Green Bay Packers: Innis Gaines Player to Watch in Preseason Games

One of the best parts of Green Bay Packers training camp and the preseason is seeing which under-the-radar players can impress during thier time on the football field.

For the Packers, who are returning a large portion of their 13-3 team from last season, there may be even fewer opportunities for the new and lesser-known players to make a splash this summer, since relatively speaking, there are fewer roster spots up for grabs than in past seasons.

However, one name in particular that Green Bay Packers fans should have their eyes on once the preseason begins is safety, Innis Gaines.

The 6’2″ – 207 pound Gaines is still technically a rookie — although he last played at TCU in 2019 — since he wasn’t on an NFL roster last season. The Packers would sign him to a futures deal back in January for this upcoming season.

Gaines would appear in 14 games for the Horned Frogs during the 2017 season, but he missed time with injuries over his final two seasons, appearing in a total of 14 games over 2018 and 2019. Yet when on the field, Gaines was able to showcase his versatility, an aspect that we know the Green Bay Packers look for at the safety position.

From 2017 to 2019, Gaines recorded 22 pressures as a blitzer, three of which were sacks, along with six pass breakups, three interceptions, and opposing quarterbacks had a passer rating of just 73.1 when targeting him, according to PFF ($$).

Gains spent 107 of his college snaps along the defensive front, 334 in the box — which we will see a lot of from this safety group in the new Joe Barry defense — 714 snaps from the slot — again, an important role — and 20 on the boundary. As Gaines told the Star-Telegram when coming out of TCU, he can line up anywhere.

During training camp practices so far, Gaines has been steady, with Packer Report’s Andy Herman calling him “the best UDFA at camp so far.” This past Tuesday was perhaps his most impressive performance, as he had two pass breakups in the one-on-one drills, with one coming in the end zone.

By PFF’s metrics, Gaines graded out very well over his final seasons as a run-defender, which, as I’m sure you’ve guessed, will be an important aspect for safeties in Barry’s defense as well. His willingness to help in the run game and the way he flies around the field earned him the nickname “Thump,” according to Packers linebacker and former TCU teammate, Ty Summers:

"“I mean, he’s a stud,” Summers said via Packers.com. “We call him ‘Thump,’ which is his nickname, and Thump as you can imagine is coming down and hitting people. That dude is just a missile.”"

The versatility that Gaines brings, the experience playing down in the box, and his ability to help against the run all make him a good fit for what the safeties are going to be asked to do in this defensive scheme. But, just like with every other fringe roster player, it’s going to come down to how Gaines’ performs in the preseason.

The good news for him is that this safety position is fairly open. With Darnell Savage and Adrian Amos as the only roster locks at this point, if the Green Bay Packers keep five safeties just as they did in 2020, then that leaves three spots up for grabs–and an opportunity for Gaines.

As is the case for just about every back-end of the roster candidate, Gaines will have to showcase that he can contribute on special teams–excelling in this area will likely be his best path to making the final roster. According to PFF, Gaines had nearly 400 career special teams snaps in college.

Flashback to this past January when the Green Bay Packers still had playoff games ahead of them; this was an addition that certainly flew under the radar at that time. However, with a strong start to camp, Gaines is slowly beginning to turn heads, and while the true litmus test for him will be the preseason games, he’s someone that, at the very least, I’d keep my eyes on moving forward.