Jeremiyah Love, De'Zhaun Stribling Surge in NFL Week 1 Preseason Debuts

Q: After multiple failed experiments, did one 58-yard preseason kick just solve Green Bay’s biggest roster crisis?

No. Trey Smack’s 58-yard make was Green Bay’s strongest sign yet that the kicking crisis might finally have an answer, but one preseason kick did not settle it by itself. What it did prove is why the Packers drafted him and kept reshuffling the position around him. Green Bay moved on from Brandon McManus, released Lucas Havrisik, briefly brought in Lenny Krieg, and has dealt with long-snapper instability in camp. Smack had also been uneven in practices, showing clear leg talent but inconsistent accuracy. In that context, drilling a 58-yarder in Acrisure Stadium — one of the league’s trickier kicking environments — was a meaningful data point, especially after an earlier 58-yard make was erased by penalty and he came back to hit the same distance anyway. That matters because the Packers do not need just range. They need reliability under pressure, resilience after disruption, and a clean operation in live conditions. Smack checked those boxes Thursday more than he had in camp. Matt LaFleur had already said preseason games would be the real test, and Smack passed the first one. Still, Green Bay’s “biggest roster crisis” is only solved if Smack repeats it. The concern was never whether he has NFL leg strength; it was whether he can consistently make routine kicks, handle changing weather, and survive inevitable misses without unraveling. One big night moved him into front-runner territory. It did not eliminate the question.

3 articles · Updated · Yahoo Sports · Aug 16

Week 1 preseason action sharpened early roster clues, with Cardinals rookie RB Jeremiyah Love and 49ers WR De'Zhaun Stribling standing out after strong debuts already flagged in earlier evaluations.
Love opened ahead of Tyler Allgeier and out-snapped him 16-6 on the first two drives, reinforcing expectations that Arizona plans to use the rookie immediately if his ankle issue proves minor.
Stribling caught the 49ers' first pass and flashed from both slot and boundary alignments, strengthening the case that he could jump Deebo Samuel Sr. on the depth chart as early as Week 1.
Beyond those headliners, the weekend exposed unsettled battles across offenses—from Buffalo's crowded receiver rotation to Seattle's QB2 split and Baltimore's push to expand rookie WR Ja'Kobi Lane's role.
The broader takeaway from the final preseason openers was role definition rather than box-score production, with snap usage, personnel groupings and alignment offering the clearest signals for regular-season projections.