Green Bay Packers: 6 Big Questions for Defense Entering Training Camp
By Paul Bretl
Who will take the majority of the nickel snaps early on?
Defensive backs coach Jerry Gray mentioned during OTAs that there are four or five players vying for snaps at the ‘star’ cornerback position, and the goal was to whittle that group down to one or two by the regular season.
Who those four or five players are, we don’t know exactly, but my guess is that it includes Chandon Sullivan, Darnell Savage, Jaire Alexander, Will Redmond, and Shemar Jean-Charles–maybe even Adrian Amos, who has some experience there as well.
Just like with the rest of these questions, we will have to see how it all unfolds, but I expect to see more of Alexander in the slot as he follows around the opponent’s top receiver and is out there to muddy things up over the middle just as Jalen Ramsey did. I also think we see more of Savage as the nickel after putting up impressive numbers there in 2020.
Redmond and Amos will still line up there occasionally as well, but when it comes to who will take a bulk of those snaps, I still see that being Sullivan—although, with more opportunities for Alexander and Savage, he may not see as many snaps in the slot as he did in 2020. But again, that’s just my best guess at this point.