GREEN BAY, Wis. -- There’s another running back in the mix for the No. 3 job behind Eddie Lacy and James Starks.
The Green Bay Packers signed rookie Brandon Ross on Wednesday. The 5-foot-10, 201-pound Ross went undrafted out of Maryland but then initially signed as a free agent with the Minnesota Vikings, who then released him on May 23 after just three weeks with the team.
The Packers did not have to make room for Ross on their offseason roster because they were two under the 90-player limit.
Ross, who averaged 6.4 yards per carry as a senior at Maryland and had 10 touchdowns, will compete with fellow undrafted rookies Don Jackson (Nevada) and Brandon Burks (Troy) plus second-year pro John Crockett for the third halfback position, assuming the Packers keep three.
Crockett, who was an undrafted free agent out of North Dakota State last year, began his rookie year on the practice squad but was promoted to the active roster in December and carried just nine times for 21 yards. He’s far from a lock for the No. 3 job.
“His redshirt year is over; he needs to make an impact,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said of Crockett last month near the end of the offseason program. “He needs to show up on special teams. He’s kind of trying to find his way a little bit as far as where he needs to play at weight wise and so forth. He’s done a lot of good things. But he’s going into his second training camp, so he needs the details work and take advantage of these opportunities, because those two young guys behind him, I’m excited to see them run the ball when we get the pads on.”