GREEN BAY – Even though the Packers return the majority of their top-10 defense from a year ago, Chandon Sullivan’s signing with Minnesota in March opened up a crucial spot in Green Bay’s starting nickel package. The Packers, meanwhile, aren’t necessarily looking for just one player to step in. The re-signing of Rasul Douglas generated concerns about who would replace the talented triumvirate of Douglas, All-Pro Jaire Alexander, and
2021 first-round pick Eric Stokes inside the line of scrimmage in 2022 and beyond. The Packers frequently like to line up their corners at precise locations rather than having one travel against an opponent’s top receiver. All three have played outside for the most of their career in Green Bay.
Gray remarked, “I think all our men do. “Rasul Douglas played it similarly to how Ja did last year and the year before. We have players who are versatile, and I believe it will be to your advantage.” Since Dom Capers shifted Pro Football Hall of Famer Charles Woodson into the slot, the nickel cornerback post has been a crucial part of Green Bay’s defense. A strong and agile cornerback who finished the 2009 season with nine interceptions,
Woodson was named the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year. After grabbing six interceptions from the slot three years later, Casey Hayward was a nominee for the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, while Micah Hyde, an eventual All-Pro safety, made his Packers debut. Stokes remarked that “anyone of us can go in there and play that nickel slot.” “We can each do it and figure it out in turn. Any day, it may be any one of us.”
Given his ball skills, explosiveness, and track record of going up against the best receivers in the game, the 25-year-old Alexander has long been thought of as a strong contender to push inside. Nevertheless, over the course of his four NFL seasons, the Packers have primarily played the 5-foot-10, 196-pound cornerback on the outside. Alexander has played 2,325 outside defensive snaps in his 2,906 career defensive snaps, according to Pro Football Focus (80.0 percent ).
Alexander, who extended his contract in May, doesn’t have a preferred position. Especially after missing the most of the previous season due to a shoulder injury, he simply wants to make plays. At all costs, I like to be on the field, Alexander stated. “Being inside allows me to blitz the quarterback, and we all know how I do when I do. He collapses. I enjoy it.”
Douglas became one of the best stories in the NFL last season after leading the Packers with five interceptions (two of which were returned for touchdowns) in just 12 regular-season games. Douglas was signed off Arizona’s practice squad a few days after Alexander’s injury.
Douglas, like Alexander, has spent virtually all of his NFL career playing outside but has the size (6-2, 209), takeaways, and tackling skills to be an intriguing option inside as well. The veteran, in his sixth season, had a little taste of playing the “star” position during the Packers’ minicamp earlier this month.
