, Lew Nichols and Emmanuel Taylor. During the team’s Family Night exhibition, Jones took 10 snaps, Dillon took five snaps and Goodson took two, according to AcmePackingCompany.com.

Taylor, who was the third-string running back last season and carried the ball 10 total times, got time that night as a special-teams starter, which could be a factor in his favor. Nichols was out with an injury.

In June, Packers coach Matt LaFleur praised Goodson’s development during his time with the practice squad and working with Jones and Dillon.

“I think he’s a guy that has really matured over the course of a year,” LaFleur said, per Packers Wire. “He’s got a much better grasp of the expectations of what it takes to be a pro. He’s got two great examples in that (running back) room … I think that’s a huge help in that room.”

LaFleur Hoping Packers Will ‘Bond’ in Cincinnati

The Packers will move on to Cincinnati for practices on Wednesday and Thursday, ahead of the team’s first preseason matchup, against the Bengals—who were in the AFC Championship game last year and in the Super Bowl the year before that—on Friday.

It is a new thing under LaFleur for the Packers to bring the whole team on the road for two days of practice ahead of a preseason game, but then, this is a new and much more inexperienced team. A focus on team bonding was not quite so necessary with a more veteran group.

“I think it just gives us an opportunity to bond,” LaFleaur said. “I think that camaraderie is an important part of this process, just that team chemistry, the makeup. The more these guys hang out together, the more they get to know each other, I think the more they’ll fight for one another. So I think it’s a unique opportunity against one of the premiere teams in the National Football League.”