Samkon

Gado

Gado struggled in minicamp but is back atop the depth chart with Ahman Green (thigh) still out. Najeh Davenport is in danger of being cut.

The extent of Gado’s third-quarter injury is uncertain. He worked behind Najeh Davenport and rushed for six yards on three carries.

The staff is starting to warm up to Gado and Noah Herron, who have practiced more with Ahman Green and Najeh Davenport out. “I’m taking advantage of the practice time, but you’re talking about one of the best in the game,” Gado said. “When Ahman comes back, he’s the guy.”

We’ll issue our usual “It’s only June,” disclaimer, but Gado hasn’t helped himself during OTAs with Ahman Green and Najeh Davenport out. Maybe he’s spending too much time working at the local hospital.

Green Bay experimented with the move after the injury to William Henderson, but Gado isn’t a natural blocker. Staying at running back full-time, where Gado is currently behind Ahman Green, helps his fantasy value. The Packers will try some of their tight ends at fullback now.

The reserve runner sustained the injury in Green Bay’s Saturday night preseason loss. Gado doesn’t know when he’ll be back in action.

Honestly, we have no idea where Gado stands in Green Bay right now. He could be their Week 1 starter if Ahman Green can’t get healthy. There’s an outside chance he could get cut. He needs a positive week of work and preseason game.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel backed up the report Wednesday night, saying Gado was safely the backup to Ahman Green at this point. His fantasy value remains as an intriguing mid-to-late round pick.

Maybe that’s why he’s having trouble learning the new offense. We’re usually skeptical about this type of P.R.-driven story, but Gado’s is pretty interesting and it sounds like he tried to avoid it becoming public. Unfortunately, we’ll now hear the story repeated three times during every Packers game.

We speculated Gado would be a nice fit in offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski’s system, so this comes as a small surprise. It’s early, but injured Ahman Green and Najeh Davenport will have the upper hand on the starting job if Gado isn’t able to grasp the scheme by training camp.