Green Bay Packers secondary still a work in progress

Even in April, the Green Bay Packers have a lot of work to do in their secondary in order to give themselves a real chance to compete in 2018.

The Green Bay Packers signed two veteran corners in Tramon Williams and Davon House with hopes of stabilizing a diminished secondary.  And yet, even with these additions, changes to their group of defensive backs are far from over.

Excluding House and Williams, the average age of cornerbacks on the Packers’ roster is just under 25 years of age. The likes of Kevin King, Quinten Rollins, Lenzy Pipkins, Josh Hawkins, Demetri Goodson and Herb Waters have a combined 27 starts.

Inexperience like this can play a significant role down the stretch. Especially when injuries start to pile up.

A 28-year-old House and 35-year-old Williams are two veterans with playoff experience. Father time is bound to catch up with them sooner or later, though they’ve proven they can still hold their own on the field in a limited or full-time capacity.

Both contracts make it clear they are not meant to be long-term answers for Green Bay’s pass defense. House is on a one-year contract for back to back years while Williams is under a two-year deal.

Even though he’s seven years older, Williams might have a little bit more left in the tank. Last year in Arizona, Pro Football Focus rated him the ninth overall corner in the NFL. His 12 pass deflections were the most he had since the 2014 season when he was a Packer.

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“He doesn’t look 35,” said head coach Mike McCarthy at the NFL owners meeting in early April. “He looks great. He doesn’t look like he’s changed since the day he left. I’m excited that he’s back and he’ll definitely give us outstanding leadership there in the secondary.”

House had nowhere near the same success. He was the number one corner on a defense that allowed a league-worst passer rating of 106.2, according to NFL.com’s next-gen stats.

House could very well be the Packers second corner on the outside to start the NFL season. Meanwhile, Williams could spend more time in the slot or even at safety. A role he often found himself in as an Arizona Cardinal.

Williams’ rejuvenation can partly be attributed to Arizona’s scheme. He spent a lot of time in off-man coverage to help his aging footwork. Luckily his instincts prevailed.

House will need to spend more time playing off the line of scrimmage as well. He has never been great in press coverage and that won’t change in the latter part of his career.

It’s up to defensive coordinator Mike Pettine to find out how to get the most out of his guys. But, he won’t and shouldn’t pass up the chance to add more pieces to the mix.

Next: 5 late round draft targets for the Packers

Having two veterans to mentor a young group of corners is a nice insurance policy. However, the Packers will need to add another free agent or multiple rookies through the draft. Regardless of where they come from, they need to be ready to make plays right away.