Green Bay Packers: Safeties Best and Worst Case Scenarios
By Kenny Jilek
Rookies
There are two rookie safeties coming into camp this season both looking to make the roster, and neither of them is a highly rated guy, with Vernon Scott being a seventh-round pick and Henry Black an undrafted free agent.
Vernon Scott
Scott was seen by many as a player not worthy of being a draft pick, but the Packers saw enough in him to make him a seventh-round pick. As a seventh-round pick, he comes to camp with a little leg up on Henry Black, but not by much, and he’ll have to compete just as much for his spot on this roster.
Scott has been making headlines early in camp, however, breaking up passes and catching the eye of the coaching staff, including Matt LaFleur, who said they expect Scott to be a playmaker, and that’s what they saw on his college tape. His big play in college was a 98-yard pick-six in his senior year, and I’m sure the Packers would love to see some more of that carry over to his game in the NFL.
The best case for him would be taking that third safety spot from Redmond, but the worst case would be having strictly special teams duties or not making the team at all.
Best Case Stats: 35 total tackles, 3 TFLs, 1 INT, 4 PDs
Worst Case Stats: 10 total tackles, 1 TFL, 0 INT, 1 PD
Henry Black
Henry Black has the toughest road to making the roster out of all the safeties on the team. As an undrafted free agent, the Green Bay Packers don’t really lose anything if he doesn’t make the team. He did a little of everything at Baylor, playing some cornerback, safety, and linebacker. Versatility always helps anyone on the bubble looking to make the roster.
Black could use his experience at linebacker playing in the box at Baylor to also try to compete for a spot as the box safety behind Raven Greene. No one else on the roster right now really fits that bill or has that experience, so having a backup plan if Greene goes down with an injury again would be advantageous to the Packers organization.
His best case would be making the team and becoming the second string box safety behind Greene and being able to see some time once in a while. Still, they could cut him and keep him on the practice squad as their insurance policy for Greene.
Best Case Stats: 25 total tackles, 2 TFLs, 1 INT, 2 PDs
Worst Case Stats: 8 total tackles, 0 TFLs, 0 INTs, 1 PD
Next. 5 Quick Takeaways from Day 3 of Training Camp. dark
What do you think of the Green Bay Packers’ safeties this year, and what are your predictions for Raven Greene? Let me know in the comments below or on Twitter @DairylandXpress. Next up in the best and worst-case scenarios series will be the cornerbacks. Past articles in this series are below if you missed them.