During the decade of devastating playoff losses that began in 2011, it’s largely been bad defenses that prevented the Aaron Rodgers-led Green Bay Packers from winning more titles. In 2020, the San Francisco 49ers relentlessly exposed gaping holes in a defense that allowed a 220-yard NFC Championship showing for Raheem Mostert. The 2017 conference championship game in Atlanta was a different shade of helplessness for Green Bay’s defense. A severe lack of depth led Ladarius Gunter, who ran a 4.7 40-yard-dash, to be the top corner facing Matt Ryan and Julio Jones. Needless to say, the Atlanta Falcons dropped 44 and the game was never close. Conversely, in 2023, a focus on defense at the top of drafts has given the Packers the complete opposite conundrum in the secondary.
Despite drafting Eric Stokes in the first round of 2021, it became impossible for Green Bay to let their breakout midseason addition, Rasul Douglas, walk. Between the three-year deal Douglas signed last spring, the $84 million mega-deal Jaire Alexander inked two months later, and Stokes, the Packers went into 2022 with an embarrassment of riches at cornerback.
That’s what made the beginning of the season so preposterous. Obviously, Justin Jefferson’s 11-catch, 184-yard, two-touchdown torching of the secondary in Week 1 headlined it. Visions of him repeatedly flying across the middle, with nobody else in sight, served as both a harbinger of Green Bay’s rough season and an indication that something was clearly off.
Because Alexander missed most of 2021 with an injured shoulder, Douglas and Stokes manned the outside. With all three of them in the fold and Stokes ill-suited for the slot, Douglas had to take on that role. However, he wasn’t able to match his 2021 production because he wasn’t in the role he’d played his entire career – the role that earned him a three-year extension.
His season, and that of the Packers defense at large, started to slowly catch up to expectations when Stokes went down with a season-ending ankle injury. Douglas moved to the outside and played much more like his 2021 self. Alexander had a great season as expected. Suddenly, the secondary was doing more than enough to bail out the pass rush, which lost Rashan Gary to a torn ACL.
That sequence of events has created a bit of a quagmire heading into 2023. In a recent interview, Matt LaFleur shed some light on the team’s plans. The good news? They appear to have chosen a clear direction well ahead of the draft. Douglas will play on the outside opposite Alexander and, interestingly, LaFleur noted that breakout return man Keisean Nixon “will have every opportunity” to earn a role in the slot. The bad news? It paints a dire picture for Eric Stokes’ injury status and his short- to medium-term fit, depending on Douglas sustaining his performance.
LaFleur indicated that Stokes may not be ready for Week 1 after the Packers placed him on season-ending injured reserve in November. A long, speedy talent out of Georgia, Stokes flashed some of his tremendous upside throughout his rookie season in 2021 It was a welcome sign for a Packers fan base that has seen some rough corner play over the past few years but could now envision having one of the best duos in the league. Provided he’s able to return to 4.24 form sometime this fall, it could end up being difficult to shake things up and bump Douglas back inside. And we haven’t even discussed current starting safety Darnell Savage, who had a brutal 2022 and whose future replacement is widely expected to be brought on board at next month’s draft.
Obviously, the Packers have larger-scale questions that will absorb nearly all of the attention, for good reason. If the transition to Jordan Love is as tumultuous as odds markets indicate, it may become a no-brainer to prioritize young talent regardless of how it affects results. But for now, I’m just going to assume that a first-rounder who’s been preparing for three years can at least keep the Packers in the NFC North conversation. It’s truly hard to say this about any other position besides running back, but it’s going to be an interesting challenge to maximize all of the talent in the cornerback room when Stokes makes his return.
