Week 18 is here, and it’s essentially a glorified exhibition matchup with the Minnesota Vikings. The Green Bay Packers are locked into the 7th seed, and a win or loss does nothing for their playoff positioning. With that in mind, Matt LaFleur confirmed on Wednesday that the Packers are expected to rest key starters as much as possible. While LaFleur wouldn’t go into too much detail on who would and wouldn’t be seeing action on Sunday—instead saying it will be driven by medical evaluations—we can probably put together a fairly long list of players they will want to keep out of harm’s way.

Jordan Love, Josh Jacobs, Zach Tom, Xavier McKinney, and Christian Watson all top that list as likely inactives, but you would also think there are several others who will see their snaps reduced in favor of backups. With that being the case, we are sure to see lesser-used players receive an uptick in snaps. Who might shine with this opportunity? Three players immediately come to mind.

Kitan Oladapo-

The 2024 fifth-round safety has been on the roster all season, playing strictly special teams. This Sunday could be a chance for him to see some extended action on the defensive side of the ball. He has logged just two snaps at his natural safety position all season, but with Xavier McKinney likely sitting and Evan Williams being one of the players the Packers will want to ease the load on entering the postseason, someone is going to have to roam the secondary—and Oladapo is the next man up.

Oladapo has good size for the position at 6’2” and 216 pounds and plays a physical brand of football, both on special teams and during his time at Oregon State. He’s just been buried behind two of the best safeties in football.

Unlike some of the other young players on this roster, Oladapo isn’t going to turn this audition into a chance at a starting role next season, as McKinney and Williams aren’t going anywhere for the foreseeable future. However, he does have a chance to stake his claim for a 2026 roster spot. The further we get from his draft class, the less his status as a former draft pick will matter when it comes to roster decisions. He’ll need to show what he can do on defense, and Week 18 should provide a good opportunity. Zayne Anderson was just placed on injured reserve, and Javon Bullard will likely man the slot (if he plays) on Sunday, so we could see an all-safety duo of Oladapo and Jonathan Baldwin against the Vikings.

Collin Oliver-

“Baby Micah” should finally get his chance to see the field on Sunday when the Packers head to Minnesota. Oliver has missed a significant amount of time for a rookie—all of the offseason program, training camp, and most of the regular season—before being activated off IR two weeks ago. I, for one, was excited when Gutekunst selected Oliver in the fifth round of this past draft.

He brings a different element to this Packers pass-rush group than anyone besides Micah. A speed rusher who racked up 134 total quarterback pressures at Oklahoma State, Oliver offers versatility, with the ability to play along the edge or at inside linebacker. A sharp defensive mind like Jeff Hafley could find the best spot for the young pass rusher and help him flourish—once he’s able to get on the field, that is.

Since he missed so much time, it was unrealistic to think he would be thrown onto the field and see a lot of snaps in meaningful action. After all, he has played a total of just two football games since the end of the 2023 college season. The Packers weren’t going to give him snaps over the likes of Lukas Van Ness, Kingsley Enagbare, or even Brenton Cox Jr. while trying to lock up a playoff spot. But now that they have an entire game of snaps to distribute and nothing at stake, let the young man loose and see what he can do.

Matthew Golden-

This one might be cheating a little bit because Golden has been playing all year and has seen action at his natural position in every game he’s played during his rookie season. But let’s be honest—it’s been very underwhelming for a first-round pick.

Things started out alright when you look at his usage during the first few weeks of the season. From Weeks 1–7, he played 66 percent of the offensive snaps. He didn’t find the end zone or produce the stats we’d expect from a high draft pick (although 249 receiving yards isn’t terrible), but that was acceptable as he found his footing in the offense. Surely he would rack up numbers in the second half of the season, right? Wrong.

In the games played since Week 7, he has surpassed 40 percent of snaps just one time. If you remember, what’s one big thing that happened right around Week 7? The return of Christian Watson. Golden was supposed to fill the deep-threat role while Watson rehabbed his ACL injury, and then, upon Watson’s return, the Packers would have one of the fastest wide receiver duos in football. But Golden has not been able to fill that role—or really any role—in 2025.

He has just 104 yards in his last seven games while battling shoulder and wrist injuries. With Watson likely being rested, starters Jayden Reed and Romeo Doubs to likely be on a pitch count, and Dontayvion Wicks in the concussion protocol, we might see Golden not only start on Sunday but play a significant portion of the game. In a meaningless game on a fast track, I wouldn’t be opposed to a game plan built around seeing what your first-round wide receiver can do when given a real opportunity. He might even have his former quarterback at Houston, Clayton Tune, throwing him the ball.

All three of these players can parlay what should be extended playing game in week 18 into a larger role next season. Gloried preseason games during the regular season are not always the most fun for fans but when you change your mindset on winning and losing to watching a few key players than there is something valuable to be gained.