Every year, NFL teams need to rely on unheralded depth players to fill in at big moments. Sometimes, these players need to step up all season long due to early injuries — just think about the 2010 Packers going running back-by-committee, seeing Desmond Bishop take over a starting linebacker spot, or getting 8 starts and 4 sacks out of undrafted rookie Frank Zombo.
Other times, it’s just a fill-in here and there in big moments, like in 2018 when a gassed Jimmy Graham came off the field for the Packers in Seattle and an unknown Robert Tonyan hauled in a 54-yard touchdown in his place. Those opportunities can be jumping-off points for these players as they look to grab hold of bigger roles moving forward.
In either case, injuries or rest will force the Packers to lean on their depth and put surprising names in play in big situations. With a look ahead to the 2026 regular season, here are three players whose names are a ways down the depth chart who Packers fans should know now in preparation for them making a big impact later on this fall.
Josh Whyle
The Packers’ tight end room feels about as deep as the kiddie pool right now. Tucker Kraft is the unquestioned starter and, thanks to his return to 11-on-11 drills on Sunday, he’s well on track to being the starter in week one, which is still three-and-a-half weeks away. But behind him, Luke Musgrave remains on the PUP list with a mysterious neck injury, making Whyle the top backup at the position.
Throughout his Packers tenure, Whyle has played mostly the H position, the “move” tight end that ends up on the wing or in the backfield. However, circumstances will require him to play a bit more in line than he has become accustomed to. Musgrave’s injury is a big part of that — he has typically been Kraft’s backup at the Y — but Kraft also acknowledged after Sunday’s practice that he’ll be on a bit of a restricted snap count.
That means that Whyle is the next man up, unless Musgrave surprisingly returns before the start of the regular season and is ready to go. Whyle has generally been running with the starting offense all summer anyway, so he has had plenty of time to get in sync with Jordan Love and company. He’s also no stranger to at least a moderate role on an offense, having been on the field for nearly 350 offensive snaps for the Titans in 2024. (That season, he caught 28 passes for 248 yards and a touchdown.)
If Kraft will be held to something like two-thirds of offensive snaps, rather than his usual 90 percent, that could be an extra 20 snaps per game or so that would need to go to someone else, and Whyle is clearly the next man up.
Kitan Oladapo
Johnathan Baldwin’s injury in training camp put the Packers in quite a bind. Javon Bullard is entrenched as the team’s starting nickel back, but Baldwin was running as his backup through the first two weeks of camp. Now, that role appears to be falling to Oladapo.
Like Bullard, Oladapo is a safety by trade. Unlike Bullard, he had never really played in the slot before being drafted by the Packers, and in fact only ever started getting a few reps there last year in the dime package. A bigger, physical safety, Oladapo has good-but-not-great movement skills; contrast that with Bullard, who put up an elite time in the short shuttle drill (3.97 seconds) in pre-draft testing. These are two very different types of players at that spot, and the concern arises about what the team would do there if Bullard has to miss any time with an injury.
To make Oladapo’s importance even greater, he is likely the next man up at both safety positions as well. This Packers team will likely put Xavier McKinney, Evan Williams, and Javon Bullard all on the field for at least half of their defensive snaps this season; if any one of them gets banged up, Oladapo should be the next man up.
Donovan Jennings
Plenty of electrons have been used posting about the Packers’ machinations on the offensive line. Aaron Banks is in and out of the lineup with injuries; Anthony Belton can’t seem to settle in at one position; right guard is up for grabs in a battle that likely involves Jacob Monk and Jager Burton as well. But while all of those names are making headlines, Jennings is quietly waiting in the wings for a depth role on this team.
The Packers originally signed Jennings as an undrafted free agent out of South Florida in 2024, and he spent the entirety of his rookie year on the team’s practice squad. Last year, he stuck around on the 53-man roster as the team’s 10th offensive lineman, but he only appeared in two games, totaling 13 snaps (6 on offense, 7 on special teams).
Such has been the career trajectory of many a Packers offensive lineman, however. Players like Yosh Nijman and Lucas Patrick followed a similar path over their first two years, only to become multi-year starters. Jennings might not be in the thick of the battle for a starting job in 2026, but he lined up at right guard with the #2 line last Thursday in Pittsburgh and projects as a potential backup all across the interior of the line. Don’t be surprised if the Packers need to lean on him to close out a couple of games or even make a few spot starts in 2026 should injuries strike.