Packers Cornerback Battle Producing Positive Early Signs
The Packers cornerback room was a big question mark entering training camp, but the early results look promising.
By markoldacres
After the departure of Jaire Alexander, the quality of the cornerback position entered training camp as the biggest question mark on Green Bay’s roster. It’s early, but so far, the signs are good.
The Packers’ preemptive answer to losing Alexander and Eric Stokes, who combined played the reps of a starter, was to sign Nate Hobbs to a four-year, $48m deal on the first day of free agency back in March, making him by far Green Bay’s biggest current investment at corner.
He had an up and down career in Las Vegas, which was probably not the most stable of situations in recent years. After starring in the slot as a rookie, he was moved to the outside for his sophomore season, but the transition did not go smoothly, as his play sharply declined.
Back in the slot the last two years, Hobbs was closer to the player he showed he could be as a rookie, which made it curious when the Packers said they believed he could play inside or outside for them.
Hobbs has drawn attention in training camp for his at times overzealous style, but each time Matt LaFleur or Brian Gutekunst has talked about their new corner, they have emphasized how important they felt his energetic playstyle was.
He has played on the perimeter and in the slot so far in camp and seems to have hit the ground running with his new team. For the second year in a row, the Packers may strike gold by betting on providing a more prosperous environment for a former Raider.
Carrington Valentine seems to be getting better and better all the time.
Entering his third season, the former seventh-rounder has been a strong cover corner when given opportunities, and ended last season playing the best football of his career, even if one play against the Eagles in the playoffs has colored Packer fans’ perception of him.
After picking off Jordan Love on family night, he is now up to four interceptions for the summer.
He does not turn 24 until next month and probably has the highest ceiling of any of Green Bay’s top three corners, as long as he can get on the field more regularly by proving his reliability in defending the run.
Keisean Nixon continues to clear every new bar put in front of him. Now committing to outside corner rather than the slot, he is hoping to defy the odds again and is also reportedly performing well in camp.
If the Packers are banking on a ‘no weak links’ system, they appear to be on to something, as it has been difficult to pick on any of their top corners so far.
Javon Bullard will also contribute plenty of snaps in the slot and the Packers will hope he can settle in and improve after performing a difficult safety/corner hybrid role for a rookie.
Behind the top three (and a half) corners, Kalen King has also earned positive reviews in camp. He recently had a pick six in practice and intercepted another pass at Family Night.
He is another corner in the Valentine mold, a former seventh-rounder who should arguably have been drafted earlier and was very young entering the league. King will not turn 23 until the end of January and there is still plenty of potential to exploit.
Bo Melton’s surprising switch from receiver to corner seems to be going better than anyone could have hoped. He has shown real promise and is justifying the move, even earning some snaps with the first-team defense at times.
There could well be bumps in the road as he makes a difficult transition, and preseason games will give a better indication of where he is, but it looks like the Packers may have stumbled into something by moving him to corner.
Green Bay’s strategy at corner this year seems to be throwing a bunch of mostly young corners into the mix and letting the competition commence, hopefully spitting out a combination that works. Based on the first couple of weeks of practices, the plan looks to be working.
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Mark Oldacres is a sports writer from Birmingham, England and a Green Bay Packers fan. You can follow him on twitter at @MarkOldacres
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Comments (41)
T7Steve
August 04, 2025 at 06:32 am
That's encouraging. The corners will only be as good as the pass rush, so we don't need star high dollar players just good high caliber players that aren't afraid to support on the run plays and tackle.
Is it no weak link, or are they all just equal? Does no one seem weaker than the others or does no one excel over the others?
I find the whole situation easing my worries and giving me more confidence in the DC and coaches.
It still will all come down to the pass rush. That can make All Pros out of a defensive backfield or make it not matter either way.
Guam
August 04, 2025 at 07:43 am
LVN applied some good pressure most of the evening with most of it coming against Morgan. The DTs were also able to get some pressure up the middle which is something we didn't see much of last season. With the exception of a couple of plays the DL was also stout against the run. I am hoping the new DL coach (Covington) is having an impact.
T7Steve
August 04, 2025 at 08:06 am
By the way, who was the starting five (or the guys playing with the ones at this point) on the O-line? I don't suppose Jenkins played, did he?
GregC
August 04, 2025 at 08:10 am
Morgan, Banks, Jenkins, Rhyan, Tom
T7Steve
August 04, 2025 at 08:16 am
Do you know why Morgan was starting? Did they say who was inactive?
Coldworld
August 04, 2025 at 08:42 am
Walker was inactive due to injury. Belton had some snaps too. Neither looked good. To be fair, Belton needed quite a lot of technical work and that seems to be on going and Morgan had had little time at LT thus far. That said though, neither instilled confidence that they are currently ready at T.
T7Steve
August 04, 2025 at 09:06 am
Thanks. I sure hope at least Morgan can get into it. I thought for sure he'd at least be the 6th man up if not actually a starter. Kind of worrisome. Depth better not be an issue after the lesson learned in the playoffs last season.
Leatherhead
August 04, 2025 at 01:11 pm
That's an interesting perspective. I, personally, think the coverage is more important that the pressure. In fact, I bet a lot of sacks are "coverage sacks", where the QB couldn't find an open guy.
No matter how awesome the pass rush is, if the QB can just unload to an open guy, the pass rush won't get there in time. As an example, I'd point to how much our pass rush "improved'' when we got Charles Woodson in 2006.
In 2005, we were a 4-12 team. WE had KGB and Kampman at DE, and they had 14.5 sacks between them,. As a team we only had 34 sacks. But we added Woody and improved our coverage andthe next year, we had 46 sacks. Kampman and KGB had 21 sacks between them.
MAYBE, KGB and Kampman and Cullen Jenkins and Corey Willliams.....all got better in one year. Maybe the coverage was better and they had another fraction of second to work. That's what I believe.
T7Steve
August 04, 2025 at 01:36 pm
This is all true. They make each other better. How long could Woodson cover a guy? These days, if a QB has more than 4 tics someone is open. Also, back then a CB could be more physical than now.
GregC
August 04, 2025 at 03:29 pm
Hard to separate coverage vs. pressure, but I lean in your direction on this one. With the Packers last year, I thought the coverage was better than the pressure, and that's why they had quite a few sacks without a lot of blitzing. An improved pass rush would definitely help matters, though.
GregC
August 04, 2025 at 06:46 am
To say that the Packers lost Eric Stokes is a funny way to put it. By the end of last season, he had played his way onto the bench. They didn't want him anymore. As for Alexander, they lost him halfway through last season and had already adjusted to life without him.
I think they have a solid core with Nixon, Hobbs, and Valentine, plus Javon Bullard helping out in the slot. Bo Melton is starting to look like a legitimate backup CB. I wonder what more he needs to prove, aside from sustaining his strong start. I'm not sure how much he's played against the best receivers in practice. He probably won't get much of a chance to do that in the preseason games. I would imagine there are a lot of extra tricks that offenses throw at CBs when the games are for real. But Melton should know some things about that, having been a wide receiver. He seems to have a handle on the basic skills of covering receivers--mirroring their moves, and so on.
Valentine is good, but I thought he may have committed pass interference on that interception on Family Night. A couple plays later, he broke up a pass, and it looked like he interfered again. So I wonder if he is taking advantage of some loose officiating during practice sessions.
T7Steve
August 04, 2025 at 06:53 am
Do you also think that when in public view for practice as well as preseason the Packers only play their vanilla O and D?
Won't it be easier to look good if they only play their basic stuff or did they pull some stuff out of the bag for family night?
GregC
August 04, 2025 at 07:15 am
On Family Night, they actually do the opposite of pulling things out of the bag. Because the practice is broadcast to the whole world, they are even more vanilla than they are during regular practices. LaFleur said something about that.
It's the same thing in preseason games, to some extent. Of course it also means that defenses don't do as much blitzing or deceptive stuff, but when everyone goes vanilla, the defense is at an advantage.
T7Steve
August 04, 2025 at 07:20 am
That's what I thought. The D probably is on familiar ground and can look better than they actually are. Remember how excited we were the way Rodgers was praising them during camp and saying how good they were, then we played the Saints to open the season?
Guam
August 04, 2025 at 07:38 am
There was certainly contact on Valentine's pick but the officials called PI on other plays so it wasn't like the refs were allowing PI generally. I thought Valentine looked pretty good during the whole practice.
I thought Melton looked very good in coverage but his run support needs work. He got washed out by the blocking with some regularity.
T7Steve
August 04, 2025 at 07:43 am
Do you think they'd only use Melton when they have extra DBs on the field then? Sure hope he makes the team but only if he's great on special teams. Did you see him out there during the special team periods?
Guam
August 04, 2025 at 08:03 am
Didn't see him during special teams, but I wasn't really looking for him there either. I assume he will be a special teams starter since he was so good there last year.
As for Melton getting on the field as a CB, I think he will be a "use in emergency only" guy for this season. The Packers have three good CBs and a fourth slot CB/safety that should pretty clearly play ahead of Melton. That would make Melton CB #4/5 at best and those guys only see the field in the event of injury.
I think Melton can eventually be more, but he needs some time to learn the position and get better in run support. Bigger threat to see the field next year rather than this year barring serious injury to those ahead of him.
Coldworld
August 04, 2025 at 08:48 am
Melton has been on all applicable ST units through practice. I think you see Melton used purely in the perimeter and particularly when they aren’t in full zone and need corners who can track deep and contest the catch. Speed isn’t the strong point of this CB group, and that’s less important in zone but a liability out of it. Like Valentine, he’s got the ability to mirror routes and cover one-on-one. Neither would be an early choice in run support at this point.
Guam
August 04, 2025 at 09:06 am
I agree that Melton gives Hafley some options in obvious passing downs as he can play man against fast WRs. I'm not sure he is ready to be a regular in Hafley's zone.
GregC
August 04, 2025 at 08:16 am
Well, he wouldn't be the first CB who gets washed out by blockers regularly. Are there many CBs who can fight off blocks? They are the smallest guys on the field except for the occasional tiny slot receiver.
Coldworld
August 04, 2025 at 08:50 am
I suppose one could argue that Nixon and seemingly Hobbs are good in those contexts for corners, because I agree, historically that’s not a matchup one wants.
Guam
August 04, 2025 at 09:02 am
Fair point, but Hafley's defense wants run support from the CBs and that may have been part of the reason for signing Hobbs - he is aggressive in run support as is Nixon. While run support is challenging for CBs, that doesn't mean it is unimportant.
GregC
August 04, 2025 at 10:00 am
True. One of the reasons they switched Melton to defense is because he has shown the toughness for it with his special teams play, so let's hope he can get the hang of playing run defense.
Guam
August 04, 2025 at 10:04 am
Agreed.
LambeauPlain
August 04, 2025 at 07:59 am
Hafley was a long term DB coach in the pros and college prior to taking over as Boston College HC. Derrick Ansley has a nice resume too...as a DB coach and later DC for the Chargers. I believe they will continue to coach up to the upsides of the young DBs.
Nixon really never played much DB until the last two years and he answered the call and has steadily improved each year and is a veteran leader by example alongside Xavier...both seem to be solid mentors.
I am bullish on the Packer Defense.
Coldworld
August 04, 2025 at 09:01 am
I’m very happy with the top 3 and encouraged by Melton. I actually think Valentine is making a case to be a situational starter at least. I think Melton looks like he is potentially viable perimeter depth. I think Hafley is going to be able to move Hobbs to the slot and I think that’s a good thing situationally.
I don’t think it’s sound to expect Bullard to cover in all situations. He’s good in others, but I’d rather have Hobbs (or Nixon) inside at times. I think Hafley knew this last year but injuries and the roster forced his hand. The roster this year will provide better match ups more often situationally this year I think. Less snaps for Bullard potentially, but a better opportunity to make a positive impact.
Behind those 4 I’m not as bullish. It’s not that the others have been noticeably bad, just not noticeably good. A few flashes but nothing that says this guy belongs on the field. It’s early yet. In Preseason we likely won’t see too much of the top 3 and we will see the depth and in live tackling contexts. There’s plenty of time for them to step up, but until then I remain unconvinced that any are above replacement grade.
Coaches talking them up means little till they show up on the field. Their opportunities and tests are coming soon, but it’s still possible that one or two eventual corners are not on this team at the moment.
Guam
August 04, 2025 at 09:09 am
Good summary of the Packers CB situation. I would really like to see some guys step up and win the backup CB positions. Right now I see little difference between the multiple contenders.
I do see Melton making the 53 based on his special teams prowess.
Coldworld
August 04, 2025 at 09:42 am
I agree, but I am coming to believe there’s more to it. Melton has shown he can cover and mirror routes. That’s a skill not many have, and of course it will need polishing given he’s not played CB since high school, but it’s a prerequisite for success. The next question is can he be cope with the physical aspects: the team knows he can from his work on STs, as a jammer and gunner notably. Those guys aren’t daunted by contact. Taken together, those are the two main criteria satisfied. The challenge now is to put it all together.
He won’t start but I think they would already be willing to put him out there if injury forced it or situationally. They would have to move others roundly probably, but we’ve had worse depth corner options in the past and he is going to be active for STs on game day.
Hopefully he stays healthy, because I think they are likely to give him a heavy crash course to gain practical experience in the coming weeks.
T7Steve
August 04, 2025 at 10:29 am
Who did you decide was the 4th corner beside Bullard who's a safety/slot ?
Coldworld
August 04, 2025 at 10:42 am
Well, Nixon can play the slot, but it looks like Hobbs is the one they plan on alternating. The majority of his career snaps have been in the slot, so not illogical. Ironically, I think he too benefits from not being forced to play the most physical situations. It’s a win for both hopefully in terms of potential quality.
Behind them, that I know of, it’s been Hadden—Hadden was injured for family night and King played there in his stead corners room. Oladapo has had some time from the safety group. There may have been others I’ve missed, of course—we don’t always get much detail on the 2nds or 3rds either. It’s mostly been Bullard or Hobbs (with Valentine replacing him outside).
Leatherhead
August 04, 2025 at 01:00 pm
Guam, I think Kaelen King is going to win the #4 CB spot. It's going to be Nixon, Valentine , Hobbs, King. These guys are all durable guys who can tackle.
With the rules the way they are, QBs complete 2 out of every three passes. If you tackle the guy when he catches it, it certainly cuts down on the big plays. IN higlight reel after highlight reel, you see guys catching a pass, breaking a tackle, and running for big gains We might not be able to stop the completion, but we can stop the run after catch.
nagawicka
August 04, 2025 at 10:38 am
What, no mentions for Maxwell Hairston or Micah Robinson? Imagine not including Robinson in reporting on the progress made to resolve that OH NO WHATEVER WILL WE DO to staff that *4th and 5th cornerback* crisis. Nagler only noted for the record that Micah Robinson's masterful use of the perimeter boundary to repeatedly win while covering receivers sprinting downfield was the mark of an accomplished & experienced pro on track to challenge for a roster spot.
T7Steve
August 04, 2025 at 11:41 am
Nice. No one else brought this up. Whom is the better in your eyes?
GregC
August 04, 2025 at 11:50 am
Yeah, Micah Robinson is one to watch. I think he gave up the lone TD on Family Night, but it was a good throw and catch. I've heard some good things about his performance in training camp.
The "4th and 5th cornerback crisis" is an interesting thing. I think the loss of Jaire Alexander has caused some panic about the CB position in general. But the quality of the CBs once you get four deep is never great. The Colts, who have an awful secondary, just released Corey Ballentine. He's probably not worth bringing back.
cdoemel
August 04, 2025 at 04:57 pm
Or maybe he is!
Bear
August 04, 2025 at 11:34 am
King. 4.52. Pro day 4.61 combine
Kings listed 40 time makes me a little nervous. Does he have the speed to stay with receivers?
Leatherhead
August 04, 2025 at 12:53 pm
Family night is our real first chance to see the team on the field. The Jets will be here this Saturday, and it'll be time to answer some questions.
1) Jacobs and Wilson are mortal locks. Brooks is a #3, but the #4 RB position is a little bit more shaky because Lloyd is injured. IF he can't play in the exhibition games, he can't compete for a roster spot. The Packers might bring in another guy if they have questions about Lloyd availablity.
2) Our Top 7 OL are mortal locks, but after that, I'd say maybe Monk and Glover.
4) Kraft and Musgrave both look good to go, but we need another guy, and you'd think Sims is the front runner there.
5) We have too many WRss. Golden, Reed, Doubs, Wicks, Williams, Hardman....and eventually Watson. There's only one ball.
6) On defense, the guys from last year are all mortal locks. Gary, Van Ness,Clark, Wyatt, Cooper, Walker, McDuffie, Enagbare, Valentine, Nixon, McKinney, Bullard, Williams. Hopper, by virtue of being a 2nd year guy, will also stay. The guy we acquired in FA, Hobbs, is in. That's a core of 15 guys. Add in Sorrel and Oliver.
7) We need at least one more CB. We're cheering for Melton but Kaelin King looks like a stronger challenger for the #4 CB spot.
8) The safety room is so loaded that the guy who had 3 interceptions on Family night probably can't squeeze in.
9) Brooks and Wooden and Cox and Simmons are all good enough to make the team. I'd like to see Stackhouse.
Those are the roster spots that are up for grabs. It's not that many and there aren't really starting positions that are being contested. It's a few backup spots.
GregC
August 04, 2025 at 01:13 pm
Marshawn Lloyd is not competing for a roster spot. He'll make it if he's healthy. They are not going to quit on a third round draft pick before his second season begins. I wouldn't call Wilson a mortal lock, but I think he will make it. Keeping four RBs makes a lot of sense, especially considering how often Lloyd has been injured.
I think Fitzpatrick will be the third TE. He was playing more than Sims at the end of last season, and I saw him a lot on Family Night. I would only keep three TEs at this point, but they usually keep four.
I'm still leaning towards Hardman as WR #6, because of his punt return ability, but Heath may give him a run for his money.
I'll be interested to see what Collin Oliver can do if he comes back from that hamstring injury. It's bad for a rookie to miss so much time in training camp. It often leads to a lost rookie season.
T7Steve
August 04, 2025 at 01:44 pm
I was thinking only 3 TEs so that they could keep 4 RBs. If they keep 4 TEs, it might be because of a lingering injury to a starting TE or a RB like Llyod is redshirted again.
Don't you think that a RB would have a better chance of being retained on the practice squad over a TE that can block as ours all can?
GregC
August 04, 2025 at 01:53 pm
I think it's about equal, and at any rate, I've heard mixed reviews of Ben Sims' blocking.
Leatherhead
August 04, 2025 at 05:05 pm
Marshawn Lloyd absolutely is competing, and right now he's no higher than the 4th RB....and he's hurt. The Packers brought in a guy, Israel Abanikanda, who was an All-American in college and who has bounced around a little with the Jets and 49ers. He's a legitimate threat to the #4 spot.