The streak of the Green Bay Packers having an undrafted free agent make the 53-man roster in Week 1 appears to have continued for a 22nd season. Rookie wide receiver J. Michael Sturdivant has made the initial roster, according to Rob Demovsky of ESPN.
This extends the streak and likely means General Manager Brian Gutekunst stepped outside the norm to have a seventh wide receiver make the 53-man roster.
The 53-man roster is always fluid, and there are plenty of mechanisms to move things around between now and the start of the season. However, Sturdivant is on track to be the 22nd straight rookie UDFA to be on the Packers roster when things kick off.
Green Bay Packers Keep UDFA Wide Receiver, J. Michael Sturdivant
Sturdivant was a UDFA from Florida, but only spent one year with the Gators. He was with UCLA and Cal for two years per team prior to that. Sturdivant made the team mostly due to his special teams value.
He had 20 special teams snaps with the starting units for the Packers in the preseason. More than that, he is the rare receiver to come into the NFL with special teams ability. He played 78 special teams snaps in his last season with the Gators, and he has 172 total snaps on special teams.
GM Brian Gutekunst noted that the team could keep an extra wide receiver on the 53-man roster, but they had to be an asset on special teams.
“If you’re gonna do that, there’s gonna be a couple of those guys that have to be pretty valuable teams guys,” Gutekunst admitted. “I think we have some of those.”
While it is not officially the seventh receiver to make the team, all indications are that the other six are locks.
Packers Likely to Keep Seven Wide Receivers
The Packers’ top three receivers are set in stone. They have Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, and Matthew Golden. Behind that is Savion Williams, who is only in his second NFL season, and he is used as a gadget player. Fifth through seventh on the roster all have special teams value.
Bo Melton was praised earlier this preseason as one of the Packers’ best options on special teams. He is also regarded as their top blocking receiver, so his roster status appeared to be out of the question. Skyy Moore was signed to improve the return game and did so in the preseason.
So, they had six receivers locked in over Sturdivant. He was even competing with Will Sheppard and Isaiah Neyor for the seventh spot. Sheppard was more of a backup in the return game for Moore, though. He could circle back to the practice squad. Then, Neyor had more wide receiver experience but less special teams upside.
Still, Sturdivant also capped off his roster status with 112 yards and a touchdown in the preseason finale. He was a better special teams asset than Sheppard and a better receiver than Neyor. He deserved to make the roster.
Packers UDFA Makes 53-Man Roster, Extends Long Streak