Another week of individual player evaluation in a game environment is upon us. Okay yes, that is really just a long winded way to say pre-season game 2, but hey, I can be a long winded guy. With that said, here are the top 7 first and second year players I will be watching tonight.

Why 7 you may ask? Well to quote the great 2 Chainz... "I'm different man I'm different"

7. Brandon Smith - I see tremendous upside in this player. His head is swimming in all of the nuances of playing a new position of course, but he has already showcased that raw talent that I believe will make him a special player for us in the years to come. I want to see him take that next small step tonight.

6. Josh Boyd - We didn't see much pass rush last week, and while that is certainly in part to playing base on almost every down, that doesn't mean that the lines didn't have some good performances. I want to see Boyd improve on his last game and be that guy that can create some push and give our rushers a chance to make a play.

5. Micah Hyde - House's misfortune is another man's opportunity. Will Micah get burned as bad as House was? We shall see how the young man performs when he gets one of the other team's top receivers in his debut starting role.

4. Eddie Lacy - We haven't seen what this guy can do yet, so there is a lot of anticipation around the fan base and media alike to see how he translates into the NFL in-game. My bet is that is translates pretty dang well.

3. Greg Van Roten - When EDS went down this week with a toe injury it caught everyone off-guard including coach McCarthy. Enter the next man up Greg Van Roten. He has been inconsistent this training camp but looks to be improving. The hope is that he performs with no noticeable drop-off because behind him there is currently no quality depth at center, and yes, I am including Barclay in that assessment.

2. Nick Perry - I know I speak for all Packer fans when I say that I am starting to get anxious to see Perry start to command that OLB position like his associate Clay Matthews. I want to see him take that next step to becoming a more effective pass rusher from the edge. The more comfortable he gets at his position, the better the defense will look as a whole. I await with cautious optimism.

1. Don Barclay - I want someone to win the right tackle job tonight and I want that guy to be Don Barclay. He stepped up for us last season and I believe now is the time for him to step up again and claim that job.

Alright Packer fans so who will you be watching more closely tonight?

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- Will semi watch bakarti (spelling)- checking to see how he holds the line.

- Lacy - hopefully MM plays him; I want to see if he can really bust some moves vs a team that wants to stop him.

- LBs in general; we have too many new ones to list so just see if anyone stands out etc

- Returners; ross, franklin etc see how they do

- QBs - rooting for young; hoping we get rid of Harrell (tired of seeing him flub up and quiver at the thought of him replacing Rodgers if he goes down)

- DBs - see if they F things up again or actually learn how to play

- WRs - the new guys see if they can catch and run with it

oh almost forgot ...

- Crosby stills and nash I mean the kicking game ya

DarkaneRules, I think you got a very good list. I'd probably add Bakhtiari

Also the whole OL against a pretty talented Rams DL which were able to get physical with the 49ers OL pretty well.

I'd also like to see another TE step up, and the back-up OLBers or back-up DL. Will Neal count as an OLB or DL to this roster.

Also Jolly and Wilson...

And I'm very much hoping McMillian finally breaks out... you can see the potential there... but it just hasn't broken out yet. I think part of might be the scheme Capers is running, but I'm hoping we see a break out tonight.

And maybe get a better feel for which ILBers are going to make it.

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Another sleepless night where I want to see:

- Micah Hyde to be our 2013 Casey Hayward
- David Bakhtiari protecting the blind side as good as possible
- Vince Young stepping up and performing as the #2 QB
- JJ (the defensive one) having another big game and prove that he's over this drug shit
- Some kicking competition. OK, the perfect scenario is to have them kicking PATs all over, but that doesn't help to evaluate the guys
- Eddie Lacy to bring in some power running
- Barrington to show how he can help the team

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I missed Brandon Smith's time at CB as far as I could tell but if the reports are true then he may not even make the PS.

Does anyone have any information on Boyd during the game? I didn't see much of him.

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Whether he makes the practice squad or not won't really depend on how many catches he gives up in preseason. He will make the practice squad based on if the coaches think he has more potential than the other options and whether they can coach him up to that potential.

Yeah the media tends to overact a touch. We may not have space for him though. We shall see.

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