Green Bay Packers: Pettine Confirms Chandon Sullivan will be Nickel CB

Not that there was really ever any doubt, but Mike Pettine confirmed with reporters that Chandon Sullivan would be the Green Bay Packers’ starting nickel corner.

While there are many out there – yes, including me – who were wondering why the Green Bay Packers hadn’t re-signed Tramon Williams, well, there is one big reason; Chandon Sullivan.

Along with Allen Lazard, Sullivan was one of the biggest surprises to come out of last season. Although it was a fairly small sample size, when Sullivan was on the field, he wasn’t just good, but he was excellent.

According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Sullivan was targeted 36 times in 2019 and allowed a completion percentage of only 41.7 percent. Meanwhile, quarterbacks had a passer rating of just 43.1 when targeting him, not to mention that he didn’t give up a touchdown, get called for a penalty, and he came away with an interception as well.

Although Sullivan was crowned the Packers’ starting nickel cornerback before practice even began, when a young and relatively inexperienced player emerges as Sullivan did, it’s reasonable to wonder if he can produce in a full-time role when there’s film out on him.

However, when it comes to Sullivan, if you ask his teammates or DB’s coach Jerry Gray, that was never in question (via Packers Wire):

"“When you look at Sully, I think that he is doing a tremendous job,” said Gray. “He played a lot of different things when you watched him on film last year. I know in the run game, he was really physical. He looked like a safety playing nickel. A lot of people didn’t try to run his way because he really got up in there in the run game. And now, he is learning a lot about the passing game.”"

Kevin King would say that Sullivan is “definitely ready to come into that staring nickel role.” While Jaire Alexander says that Sully – as he’s affectionately called – is a “big help” and a “real good player” with “good instincts.” Adrian Amos would echo similar sentiments as well, calling Sullivan a “great player,” someone who is “trusted,” and that the “sky is the limit for him.”

So we’ve heard it from his teammates, and we’ve heard it from his coaches, so it’s not as if we need the validation as well from the Green Bay Packers’ beat writers that are at practice every day, but if you read their articles or follow along on Twitter, Sullivan has carried last season’s performance over into training camp.

While his coverage numbers from 2019 were great, an underappreciated aspect of Sullivan’s game is his run defense, which is one of the many reasons that he makes such a good slot corner, as Gray recently pointed out:

"“He looks like a safety playing nickel, and a lot of people didn’t really try to run his way.”"

So with all of that said, it shouldn’t come as a shock that in Mike Pettine’s Zoom call with reporters on Thursday that he confirmed that Sullivan would be the Packers’ nickel cornerback and that the defense is going to lean heavily on Sully along with the rest of the Green Bay secondary.

With Tramon Williams out of the picture – at least for the time being – that leaves some big shoes to fill at the slot corner position. However, all signs point to Chandon Sullivan being more than ready to take on that role full-time.