Who will be the Packers next gunner?

With the departure of Jeff Janis to the Cleveland Browns, the Green Bay Packers have a huge hole to fill on special teams.

First, there was Jarrett Bush and then it was Jeff Janis. For over a decade, the Green Bay Packers have had some of the best special-team gunners in the league. Now, with Janis headed to the Cleveland Browns, special-teams coach Ron Zook must find another speedster who can get down the field to blow up kick and punt returns.

Letting Janis walk was a tough reality for Packers fans to face. His late-game heroics in the 2015 playoffs vs Arizona will go down as two of the best plays in Packers’ history.

Two unlikely Hail Mary’s prolonged Janis’ time in Green Bay as coaches believed he might turn into a serviceable receiver. However, he never showed enough in practice or in his limited snaps on offense to warrant another contract. In 2017, he only saw the field for 4.8 percent of the snaps on offense, per Spotrac.

The great thing about a special-teams gunner is they are replaceable. And as we saw with Janis, they can come from anywhere.

Kick coverage is a defensive position so the Packers next great gunner will likely come from the defense. He might already be on the team or Green Bay will find him in the draft.

Either way, the Packers have options.

Marwin Evans

Starters on kick and punt coverage are typically depth guys with tackling ability or speed. Elite special teamers have both. Marwin Evans has already put his 4.47 speed to use on Zook’s unit as the punt formation gunner opposite of Janis.  According to Pro Football Reference, Evans was second on the team with 331 snaps on special-teams in 2017. Expect to see him carrying on these duties next season.

Jermaine Whitehead

Like Evans, Jermaine Whitehead is a player whose role is to provide depth as a sub package safety. His 40-time (4.59) is not as impressive, but he did enough in two years to earn a contract tender on March 14. Last year, he totaled 11 tackles and played 44.8 percent of special-team snaps. The Packers believed in Whitehead enough to make an investment, therefore he should have a bigger role moving forward.

Dane Cruikshank

Cruikshank is a 2018 safety prospect who was known for his hard-nosed tackling at Arizona. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Green Bay was meeting with Cruikshank sometime this week. His draft projection lies somewhere around the fourth round making him a borderline top-100 prospect. Green Bay’s plans for Cruikshank are unclear assuming he won’t be ready to contribute as a starter early on. However, his 4.4 speed would make him a good candidate as a future special-teams ace.

Green Bay ranked sixth in the league in punt return coverage last year allowing only 5.7 yards per attempt. Their status of having an improved third unit should not see a drastic change with Janis gone. Although, who will be the Packers next great gunner is set to be an intriguing position battle come training camp and preseason.