By Paul Imig Special to OnMilwaukee.com Published Jul 29, 2015 at 4:26 PM

Every NFL team enters training camp with varying levels of goals and expectations. For the Green Bay Packers, the pressure couldn’t be any higher.

According to the sports gambling website Bovada, the Packers are the early favorites to win Super Bowl 50. With last season’s top-scoring offense returning all of its starters and the reigning league MVP at quarterback, Green Bay is a logical choice to play the role of favorite.

As the Packers go through the next five weeks of practices and exhibition games, the focus will be on shaping a team that’s still alive on Feb. 7, 2016.

Biggest storyline entering training camp

How does the offense adjust to Mike McCarthy no longer calling plays? And, just as importantly, will Green Bay’s defense and special teams improve now that McCarthy can spend more time with those groups?

It surprised many across the NFL when McCarthy decided to surrender his offensive play-calling responsibilities to Tom Clements this offseason. If it’s not broken, why fix it? But McCarthy believed his time to be better spent as more of a traditional head coach, one who oversees all operations of the football team.

Exhibition games certainly don’t carry the importance of anything that happens in the regular season, but everyone will soon get their first look at Clements in the play-caller role. If the scoring is down, you can bet the questions will surround whether McCarthy made the right decision.

Best position battles on offense

Aaron Rodgers isn’t losing his starting job, nor is Eddie Lacy, Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb or any of the offensive linemen. That’s the benefit of a team returning all of its key offensive contributors.

However, the back end of the wide receiver depth chart could look several different ways by the time the Packers cut their roster down to 53 players. Nelson, Cobb and Davante Adams are set as the top three. Behind them, though, recent draft picks Jeff Janis, Jared Abbrederis and Ty Montgomery are all vying for the No. 4 receiver job. Myles White could have a chance to enter that conversation as well, but as a former undrafted player, he’ll have to significantly outplay his competition.

Janis would seem to have the early lead going into camp. He spent the 2014 season on the active roster, though he only played 15 snaps. Abbrederis is trying to make a full comeback from a torn ACL, while Montgomery has a lot to learn as a rookie.

Also keep an eye on the fullback position. Veteran John Kuhn will be trying to get in one more season before sixth-round draft pick Aaron Ripkowski presumably replaces him at some point soon.

Best position battles on defense

There are more position battles to be played out on defense than on offense. The starting safeties are set with Morgan Burnett and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, and the starting outside cornerbacks should be Sam Shields and Casey Hayward. Aside from that, there are plenty of depth chart questions.

First- and second-round picks Damarious Randall and Quinten Rollins won’t be expected to start from day one, but they’ll need to show they can compete early in their careers. A good place for them to begin would be to to push Micah Hyde as the nickel corner. Hyde serves an important role as a slot corner and a backup safety, but the Packers need their top two draft selections to display the talent that made both of them so coveted. Plus, with Shields’ and Hayward’s injury history, it stands to reason that Green Bay will need to plug in Randall or Rollins at outside corner at some point this season.

B.J. Raji and Letroy Guion will have to let their play decide which of them sees the majority of action at nose tackle. Guion is suspended for the first three games of the regular season, so he’ll have some catching up to do once he’s reinstated by the NFL. Raji and Guion will both be plenty motivated, as they’re signed to one-year contracts and are in their late 20s.

In sub packages, Clay Matthews is expected to line up at inside linebacker with Sam Barrington. But, in order for Matthews to have the opportunity to rotate outside at certain moments, one of the defense’s young inside linebackers has to step up. Jake Ryan, as a fourth-round pick, will be given every chance to prove himself early on. Ryan will have competition, though, in the form of Joe Thomas and Carl Bradford.

Bubble list

Green Bay’s 2014 draft class is on pace to be one of the best in Ted Thompson’s time as general manager. However, third-round pick Khyri Thornton and fourth-rounder Bradford need to show something in training camp, or they could both find themselves looking for jobs in early September.

Thornton spent his rookie season on injured reserve, but he did nothing in training camp a year ago to deserve a spot on the 53-man roster. Bradford was the beneficiary of being a mid-round pick, because he too did nothing to prove that he was ready to contribute last season. The expiration date has likely expired on these two in terms of getting the benefit of the doubt.

Paul Imig Special to OnMilwaukee.com
Paul Imig spent the past five years working for FOX Sports WI. He began by covering the Milwaukee Bucks and Milwaukee Brewers before taking over the Green Bay Packers beat in 2011. In addition to his writing, Paul also made television appearances nationwide on FOX Sports 1. He can be heard on the radio statewide on The Bill Michaels Show and can be seen on Time Warner Cable's Roundtable show with Dennis Krause. Paul is the 2015 recipient of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's award for Graduate Of the Last Decade (GOLD).