Green Bay Packers 2021 NFL Draft Prospects to Know: CB Asante Samuel Jr

It’s no secret that many would categorize the cornerback position on this Green Bay Packers team as the biggest need to address this offseason. While the Packers do have Jaire Alexander on one side of the field, on the other side is a whole lot of question marks and inexperience.

As it currently stands, Green Bay’s options on the roster for CB2 include Josh Jackson, Ka’dar Hollman, KeiVarae Russell, and Stanford Samuels. Whether it’s signing a veteran during free agency, spending a couple of draft picks on the position, or both, addressing this position is a must.

So as we look ahead to the draft, and more specifically, the cornerback position, one name to know is Asante Samuel Jr. from Florida State–who has already met with the Green Bay Packers virtually.

The 5’10” – 184 pound Samuel has made 20 starts at Florida State over the last two seasons and has appeared in 32 games over his career. In 2019, he was targeted 67 times but allowed a completion rate of just 50.7 percent for 12.7 yards per catch. Samuel allowed two touchdowns but came away with an interception, nine pass breakups, and opposing quarterbacks had a passer rating of 75.0 when throwing his direction.

This past season — which is a bit of a smaller sample size — Samuel’s numbers were once again impressive. He allowed a completion rate of 59.4 percent on 32 targets for 9.4 yards per catch. He gave up only one touchdown while tallying three interceptions, five pass breakups, and a passer rating of 46.2 when targeted–although it’s worth noting that he was called for five penalties.

While Pro Football Focus ($) grading system isn’t everything, it is a useful metric for showing who is playing really well and who is really struggling. When it comes to Samuel, he was their 10th highest-graded overall cornerback in 2020 and had the 11th highest coverage grade out of 199 eligible cornerbacks.

For a closer look at Samuel’s game, this is what The Draft Network’s Joe Marino had to say about him in his pre-draft scouting report:

"“Samuel Jr. is a touch undersized, but he is outstanding in man coverage where his natural pattern matching instincts, loose hips, and quick feet make him tough to separate from. Despite not having ideal size, Samuel Jr. is a competitive run defender and tackler that gets his work done and isn’t a liability.While his frame may suggest to some that he’s slot only in the NFL, he’s in the mold of a Brandon Flowers/Denzel Ward and fully capable of playing wide in the NFL like he did in college—although he does have some experience in the slot. Where Samuel Jr. has room to grow is in his zone coverage reps and ball skills. He played mostly man coverage in college and he isn’t nearly as comfortable in zone reps.”"

Pro Football Focus has Samuel ranked as the 29th overall prospect and the fourth-best cornerback in this year’s class. Over at the NFL Mock Draft Database, which, as the name suggests, logs just about every mock draft that is created, Samuel is most often mocked in the back end of Round 1, with him recently being taken quite frequently in the 28 to 32 range–right where the Green Bay Packers are picking.

As Joe mentions, Samuel does have experience playing in the slot — as well as in the box — but I imagine that if the Packers were to spend a first-round pick on him, he would be Green Bay’s other boundary corner, given the current status of the position and his ability in man coverage. But Samuel provides them with that flexibility to be moved around.

One other important note on Samuel that Joe makes is his ability as a tackler, calling him a “competitive run defender”–something that can be overlooked but is crucial at the cornerback position

Over the years, the Green Bay Packers have sunk quite a bit of premium draft capital into the cornerback position (Damarious Randall, Quinten Rollins, Kevin King, and Josh Jackson), but once again, it is another major need. Fortunately, Green Bay already has Alexander, but is Asante Samuel Jr. the Packers’ answer at CB2?