Tyler Ervin didn’t play with the Green Bay Packers for very long, but he quickly made a name for himself. The speedy running back brought life to special teams as a returner and added some value as a gadget player on offense.
The Packers thought they found their new Tyler Ervin when they traded up for Amari Rodgers in the 2021 draft. We saw how that turned out. But once Rodgers was released, it didn’t take long to find a new returner. Just like the girl in the cliché romcoms putting their hair down and taking their glasses off, the Packers’ coaching finally realized they had the returner of their dreams on the roster all along.
Cornerback Keisean Nixon, who had taken over kick returns already, became the best punt returner of the Aaron Rodgers era despite having no experience with it.
Originally signed to the roster to be a core special teamer thanks to working with STC Rich Bisaccia, Nixon has become a prime returner, a core teamer, and a reliable slot defender. Nixon makes a name for himself more and more on a weekly basis, and Aaron Rodgers has brought him up unprompted several times, including after Monday night’s victory. How did Nixon take this next step? Is his success simply a result of a change of scenery? Can he really do it all and be a major player in future seasons?
Under Bisaccia’s rule in Oakland and also Vegas, Nixon was mainly a special teams player. While he did that job very well, serving as one of the group’s better tacklers and gunners, his role didn’t go much further than that. Nixon played just 273 snaps on defense in three seasons with the Las Vegas Raiders, and he returned just six kicks in his first two seasons.
When Bisaccia took the potentially cursed special teams coordinator job in Green Bay and vouched for Nixon, the expectations were that Nixon would bring more of the same. But the change of scenery has sparked something in the young corner.
Despite playing with a head coach familiar with Nixon, Amari Rodgers was the primary returner. Nixon showed great flashes in that time as a gunner, but it wasn’t until Week 6 and approximately 30 muffed Rodgers punts until he got a look as a kick returner. Nixon did well, and when the Packers finally moved on from Rodgers, he took over punt returns as well — and he’s been spectacular.
In his short stint as a punt returner, Nixon’s six returns have gone for 92 yards and a 15.3-yard average. That’s more than double Amari Rodgers’ seven-yard average. And those are just the returns that have counted! Whether on kicks or punts, Nixon looks like a threat to take the ball to the house on every play, but a few lousy holding calls have brought some gems backward.
Nixon returning punts has created this really cool thing for the Packer offense called “good field position.” He’d never returned punts in the NFL, and his running style is so chaotic, but he’s really turned the opportunity into something special.
If that’s not enough for you, Nixon has also played more defensive snaps for Green Bay than he’d played in three seasons with the Raiders. Green Bay’s secondary hasn’t exactly lived up to their high expectations, but injuries and benchings have given Nixon a chance, and he’s been one of the few reliable tacklers on the defense.
Nixon’s mother attended her first Packers game Monday night, and it was arguably her son’s best game. Now Nixon wants to build on that game and do even more—Matt LaFleur said Tuesday that Nixon has been campaigning to play on offense as a slot receiver. Could Nixon take the Ervin comparison even further by playing a few gadget plays on offense? Based on what we’ve seen, there’s a case that he can do just about anything.
Could Nixon’s career take a Cordarrelle Patterson-like turn—a former return-only guy who established himself on offense given the right chance?
It’s not like Nixon was a total unknown to this staff, thanks to his Bisaccia connection. And it’s damning that the coaching staff had Nixon as an option all this time and still kept giving Amari Rodgers chances. LaFleur even admitted they should have considered a switch earlier. But maybe a simple change of venue and a chance for more opportunities unlocked the best in Nixon.
Nixon is one of the few bright spots throughout this wacky season, and the hope is that he’ll continue to ascend. This team has seen one-year wonders before, but Nixon’s versatility and experience with Bisaccia are worth gambling on after this season. Even if just as a returner, Nixon should be a priority re-sign for Green Bay this offseason. But his reliability on defense and the tease of what he could do on offense make the versatile cornerback’s return even more enticing.
