One of the biggest questions for the Green Bay Packers entering the 2025 season was their cornerback rotation. With the departures of Jaire Alexander and Eric Stokes, the Packers lost significant depth in the position. Things got worse when their top offseason addition, Nate Hobbs, stumbled out of the gate. Heading into the final four weeks of the season, however, the Packers' cornerback situation looks better than ever, even with Hobbs still not being a factor.
Hobbs returned from a four-week absence due to his knee injury. On Sunday, he played ten defensive snaps, lining up both in the slot and on the outside. In limited snaps, he helped the Packers' defense, which has been trending up in recent weeks. The stars of the show, however, were the other members of Green Bay's secondary, most notably Keisean Nixon.
Packers' CB Depth Looking Impressive Ahead of Final Stretch
Not only did Nixon deliver the game-sealing interception, but he was the highest-graded Packers defender against the Bears, per Pro Football Focus. Only allowing an impressive 47.9 passer rating in coverage, Nixon played almost every down. Javon Bullard and Carrington Valentine were also excellent, highlighting how impressive the Packers' backfield defense has been in recent weeks.
The front office certainly deserves some praise for Nixon and Valentine. Continuing to sign Nixon to bargain deals over the years and finding Valentine in the sixth round to make up a very strong starting cornerback duo is seriously impressive work. It also takes the sting out of their big Hobbs miss.
Hobbs is only in the first year of the four-year, $48 million deal he signed in Green Bay. Considering that he will continue to be a backup CB for the foreseeable future, that is obviously not a team-friendly deal. At the same time, it is not a contract that is hamstringing the franchise thanks to the bargain deals they have signed and draft picks they have nailed over the years.
If the Packers have to rely on Hobbs during their Super Bowl run, he has shown that he could come in and give them solid snaps in a depth role. Otherwise, keeping him in a backup role is not hurting the Packers' title chances.
The Packers have been a top-five defense this season and owe a great deal of their success to their pass defense. Micah Parsons and the pass rush obviously deserve a ton of credit, but without nailing their decisions on the secondary outside of Hobbs, this wouldn't have been possible.