Green Bay Packers: Safeties Best and Worst Case Scenarios
By Kenny Jilek
Other Returners
Raven Greene and Will Redmond had very different 2019 seasons. Greene was essentially a starter as the box safety but was injured for almost the whole year. Meanwhile, Redmond was the backup safety to Savage and Amos, coming in basically whenever they needed a break and playing 26 percent of defensive snaps.
Raven Greene
If you somehow haven’t gotten on the Raven Greene breakout season hype train yet, I suggest you get on soon because it’s leaving the station. Greene was an undrafted free agent in 2018 and made the team as a special teams guy in his rookie year. Then, he earned the job as a hybrid linebacker-safety and played beside Blake Martinez in the box for the first two games of 2019.
This season, he’ll finally get a chance to showcase his unique skill set. Lately, A.J. Dillon has been getting press for how huge his legs look, don’t forget that Greene gained similar notoriety for his massive biceps in camp last season. Not only does he clearly get in the weight room, but he is also crazy explosive, and when he’s coming downhill on a blitz or shooting a gap from his linebacker spot, it’s something special. He had one sack in 2018 coming off the edge, where he comes at the QB full steam ahead.
That explosiveness is what could make him a massive upgrade for the Green Bay Packers’ defense this year. He’ll be given every chance to be the box safety this year, and his best case would be to continue to use those skills to be a great piece next to Christian Kirksey.
His worst-case scenario would be if any of the linebackers proved they could do the job better than him, and the Packers switch to using mostly two inside linebackers instead of having Greene as the other guy in the box.
Best Case Stats: 50 total tackles, 7 TFLs, 2 INTs, 6 PDs
Worst Case Stats: 20 total tackles, 3 TFLs, 0 INTs, 3 PDs
Will Redmond
Redmond played in 13 games in 2019 and made 36 total tackles and one for a loss. There’s a reason that he was not a starter for the Packers, though. When targeted in coverage, he gave up a completion percentage of 71.4 percent and a passer rating of 102.1.
Redmond will likely be the third-string safety again, and the best thing he can do is make the most of those snaps and come up with a couple of big plays when he has the opportunity. The worst possible thing that could happen to him is getting passed up by one of the rookies for that third safety spot and having to be mostly on special teams duty or even worse, get cut. He hasn’t done enough here for him to be a roster lock, and he’ll need to prove himself once again in camp.
Best Case Stats: 40 total tackles, 2 TFLs, 2 INTs, 5 PDs
Worst Case Stats: 15 total tackles, 0 TFLs, 0 INTs, 1 PD