Green Bay Packers: Five takeaways from mandatory minicamp

1. The rookie cornerbacks are living up to the hype

Jaire Alexander and Josh Jackson are arguably the two most-hyped draft picks of the past decade. The highly-touted rookies add depth at the Packers’ largest positional void: cornerback.

Even though expectations have been high, both players impressed mightily in minicamp. Alexander picked off Rodgers multiple times in OTAs, and continued to impress in his play during minicamp.

Both rookies have garnered high praise from their positional coach Joe Whitt Jr., who said of each:

"On Jackson: “He’s constantly in that meeting room. He studies as much as any rookie we’ve ever had. When he makes a mistake, he doesn’t make that same mistake again. I’ve been very pleased with him.” On Alexander: “He’s a confident kid but he’s not a cocky kid. I was somewhat worried about, ‘is he going to be cocky?’ But he’s not cocky. You want real confidence out there, and I think he’s a real tough kid.”"

It should be noted that cornerbacks are not permitted to engage in press coverage at the line of scrimmage, and are limited in their overall contact down the field during minicamp sessions.

But even though they aren’t in full pads or aren’t allowed full contact, it’s encouraging to see both rookies putting in work on the practice field. Packers fans have plenty to be excited about with these two playmakers.