The Green Bay Packers opened their preseason on Friday night and a handful of players locked up a roster spot while one is in danger of being cut.
The Jordan Love era has started out with a win with the Green Bay Packers picking up a 36-19 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Friday night to open up their preseason. Of course, the Aaron Rodgers successor only played a couple of drives before his night was done, but that did result in a beautiful touchdown pass to Romeo Doubs.
When it comes to the preseason, we were always going to see limited action from the Packers starters. However, this is the time of year in the thralls of training camp when players are trying to earn their way onto the 53-man roster.
Three players staked their claim to a roster spot on Friday night for the Packers, but one player continues to be up against it as he tries to prove heās the guy.
Packers who locked up a roster spot No. 3: Carrington Valentine, CB
Seventh-round rookie Carrington Valentine has been one of the buzzworthy players throughout training camp as he tries to carve out a role for himself in the Packers secondary. This isnāt a team thatās in need of a starter but, behind Jaire Alexander, Rasul Douglas and Keisean Nixon, Green Bay is certainly in search of depth.
Valentine undoubtedly continued to prove that heās deserving of that spot against the Bengals in his first taste of a live NFL game.
The rookie was all over the field, getting an interception, breaking up three passes on the night and accruing four tackles. The tackling was most impressive with the Kentucky product showing a great football IQ to make a handful of plays against the run, something that the coaches will surely be raving about.
One of my favorite plays from last night. Carrington Valentine is pressing at the LOS and jams the receiver. Realizes itās a run and quickly discards the block to come up and make a nice tackle for basically no gain. Great stuff from the rookie. pic.twitter.com/b9t1fz5zjU
ā Brandon Carwile (@PackerScribe) August 12, 2023
Valentine is duking it out in the preseasonw ith the likes of Corey Ballentine, Shemar Jean-Charles and others. Throughout camp, though, the drum has been steadily beating that the rookie is standing out among that group.
That didnāt change in the first week of the preseason and itās starting to seem more like the Packers found an absolute late-round gem instead of a guy who may or may not end up on the roster.