Green Bay Packers

The Packers Should Move Rasul Douglas To Safety

Photo Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

The Green Bay Packers have made heavy investments in the secondary, but not everything is perfect in the back end of the defense. Adrian Amos‘ performance fell apart last year, and he is a free agent. Rudy Ford was surprisingly good, but he’s also a free agent – and not much more than a depth piece even if he comes back. And former first-round pick Darnell Savage looks more suited to play as a slot corner, which is where the Packers have played him since 2022. Therefore, safety is a clear need and should go through a transformation this year.

The draft class doesn’t seem great, though. And the Packers don’t have much financial flexibility to get an expensive free agent, like Jessie Bates. So a smart alternative may be to move veteran cornerback Rasul Douglas to safety.

“(Douglas) has such good eyes and instincts when he’s back there and seeing the whole field,” Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said during the combine. “Anytime you move a guy inside, whether it’s the nickel or the safety, and you have both sides you really have to worry about, there’s a curve there that’s going to take some time to really understand. But his skill set as far as his eyes, his ability to go get the ball, his angles, his instincts and he’s a pretty good tackler, too, he could make that transition if that’s what we decided to do.”

Moving Rasul to safety would smooth the secondary building. Last season, things weren’t great when Douglas was forced to play as a slot, because Jaire Alexander and Eric Stokes played outside. When Stokes got hurt, Douglas moved back outside, and Savage and Keisean Nixon were the slot alternatives.

“It’s really a nickel league now. So what’s the best five we have, and how that fits, I think we’ll get to [that] by the time the games roll around. But I don’t know how that’s going to fit right now,” complemented Gutekunst.

Rasul Douglas has less than 50 snaps as a free safety, but he did have that experience while playing for the Philadelphia Eagles. However, most of it came in one specific game against the New York Giants, when Rodney McLeod and Corey Graham were injured.

“I’ve been taking mental reps since last year (2017),” Douglas said at the time. “Been watching (Malcolm) Jenkins and Rodney and always like to see what they do, just so when I’m at corner I know how they’re going to help me and things like that. But maybe a week ago I started playing around on the scout team and took some reps.”

Douglas’ approach to the mental part of the game has been highlighted several times in Green Bay, to a point where Aaron Rodgers compared him to Charles Woodson — who also made the transition from cornerback to safety at the end of his career.

“Rasul is one of the smartest guys I’ve ever played with,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers highlighted during training camp last year. “He reminds me a lot, in the deepest respect, of Charles Woodson. He has incredible ball skills. He baits you at practice. He has the competitive fire that Charles did. That may have looked like me talking to him, but it was as much him talking to me.”

Rasul Douglas has been a ballhawker since joining the Packers in 2021. He has nine interceptions, including two pick-sixes, and has shown an impressive ability to identify offensive plays. He’s not great at man coverage, so moving him to the back of the defense would allow coordinator Joe Barry to play more man with Jaire, Stokes, and Savage as corners.

One potential challenge is that the Packers have separate coaches for each position now. Last season, Jerry Gray was the defensive backs coach, while Ryan Downard also coaches safeties. After Gray departed for the Atlanta Falcons, the Packers hired Greg Williams to coach the cornerbacks, and Downard will work with safeties. However, the transition shouldn’t be that hard, especially because Williams will also be the passing game coordinator, so he has to have a global view of the defense.

The Packers still could add a veteran free agent — Jessie Bates, Juan Thornhill, Jordan Poyer, and Jimmie Ward are more expensive options. But there are cheaper alternatives too, like Jabrill Peppers, Terrell Edmunds, or Nassir Adderley. Bringing back Adrian Amos and/or Rudy Ford is also on the table. But moving Rasul Douglas to safety would give the Packers flexibility to chase more cornerbacks and fewer safeties in the draft, which is the smart approach considering positional value, and would give Douglas a chance to explore the things he does best on the field.

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