A wide variety of outcomes this summer for Packers S Tarvarius Moore

There are a wide variety of outcomes that could take place this summer for Green Bay Packers safety Tarvarius Moore. He could end up seeing playing time on defense. Or perhaps be a core special teams player, where he has a lot of previous experience. Or, it’s possible that he doesn’t make the final 53-man roster.

In an effort to add competition to the safety room, Moore was signed as a free agent early on in the offseason by the Packers after spending his first four seasons with San Francisco. Moore is an impressive athlete, posting a Relative Athletic Score of 9.22 coming out of Southern Mississippi in 2018, which included running a blazing 4.32 second 40 time.

Moore’s 541 defensive snaps during the 2020 season were the most of his career. That season, he showcased his ability to be a willing tackler and capable run defender by making 45 of his 52 tackle attempts, recording 15 stops, and ranking 29th out of 97 safeties in PFF’s run defense grade. In coverage, Moore allowed 12 receptions on 16 targets at 15.5 yards per catch with one pass breakup. Most of his snaps have come as a traditional safety, but he does have box and slot experience as well.

In 2021, however, Moore missed the entire season with an achilles injury and then played just 60 defensive snaps in 2022 with the 49ers, with his primary role being on special teams. There, his 270 snaps across four phases were the sixth most on the Niners, and Moore also ranked seventh on the team in solo tackles.

"“Veteran mind, good presence in the room,” said Packers’ defensive backs coach Ryan Downard of Moore. “Again, willing and eager. I’ve always said our organization brings in good people. I haven’t dealt with a guy that’s a bad guy. He has some coverage skills, and he does have some power on contact, too, which I saw when I viewed him as a free agent. Athletically when he came out, he was top-notch, he had some top-end speed.”"

The starting safety position next to Darnell Savage will be up for grabs this summer. Along with Moore, competing for that playing time will be Rudy Ford, Jonathan Owens, and Anthony Johnson.

So far, through the first two weeks of OTAs, not surprisingly, it has been Ford starting next to Savage. Ford has experience in the Joe Barry defense and provided some much-needed stability at the position last season, both as a run defender and also by being positioned correctly, which led to creating turnovers and a decrease in big plays given up.

If I were to guess right now, Ford will be one of the starting safeties come Week 1. Although, with that said, I don’t think the Packers will hesitate to make a change right away either, regardless of who the starting safeties are initially, if they feel that is what’s best.

In the two most recent practices, Moore was rotated in with the starters, replacing Ford, while Owens and Johnson were the two safeties with the second-team defense. Moore also came away with an interception, picking off Jordan Love during Tuesday’s two-minute drill to secure the victory for the defense.

At this time, I wouldn’t read too much into that in regards to what the depth chart might look like as the Packers continue to rotate these three players to make sure that all see their share of playing time with the first or second defense for evaluation purposes. Owens also hasn’t had as much time in the Joe Barry defense as Moore has this offseason. But with that said, if I were asked to put together what I feel the safety depth chart looked like currently, I would have Moore ahead of Owens and Johnson.

It’s not only playing time that’s available at the safety position but roster spots as well. With Savage, Ford, Owens, Moore, Johnson, and don’t forget about Dallin Leavitt, that’s six safeties vying for a roster spot when typically we don’t see the Packers roster more than five. Some years they’ve even kept just four, but I don’t expect that to be the case in 2023.

Savage, Ford, and Johnson are the three players I would consider roster locks, with Owens, Moore, and Leavitt battling for the final two roster spots. From a contract standpoint, moving on from any one of these three players will be relatively simple for the Packers, with each receiving little guaranteed money. The wildcard in all of this is how the team views Leavitt, who is likely only going to be playing special teams. He was a core member of that unit in 2022, has spent his career playing under Rich Bisaccia, and was complemented by Aaron Rodgers last season for the leadership role he took on in the locker room.

For Moore or Owens, being able to contribute on special teams feels like a near must for each, but one way that they can differentiate themselves from Leavitt is with how they also perform on the defensive side of the ball. How Matt LaFleur and Joe Barry will strike a balance between special teams impact and potential impact on defense – even if not starting – when making these final roster decisions remains unknown. But one would think that if Owens and Moore can be capable special teams players while also bringing defensive upside, that would put them ahead of Leavitt–although that is just speculation on my part.

Often times when we think about the safety position, coverage skills come to mind first, but being a capable run defender is a requirement for playing the position in Barry’s defense. With frequent light-boxes being utilized, the safeties have to be willing and able to take on blockers, come downhill to fill gaps and bring down ball carriers in the open field. With the offseason additions of Ford, Owens, Moore, and Johnson, you can tell this was an area of emphasis for Green Bay.

This will be the positional battle that garners most of the attention this summer. Ultimately, it will come down to how each player performs during training camp and the preseason, but on paper, Moore brings a lot of desirable qualities to the safety position, including his speed, both defensive and special teams experience, along with some physicality and willingness to make tackles.

"“He’s another guy that’s coming in and learning the system,” said Matt LaFleur after Tuesday’s practice. “He’s shown a lot of flashes of making some really good plays. I know that he had that interception at the end of practice today. Certainly, he’s been able to punch out a few balls through out the course of OTAs, and that’s something we are putting a premium on. Just having that mentality, that ball-hawking mentality, whether you’re punching out, whether you’re picking off passes, I think he’s done a nice job up to this point.”"