GREEN BAY – Both starting spots at cornerback for the Green Bay Packers have become a wide-open training camp competition.
Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine opened camp as the starting pair, but second-round draft pick Brandon Cisse and free-agent signee Benjamin St-Juste are making runs at those starting jobs more than a week into camp.
Valentine’s early-camp hamstring injury opened the door for Cisse to work with the starters, and the rookie has held up well enough to think he has a good chance to win that job.
And in the two practices since Family Night, St-Juste has taken some snaps with the starters in Nixon’s place, with Nixon getting some work with the No. 2 defense, which he hadn’t been doing earlier in camp. That’s not to say St-Juste has surpassed Nixon. But his reps with the starters the last two days isn’t the usual cornerback rotation.
The Packers signed St-Juste in the offseason to a two-year deal that’s paying him $5 million this year. The presumption was he‘d at least compete for a starting job, and 1½ weeks into camp he’s shown enough to get a legitimate shot.
“What I’m really most excited about is to see him compete in-game,” coach Matt LaFleur said of St-Juste.
Cisse probably has had the best camp of the four cornerbacks filling in for Valentine, who has been out since Aug. 3. Cisse had one of his better plays Aug. 10 when he stuck on Christian Watson’s hip on a deep out pattern and broke up Jordan Love’s throw. The longer Valentine is out, the more Cisse’s odds of starting improve.
St-Juste brings a different body type than the Packers’ other corners. He’s about as tall and long as they come for his position. At 6-foot-3¼, he ranks in the 98th percentile of cornerbacks who attended the NFL scouting combine since 1999 for height, and his arm length (32⅝ inches) ranks in the 87th percentile.
If St-Juste is a starter or a regular in the rotation, Gannon will have the option of matching him against tall receivers. Tall corners can’t change direction like smaller cover men, so he’ll have to rely on jamming receivers as well.
St-Juste’s elevation has come more recently. He has one interception in camp, and his most notable play in this practice was as a run defender, when on a third-and-4 he stayed home as an edge defender, filled hard and tagged off Savion Williams on an end-around behind the line of scrimmage.
This is likely to be a competition that runs through the end of camp and into the season.
“Nothing is going to be given,” St-Juste said. “We have some really good players in the DB room, so that’s pretty much how it is. One day you’re with the twos, another day you’re with the ones. I feel like it just makes everybody better.”
Kitan Oladapo is the new No. 2 nickel
The Packers appear to have a new No. 2 nickel back in safety Kitan Oladapo.
The third-year pro worked with the starters Aug. 10 because Javon Bullard (bruised foot) sat out practice. Johnathan Baldwin had been the No. 2 nickel, but the Packers waived him injured earlier this week.
New defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon favors playing three safeties regularly, with the third replacing a linebacker in nickel personnel. Gannon theoretically could play Nixon at nickel, at least on more obvious passing downs – Nixon played there with the Packers in 2022 and ‘23. But Nixon has not worked as the nickel back in this camp.
Oladapo has been rotating between safety and slot, though Aug. 10 he played only the nickel spot as part of the starting defense.
“It’s a fun position,” Oladapo said. “Just to make myself more versatile and help this defense any way I can.”
Oladapo brings good size to the nickel (6-2, 216) for defending the run and covering tight ends, but he’ll also have to cover small, quick slot receivers. On one third-and-4 in practice, Oladapo had tight coverage on slot receiver Skyy Moore and was there for the likely tackle that would have been short of the first down.
“Nickel has more run fits (than safety),” Oladapo said, “and you’re closer to the line, you’re re-routing receivers in certain zone drops. In man coverage you’re covering slots instead of tight ends, so you gotta get hands on or it will be a tough route.”
Injury update
PUP: Edge Micah Parsons (knee), LS Matt Orzech (calf), TE Luke Musgrave (neck), DL Jordon Riley (Achilles).
DNP: WR Matthew Golden (toe), S Javon Bullard (foot), RB Josh Jacobs (groin), WR Jayden Reed (ankle), CB Domani Jackson (core), CB Carrington Valentine (hamstring), TE Josh Whyle (neck).
Returned: LB Zaire Franklin (rest), LB Edgerrin Cooper (foot).
Tidbits
∎ Bo Melton made the catch of the day on an underthrown deep ball from Jordan Love. Nixon appeared to have a line on the high-arcing throw, but Melton came back and jumped over Nixon to make the catch. Melton later caught another deep ball, this time for a touchdown, when he was left uncovered on a trick play.
∎ Center Sean Rhyan had a solid day in one-on-one pass blocking. He beat third-round pick Chris McClellan on one rep and stoned a bull rush by Nazir Stackhouse on another. McClellan beat Darian Kinnard a few snaps later, and Stackhouse later put guard Josh Gesky on skates with a bull rush.
Anthony Belton had a tough day at right tackle in one-on-ones. On back-to-back snaps he lost to Lukas Van Ness and Brenton Cox Jr.
∎ Third-year cornerback Jaylin Simpson has put himself in the running for a roster spot. With Valentine out, Simpson has been working with the No. 2 defense and made the defensive play of the day Aug. 10.
On the last play of practice, on a first-and-goal from the 2, he had tight coverage on receiver Will Sheppard and intercepted rookie quarterback Kyron Drones’ throw on a short out route. He returned it for a 100-yard touchdown.
“Played my leverage,” Simpson said. “I was in phase. Ball came up, so I was able to look back and take it to the house. Simple.”
Simpson spent most of last season on the Packers’ practice squad.
∎ McClellan made a couple of plays in team drills. Early in practice he stuffed Jaden Nixon on an inside run. Later he sacked backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor.
∎ The Packers claimed receiver Chris Hilton Jr. off waivers from Washington. Hilton (6-0, 188) is an undrafted rookie who averaged 19.0 yards and scored six touchdowns on 41 receptions in five seasons at LSU.
Quote of the day
Simpson, on what he thought Bullard meant by telling him to get greedy shortly before his pick-six on the final play of practice: “How I take it, the ball, just go get that ball. The ball’s in the air, it’s ours, it’s mine. He was just telling me right before that. Then boom bada bing, pick-six.”
This article originally appeared on Packers News: Green Bay Packers’ starting cornerback jobs up for grabs | Camp insider
Reporting by Pete Dougherty, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Packers News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Pete Dougherty, Green Bay Press-Gazette | USA TODAY Network
