Checking in as the 13th and final selection of the Green Bay Packers’ 2023 draft class, Grant DuBose has an uphill climb to make the 53-man roster. Taken 256th out of 259 total selections, DuBose will have to overcome the odds if he wants to suit up against the Chicago Bears in Week 1.
The fact that DuBose was still available with the fourth-to-last pick in this year’s draft may have come as a surprise to Brian Gutekunst, who made DuBose his third wideout pick of the draft and sixth in the last two years. His measurables stack up exactly in the range that Green Bay’s evaluators want: 6’2”, over 200 lbs., and with a solid 40-yard dash time (4.57) and enough other explosive measurables to garner a virtual visit with the team leading up to the draft.
DuBose is a player to root for. He began as a Division 2 commit and turned into a DoorDash driver (amongst other odd jobs) during the pandemic, only to “bet on himself” and enter the transfer portal, earning a tryout and eventual offer from Charlotte. He averaged better than 60 catches and 800 yards per season in his two years in Division 1. DuBose captured attention during the Senior Bowl and leadup to the draft, enough so to hear his name called — even if there were only three names called after his.
So how can DuBose make the 53-man roster? As much as his catch-and-run abilities look good in practice (and in Twitter clips), his translatable skills will need to be blocking and special teams. He wouldn’t have to look too far for inspiration in that regard. Allen Lazard blocked and special-teamed his way onto Green Bay’s roster and into an eventual four-year, $44 million contract with the New York Jets. Packers receivers coach Jason Vrable said as much in his media availability last week.
“Watching him at Charlotte, I thought there were some raw things to him because he only played two years there,” Vrable said this past Thursday. “But the way he caught the ball … how physical he was, he blocked, he kind of reminded me of Lazard the way he was throwing his body around and being physical and gritty.”
With Lazard and Randall Cobb gone from last season, the Packers will be looking almost exclusively at the last two drafts to fill out their wide receiver room. Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs are locks, and it’s safe to assume that Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks also are after being taken in the second and fifth rounds, respectively, in April’s draft. Samori Toure, last season’s seventh-round pick, is also a sure bet to make the roster. That only leaves a question mark — or two — as to what the rest of the position group looks like.
Bo Melton presents a different look at wide receiver than DuBose, checking in at 5’11” but with 4.3 speed in the 40-yard dash — faster than even Christian Watson. It’s a position battle worth monitoring given the vastly different skillsets that each brings to the table. After training camp and the preseason, it’s tough to say which way the front office and coaching staff might lean if everything else is the same. Melton has an extra year of NFL experience under his belt, as he was drafted in the seventh round by Seattle in 2022, which could work in his favor.
The last factor that could work against DuBose, if the Packers only want to roll with six wide receivers on the 53-man roster, is an outside free agent who they haven’t signed yet. Green Bay opened up the 2022 season with seven wide receivers on the 53-man roster, but that crew featured the likes of Sammy Watkins and Amari Rodgers, who did not show nearly enough to be a part of this year’s discussion. A player of the caliber of, say, Deandre Hopkins, doesn’t come available every day, even though that particular signing doesn’t make a ton of sense for the Packers right now. There aren’t a ton of names that jump out as potential fits —maybe Jarvis Landry — but the front office could certainly think differently.
It would be both impressive and unique if Gutekunst opened the season with six wide receivers, all of whom he personally selected over the last two drafts. DuBose feels like he has the potential to be a diamond in the rough. He seems willing to do the dirty work needed to stand out as that sixth wideout. There are certainly a couple of ways that it could break differently, but there’s definitely a path for DuBose to open the season on the 53.
