Green Bay Packers: Cornerbacks Best and Worst Case Scenarios

Probable Starters

Jaire Alexander and Kevin King are still young players in this league, and they got exposed as such a few times last season. But for the most part, they were very good as they routinely played on islands and kept opposing receivers from making game-breaking plays. Chandon Sullivan played limited snaps, but was very good in those snaps and could take a huge step this season.

Jaire Alexander

Jaire Alexander is one of the best cover corners in the NFL and is only entering his third season in the league. He finished fourth in the league in passes defended and has a great ability to find the ball in the air and get at least a hand on it to knock it away. He’s only 5’10”, so he can’t rely on height, but instead, he uses his speed and quickness to always stay in position and close quickly on routes.

This season, his best way to take the next step would be turning passes defended into interceptions. Now, every pass he gets a hand on can’t be picked off, but even he admitted that he dropped a few last year and he has to get the ball back to the offense when he has the chance.

Kyle Fuller of the Bears had a similar issue early in his career, and then in 2018, after dropping what would have been a game-ending INT from Aaron Rodgers in week one, he started catching the ball and finished with seven interceptions and a spot on the All-Pro roster. Jaire has the same chance to make that jump in year three that Fuller made in his fourth season.

The worst thing that could happen to Jaire is him going for the interception to often when he’s not quite in position and whiffing, letting guys get huge gains from what should have been incompletions.

Best Case Stats: 50% completion percentage against, 20 Passes defended, 8 INTs

Worst Case Stats: 63% completion percentage against, 8 passes defended, 2 INTs

Kevin King

King is in the final year of his contract, and this could very well be his last season in a Green Bay Packers’ uniform. He battled injury issues in his first two seasons but managed to stay mostly healthy in 2019, playing and starting 14 games. His four interceptions were fifth in the NFL, and his 15 passes defended ranked him ninth. He also allowed a completion rate of just 58.8 percent when he was targeted.

There’s a lot to like about King, but injuries and consistency have been the knocks on him since his rookie season. If he plays well this season, he will get paid in free agency as high-quality corners are at a premium in this pass-heavy league. If that’s the case, he likely won’t be returning to the Packers because they simply won’t have the money to pay him, especially after giving Kenny Clark an extension and possible new contracts looming for Aaron Jones and David Bakhtiari.

If he doesn’t play well, he could come back on somewhat of a cheaper contract, but it’s likely some team would still take a chance on him after the stats he put up last year. Either way, if he stays healthy, he’ll get a pretty good-sized contract from someone.

Best Case Stats: 55% completion rate, 18 passes defended, 5 INTs

Worst Case Stats: 65% completion rate, 7 passes defended, 2 INTs

Chandon Sullivan

Chandon Sullivan was really good in limited time last season, playing 34 percent of Packers defensive snaps. He was targeted 31 times in coverage and allowed just 11 completions, a completion percentage of just 35.5 percent, and also had an interception with six passes defended. That’s a small sample size, and he won’t replicate that with more playing time, but it’s still really encouraging how good he was in that small role last season.

With Tramon Williams not being re-signed, Sullivan is the top bet for being the slot cornerback. The only guy on the roster with more NFL experience that will challenge for the spot is Josh Jackson, and last year, Sullivan was the more effective option, and the coaching staff seems to trust him more to do the job.

With how much nickel defense the Packers play, the third corner is a big spot, and Williams played 73 percent of defensive snaps in that role last season. This race is Sullivan’s to lose, and he could see a huge bump in snaps played and hopefully, his stats too.

Best Case Stats: 58% completion rate, 11 passes defended, 3 INTs

Worst Case Stats: 70% completion rate, 4 passes defended, 1 INT