The expectations for Rudy Ford were modest when the Green Bay Packers signed him late in training camp last season. After stints with the Arizona Cardinals, Philadelphia Eagles, and Jacksonville Jaguars, Ford had established himself as a special teamer, and that’s what he was supposed to be.
“Rudy’s a very accomplished special teams player in this league,” Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said after the signing. “He’s one of the better gunners in the league. He’s got kind of a speed and physicality that we certainly covet. We were looking at that situation for a while. Little surprised that he got shaken loose, but when he did we were ready to get on that.”
But Ford’s role ended up being bigger than anyone could have imagined. And considering the Packers’ moves so far, the 28-year-old defensive back will likely be Green Bay’s starting safety in 2023.
Last season, Ford outperformed both of Green Bay’s starting safeties by a significant margin. He had a 74.6 PFF grade, ahead of Adrian Amos (53.4) and Darnell Savage (47.5). That’s why Ford was a full-time starter in the last third of the season, and they moved Savage to the slot or benched him.
With a classic strong safety profile, Ford was good at stopping the run. He was 19th among 90 qualified safeties in run-stop rate, had one forced fumble, and recovered one. He wasn’t as efficient against the pass, though. Ford allowed 12.1 yards per target and a 106.7 passer rating in 20 targets. However, he had three interceptions and three pass breakups.
Ford recorded two of those interceptions against Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys and was instrumental in Green Bay’s win. The Dallas game convinced the coaching staff that Ford deserved more playing time on defense.
“You could really feel his speed and physicality out on the field,” head coach Matt LaFleur said after the game. “There were a couple of open-field tackles that he made that I thought were pretty impressive, so I thought it was, all in all, a really good day for him.
“Obviously, to be able to trigger on those two picks, especially the one in the red zone after turning the ball over, I mean, that was one of the pivotal plays in the game that gave us an opportunity to kind of stay in the game, and we converted both those into points.”
By the end of the season, Ford had played 43% of the defensive snaps and 25% of the special teams snaps. The market wasn’t strong for him, so he re-signed with the Packers on a one-year, $1.5 million deal.
Safety was a big need for the Packers this year. And it still is because they have only added depth pieces. They signed Tarvarius Moore, who was with the San Francisco 49ers last year and is mostly a special teamer. They also added James Wiggins, a former seventh-rounder who signed a futures deal with the Packers after brief stints with the Arizona Cardinals and Kansas City Chiefs.
Green Bay has passed the opportunity to sign more accomplished safeties, even in a weak market. The relatively small yearly average of players signed in free agency included Keanu Neal ($2.1 million), Terrell Edmunds ($2 million), Taylor Rapp ($1.8 million), and Justin Evans ($1.6 million). Adrian Amos is still available, and maybe the Packers decide to re-sign him after the draft Still, they haven’t brought him back so far, and his free agency period included a visit to the Baltimore Ravens.
The Packers will probably also add a safety in the draft, but the class isn’t particularly good at the position. Among Green Bay’s official 30 pre-draft visits, there have been four reported safeties, but none of them are in the top 80 on the consensus board. They are Jartavius Martin (Illinois, 88th), Jammie Robinson (Florida State, 95th), Marte Mapu (Sacramento State, 185th), and Jordan Howden (Minnesota, 235th).
Depth isn’t exactly the problem, though. The Packers have seven safeties on their current 90-man roster — Ford, Darnell Savage, Tariq Carpenter, Innis Gaines, Dallin Leavitt, Tarvarius Moore, and James Wiggins.
It’s not an ideal situation for the Packers, who probably should have addressed the safety position last year when Savage and Amos were on contract years. However, they ultimately picked up Savage’s guaranteed fifth-year option, extending him through 2023. Because of the lack of action, Rudy Ford might be a solid option to serve as a bridge until Gutekunst can find a long-term solution.
