Ryan Grant has just eight carries in the first two exhibition games. Credit: MCT

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Green Bay - If Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson decides to keep just three halfbacks, he's going to have a tough call to make.

Does he stick with what he knows he has or with what he hopes he has?

That is the difference between Ryan Grant and Dimitri Nance, two backs as different as night is from day, but possibly competitors for one roster position.

It might seem like heresy to even consider the Packers letting Grant go, but the truth is about two weeks before the season opener the only certainties at the position for the 53-man roster are James Starks, Alex Green and John Kuhn.

Grant is healthy again after spending 19 games on injured reserve with a damaged ankle, and the coaches have been doing what they can to see him in live action. He started against the Arizona Cardinals on Friday night and played in the first three series, finishing with 23 yards on five carries.

This preseason, Grant has just eight carries, which is hardly enough to cast judgment. Then again, Starks has only two carries and Green six.

"We're trying to get Ryan and James - and, now Alex is back - we're trying to get those guys a certain number of carries each game," coach Mike McCarthy said. "I definitely would like to start off getting Ryan going this week."

It's impossible to read McCarthy's mind, but the decision to see more of Grant means either he isn't sure whether Grant still has it or he's sure of it and just wants to get him back to form after a year layoff. Grant has missed some running opportunities this summer, including a poor decision on a draw play against the Cardinals, but he's also the kind of player who gets better with carries.

The coaches might be seeing things others don't in the way Grant has run.

"We're looking at specific things in a certain play and sometimes they don't pan out," Grant said of the preseason. "There may be penetration, but we're still about maintaining our course.

"How the play plays out may not have anything to do with the particulars of your fundamentals."

Nance, nonetheless, might have complicated things Friday with a solid performance, carrying four times for 28 yards (7.0 average). Most of his yards came on the game-winning drive when he was playing with third-stringers.

Nance, 5 feet 10 inches and 212 pounds to Grant's 6-1 and 222, has the potential to be an effective third-down back and replace the departed Brandon Jackson. In practice, he has been a physical blocker and in games has kept the quarterback clean.

"His understanding of the offense and scheme is very good," running backs coach Jerry Fontenot said. "He's a guy whenever we're reviewing pass game check-downs with the running backs he's always on point. He knows where he needs to be."

That is a big requirement in McCarthy's offense.

Green, the team's third-round pick, blew an assignment Friday and let quarterback Matt Flynn get hit in the back. That might limit his chances as a third-down back, but he'll make the roster because of his explosive running style, which he showed on a 25-yard screen play.

Starks stands to be the No. 1 back after his outstanding postseason last year and his natural running instincts. He's coming off an ankle injury but probably will play against Indianapolis on Friday.

He's such a natural at his position, he needs less work in preseason games than anyone else. As long as he's practicing, he's ready for games.

"I'm always ready," Starks said. "The start of the game, I'm ready. Throw me in there, I'm ready."

The coaches already know what Kuhn can do and they would not cut him after signing the fullback to a three-year, $7.5 million contract. Fullback Quinn Johnson has a lot of ground to make up after reporting to camp overweight and might not make it.

That leaves Grant and Nance.

The obvious pick would be Grant, the two-time 1,200-yard rusher. But there are other issues to consider such as Grant's $5.65 million salary cap number. If he is on the roster the first day of the season, he is guaranteed his $3.5 million base salary, which would lift his 2011 compensation thus far to around $4.75 million.

Do the Packers want to pay that or the $525,000 it would cost to keep Nance?

Grant always has been the type of runner who wears a team down and gets harder to tackle as the game goes on, so the eight carries he has this preseason don't present a fair assessment of where he stands.

By the time Friday is over there will be more information from which to judge Grant and the others. At this point, Grant thinks he's rounding into shape.

"I feel like we're in a rhythm, that I'm good with what I'm seeing," he said.