After the Green Bay Packers' disappointing Week 9 loss to the Carolina Panthers, we are officially at the halfway point of the season.
The Packers currently sit atop the NFC North to begin November, but they don't particularly feel good about their two losses coming against Carolina and Cleveland. In a tough division, the Packers haven't been able to put enough of a distance between themselves and the rest of the group, and those losses will be held under the microscope at the end of the season.
The midway point of the campaign is as good a time to take stock as any. While the Packers' blockbuster move to bring in star pass rusher Micah Parsons has been a smashing success, not every deal has worked out for general manager Brian Gutekunst. The most notable of them was the big miss on cornerback Nate Hobbs.
Nate Hobbs Remains Packers' Biggest Disappointment
It's hard to find a player who has been more disappointing through the first eight games of the season than Hobbs. After the departures of Jaire Alexander and Eric Stokes, the Packers filled their void at cornerback by paying Hobbs $48 million for four years. At the time, this was seen as a surprising signing, not only because the former Las Vegas Raider had played most of his snaps in the slot, but also because he had missed 16 games in total over the past three seasons.
Everything that Packers fans feared about the signing turned out to be true. Hobbs suffered a knee injury over the summer and underwent surgery, spending most of his time in training camp recovering. This caused him to miss Week 1. Upon his return, he hasn't been able to provide the Packers with what they were hoping for.
Through seven games, Hobbs has allowed 14 catches on 22 targets for 202 yards, two touchdowns, and a 123.7 passer rating while only breaking up one pass. He's currently the 80th-graded CB out of 113 on Pro Football Focus with a coverage grade of 54.4, further showcasing why opposing quarterbacks actively target him.
Unlike his Raiders stint, where he spent two-thirds of his defensive snaps on the inside, Hobbs has been almost exclusively used on the outside in Green Bay. This has come at the expense of third-year player Carrington Valentine, much to the frustration of the fanbase. Despite Valentine consistently outplaying Hobbs, he hasn't gotten the same opportunities as him, presumably due to Hobbs' price tag.
One would have assumed that the Packers would give Hobbs a chance in the slot, but the organization is also high on Javon Bullard, and they like what he gives them. This leaves Hobbs without a place on the defensive unit. Instead of accepting reality and benching him, however, the Packers insist on continuing to give him a chance. At some point, defensive coordiantorJeff Hafley and head coach Matt LaFleur have to come to terms with the fact that they aren't going to get what they are looking for from Hobbs.
With that being said, it's beginning to look like the sooner the Packers kick Hobbs to the curb, the better it will be for their Super Bowl aspirations.