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“Bears @ Packers 10-7-2007” (CC BY 2.0) by Aff1737
From draft and develop to their loyal fan base, the Green Bay Packers have a reputation for more than just winning. Not the least of these things is their desire and ability to turn undrafted players into starters. As a result, Packers fans have more than just 7 or 8 drafted players to be excited about. For that reason, we’ll take several days to outline each of the Packers current UFA players. What are the pros, cons, and chances of making the team?
To see other UDFA write-ups, click here.
Overview
The Packers aren’t making my life easy with this one. The final corner of the bunch just so happens to be a wide receiver. To make things even more complicated, he’s a wide receiver that played almost exclusively at running back. Why was he listed at WR? Why do the Packers want him playing corner?
The first question I really can’t answer but the second question, why do the Packers want to try Pringle at corner, is a little easier. It’s the only position he really fits on the Packers roster. He’s 30 pounds too light to be a running back and with the exception of Randall Cobb, he doesn’t fit the profile of any Packers receivers.
As a corner, however, the 6’0 191 pound Pringle fits right in. His height puts him right on the border of the 5’11 slot guys and the 6’1 boundary corners and since there really isn’t any film of him playing corner, your guess is as good as mine where he would line up.
With that said, his height, weight, and 4.42 speed make him physically capable of filling any roll. Does he have the ability? I suppose we’ll have to wait and find out.
Pros/Cons
The cons are obvious. Pringle is an offensive player who has a daunting enough challenge trying to make the jump from college football to an NFL roster. Add to that he needs to learn to play defense as a corner and Pringle is a long shot among long shots.
The largest pro for Pringle is his potential. As I said before, Pringle is a physically gifted athlete on par or even surpassing many of the Packers current corners. If the Packers are correct and Pringle has been miscast as a WR/RB his entire college career, the Packers may have signed a draftable corner as a free agent.
Chances of making the team
My prediction is pretty straight forward. Pringle will end up on the practice squad. He has a ton to learn and nobody should expect him to be an NFL ready corner by the time the season starts. Still, the Packers want to take the time to train him up.
Similar to Herb Waters, a converted WR, he’ll be a high priority practice squad player.