Packers: Alexander & King Injuries may Leave Josh Jackson as Top CB

With Jaire Alexander doubtful and Kevin King questionable, it could be Josh Jackson who takes over CB1 duties for the Green Bay Packers.

Entering their Week 10 matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Green Bay Packers find themselves potentially very thin at the cornerback position. After suffering a concussion against San Francisco, Jaire Alexander is listed as doubtful for this week’s game. Meanwhile, Kevin King has progressed, but his status is still unknown, as he is listed as questionable.

Chandon Sullivan will still be available as the team’s primary slot corner, but out wide, the Packers could very well be without their top two options. That means Josh Jackson may be thrust into the CB1 role this weekend.

As all Packer fans are aware, Jackson’s career hasn’t gone as hoped. The former second-round pick has spent a lot of time on the sidelines, and when he has seen the field, he’s been picked on. However, over the last month or so, we have seen some improvements from him.

Quarterbacks are still efficient against Jackson completing 65 percent of their passes on 20 targets, but to his credit, he has been able to limit the big play, allowing only seven yards per reception. In fact, Pro Football Focus recently tweeted out that Jackson and Alexander are the only cornerback duo in the NFL to be in the top-10 in ‘yards allowed per coverage snap’ at 0.60 and 0.57, respectively.

We’ve also seen Jackson provide some help against the run, making several tackles at or around the line of scrimmage.

So those are the positives; Jackson has limited the big play, and he hasn’t been picked on nearly as often. But there are negatives as well. For one, Jackson’s six penalties are the most on the team this season, and if grades are your thing, his coverage grade from Pro Football Focus ($) of 48.5 is ranked 100th out of 128 eligible cornerbacks. Meanwhile, over at Packer Report, on Andy Herman’s scale, where a score of 0.0 is considered average, Jackson is at -2.0, the third-worst score on the defensive side of the ball.

Regardless of where your confidence in Jackson lies, we are going to see a lot of him on Sunday against Jacksonville. And if King is unable to play once again, it will be Jackson’s responsibility to limit the Jaguars’ top receiver, D.J. Chark.

Chark is coming off a 1,000-yard season in 2019 where he found the end zone eight times, and although he’s missed two games in 2020, he’s still totaled 437 yards and four touchdowns. He’s also coming off his best performance of the year, after hauling in seven receptions on 12 targets for 146 yards with a touchdown against Houston.

As I mentioned above, Jackson has been able to limit the big play, but that will be put to the test against Chark, who even with missing time, has the ninth most deep targets – passes over 20 yards – this season and the 10th most deep passing yards of any receiver.

With that said, the Green Bay Packers have a few things going in their favor that can help mitigate Chark’s playmaking ability. The first is that quarterback Jake Luton will be under center and making just his second NFL start. If the Green Bay defensive front can build off of their performance in San Francisco and pressure the rookie, it’s certainly going to eliminate Chark’s effectiveness as well as lead to a few mistakes.

The second helper is Mother Nature. As of now, wind gusts are projected to be in the 40 mph range for Sunday’s game. As we saw just about two weeks ago, when the Minnesota Vikings were in town, that type of wind will leave its mark on the game.

If King can’t go against Jacksonville, Jackson is going to have one heck of an opportunity in front of him. He certainly hasn’t lived up to his draft stock at this point in his career, and even his better performances this season have been a mixed bag. But if he can continue to limit the big play and hopefully cut back on the penalties against Chark, it’ll provide some additional hope that he can turn things around. And if not, well, not a whole lot changes then.

Either way, buckle up and be ready for plenty of Josh Jackson on Sunday.