Green Bay Packers: Could Josh Jackson be a trade chip?

With the NFL trade deadline just a few days away, would the Green Bay Packers be willing to deal Josh Jackson for the right player in return?

Through seven weeks of the NFL season, I’m not sure that this year could have started out any better for the Green Bay Packers. They currently sit at 6-1 overall and 3-0 within the NFC North, but as we all know, there is always room for improvement.

With the trade deadline quickly approaching, a few position groups that GM Brian Gutekunst should be calling on include wide receiver, defensive tackle, and inside linebacker. While at this moment we don’t know how the markets for DT or ILB are going to shake out, we do know that the price for receivers is quite high.

Many feel that both the New England Patriots and the San Francisco 49ers overpaid to acquire Mohamed Sanu and Emmanuel Sanders, respectively and it is those high asking prices that could keep Green Bay from making any moves. However, there is another alternative other than trading away draft capital, and that is second-year cornerback, Josh Jackson.

Drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the second round just last year, Jackson had a very quiet first two seasons at Iowa but put together a breakout season in 2017. Most notably, Jackson would lead the nation in interceptions with eight that year.

Unfortunately, the jump to the NFL and the Mike Pettine defense came with a lot of issues for Jackson in his rookie season. He led the team in penalties with eight, the most frequent infraction being defensive holding. When Jackson was beat off the line, he had a tendency to panic and he would get grabby. Then when he was targeted, quarterbacks would complete nearly 67 percent of their passes for 12.5 yards per catch and had a quarterback rating of 112.7 against Jackson.

The hope coming into this season was that we would see Jackson make the year two leap that many successful players make between their rookie and sophomore seasons. However, an injury would keep Jackson sidelined for much of training camp and the preseason and as a result, he tumbled down the depth chart.

So far in the regular season, Jackson has not seen much action on defense. He has played in only 14.7 percent of the defensive snaps this season which puts him as the fifth option behind Jaire Alexander, Kevin King, Tramon Williams, and Chandon Sullivan. Not to mention that Tony Brown isn’t too far behind Jackson in snaps either.

A perfect microcosm of Jackson’s career up to this point came last Sunday against Oakland. With Green Bay up comfortably, they would put Jackson in at the end of the game and he would proceed to give up two catches on two targets for 36 yards and a touchdown.

Realistically, Jackson just isn’t a good fit for the Pettine defense. He played mostly in zone coverage at Iowa and that is where he is most comfortable. However, Pettine wants his corners to be able to line up one-on-one and win in man coverage, which as we’ve seen, is still a work in progress for Jackson.

It is only Jackson’s second NFL season but he doesn’t appear to be making any strides in the right direction when we see him on game day. Now, if the Green Bay Packers feel that he is on the right track and is showing signs of improvement during practice, then this conversation may be for nothing. With that said, if he is as lost in practice as he is during games, it might be time to sell high and bring in a player that can help this team make a Super Bowl push this season.