Green Bay Packers Preseason: Week 4 Stock Report

This week's Green Bay Packers stock report lines up with one of the most tumultuous times of the season: NFL rosters must be reduced to 53 players by Saturday and were cut down to 75 players on Tuesday.

It's a given that players who have been cut have falling stocks, so they haven't been included herein. However, a player who is cut at one position could cause another player at that same position to rise in stock, making the latter player's chance of making the roster more likely. 

Thus, here we've chosen to focus on five players who see their stock rising this week. 

Players who performed well in Green Bay's third preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles or players who returned from injury this week also find their stocks climbing.

Rising: WR Myles White

Matt Ludtke/Associated Press

Last week, wide receiver Myles White's stock was on the decline after a poor performance in Week 2 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. But White helped turn it around with his performance against the Philadelphia Eagles, which earned him high praise from head coach Mike McCarthy. 

"You talk about a young man that has just busted his butt the whole time he’s been here," McCarthy said after the game, per the team website. "It’s really exciting to see him have success, and he made a number of big plays."

White was Green Bay's top receiver against Philadelphia, with nine receptions for 89 yards on 12 targets, including an impressive one-handed grab that made headlines.

With Nelson out for the year, former practice-squad player White seems like a solid option to make the roster at the fourth or fifth receiver spot, along with second-year player Jeff Janis. It would be his third attempt to make the 53-man roster straight out of camp. 

Perhaps the third time's the charm?

Rising: RB Rajion Neal

Mike Roemer/Associated Press

Practice-squad holdover Rajion Neal is in the middle of a competition with rookies John Crockett and Alonzo Harris for a potential third halfback spot on the final roster...and this week, he appears to have pulled ahead. 

In the preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles, Neal averaged 5.8 yards on four carries and had five receptions for 61 yards and a touchdown. It's that receiving ability that brings the most to the backfield behind Eddie Lacy and James Starks and could be the aspect of his game that elevates him over someone such as Crockett. 

"You talk about a young man that's had an opportunity to be on our practice squad, and now he's getting more and more opportunities each and every week throughout this preseason," McCarthy said about Neal after the matchup against the Eagles, per ESPN.com's Rob Demovsky.

"He's made plays, particularly the last two weeks, with those opportunities, both in the kickoff return and a big-time play on the screen. He's doing a lot of good things." 

Rising: G Josh Walker

Mike Roemer/Associated Press

Guard Josh Walker is helping his cause to land on the final roster this week. 

Walker, who was signed to the Packers' practice squad on Sept. 23, 2014, entered training camp competing for a spot on the offensive line alongside undrafted rookie Matt Rotheram and veteran Lane Taylor. 

Though Rotheram was a highly sought free agent who was contacted by more than 15 NFL teams after he went undrafted, as Bob McGinn and Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported, his potential has fallen to the side in light of what Walker has put on the field. 

Walker took over for Bryan Bulaga at right tackle in the preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers and performed well against rookie phenom Bud Dupree. Then, in the third preseason matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles, Walker started at right guard in place of T.J. Lang. 

Walker has also earned praise from the defensive linemen on his own team. 

"Big, powerful guy with good feet," nose tackle Mike Pennel said, per McGinn. "He's a mauler type. He's gotten a lot better in pass pro this year."

"Walker has had an excellent camp and deserves a roster spot," Jason Wilde of ESPN Wisconsin wrote on Aug. 29. He'll just have to earn it potentially over Taylor or Rotheram.  

Rising: LT David Bakhtiari

Michael Dwyer/Associated Press

In some of the best news to come out of an otherwise-dispiriting first-cuts day, left tackle David Bakhtiari returned to practice Tuesday, as Wes Hodkiewicz of the Green Bay Press-Gazette reported. 

Sure, Bakhtiari may not be a bubble player fighting his way onto the roster, but given how many injuries have occurred along the offensive line, it's newsworthy that Bakhtiari was back at it this week.

Per Hodkiewicz, guard Josh Sitton also returned to practice.

Bakhtiari was missed against the Pittsburgh Steelers, when veteran backup Don Barclay took the field in his place. Barclay allowed two sacks and one hit on Packers quarterbacks against Pittsburgh, per Pro Football Focus—the most pressures allowed by any offensive lineman in that game. 

Bakhtiari had been out since the first preseason game against the New England Patriots with a knee injury. 

Rising: LB Andy Mulumba

Michael Dwyer/Associated Press

Linebacker Andy Mulumba is certainly trending upward as a result of his own recent play, turning in a positive performance in the preseason matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles and in recent training-camp practices. 

On Tuesday, McCarthy said Mulumba is "playing some of the best football in his time here," per the Packers' Twitter account. 

That wasn't the first time this offseason the linebacker, who is coming off a torn ACL that saw him miss 14 games in 2014, has earned praise from McCarthy. 

"I tell you, he looks good," McCarthy said August 4, per Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "He looks like he's come all the way back. Just really, frankly, [he needs] to keep stacking the type of performances that he's starting to put together at practice."

Mulumba's quest to make the roster was also helped on Tuesday when the Packers released linebacker Adrian Hubbard, as the team announced. Hubbard was competing with Mulumba for a spot among the outside linebackers on the final roster. 

Now, if Mulumba can bring pressure in the Packers' matchup against the New Orleans Saints Thursday, he may just be able to survive final cuts on Saturday.