Among the many intriguing developments with the Green Bay Packers’ 53-man roster to start the season was their decision to keep only five cornerbacks, two of whom had never taken a regular-season snap at the position.
Six weeks into the 2025 season, Green Bay’s cornerback play has validated concerns about that group. It begs the question: Is the cornerback situation tenable for Jeff Hafley’s defense?
Early on in the season, even with Nate Hobbs missing Week 1, things were fine. There was even some murmuring that Keisean Nixon was proving to be a true CB1. But Dak Prescott and Joe Flacco‘s success in the second half of two games has dimmed that enthusiasm.
Javon Bullard left Sunday’s game with what was initially thought to be a concussion. Bullard had already suffered one this year; two in five games would be pretty grim.
Matt LaFleur clarified on Monday that Bullard only suffered a stinger and did not sustain a concussion.
He’s not in protocol. It’s a major sense of relief. I went up to him right after the game and he said ‘I’m fine.’ … He was great today. He told me it was more of a stinger than anything else.
Why does this matter for the trio of Nixon, Hobbs, and Carrington Valentine?
Bullard is Green Bay’s slot corner. When he exited, Hobbs slid into that role, and Valentine came in to take Hobbs’ spot on the boundary. The Packers are smitten with their trio atop the depth chart, but that group is one or two injuries away from being in dire straits. Bo Melton and Kamal Hadden are the only depth pieces on the active roster behind the top three. Entering the year, neither had taken a snap in a regular-season game at cornerback. That’s remained the same through five games this year.
Of course, if the Packers can get by with Nixon, Hobbs, and Valentine staying healthy the rest of the way, this won’t be an issue. But that’s a big if.
And even with the trio in place, there have been struggles. On the season, Hobbs is allowing a passer rating of 117.5 when targeted. For clarity, the league average in 2024 was 92.3. Hobbs’ 117.5 sticks out like a sore thumb.
After a solid start to the season, Valentine has also regressed. With five games in the books, he’s allowing a quarterback rating of 114.3 when targeted.
Meanwhile, Nixon is on the complete opposite side of the rankings, boasting an impressive 79.4 passer rating when targeted. But the game against the Cincinnati Bengals suggested there might be some cracks in that facade. Ja’Marr Chase caught all five of his targets when matched up with Nixon on Sunday. The final result was 52 yards and a touchdown, per Next Gen Stats.
How you choose to view that is open to interpretation. Do you chalk it up to Chase being one of the best in the business? Or do you dismiss that excuse as unacceptable from a player who wants to be considered the CB1?
Perhaps there’s some middle ground.
Regardless, the trio needs to put up better numbers overall. In the last three games, when you combine Nixon, Hobbs, and Valentine’s stats, they’ve faced 39 targets and allowed 26 receptions for 297 yards and four touchdowns. The trio has allowed 15 first downs and a 123.6 passer rating. However you want to slice up that pie, it won’t taste great.
It’s even worse when you consider two of those last three games have come against Joe Flacco (sorry, Joe).
So, the concerns about Green Bay’s cornerbacks are twofold: What happens to this position group if they don’t stay healthy? And, even if they do, is it sufficient?
We have already seen the former come into focus with Bullard’s exit on Sunday, although LaFleur dismissed it as nothing serious. But if it happens again, or if Bullard and any one of Nixon, Hobbs, or Valentine goes down, then what? Do they really trust Melton or Hadden?
As for the latter, winning can mask a lot of issues … at least until those issues start turning W’s into L’s. LaFleur was asked numerous questions about the cornerbacks and secondary on Monday, including one about how he views his pass defense at this point, as well as the theme of teams getting rid of the ball quickly to stymie Green Bay’s defensive front.
I would say that’s been a theme through five games. Teams just getting the ball out quick with quick game and screens and some run alerts. … That’s just going to be the way it is for awhile.
Hafley and LaFleur can work together to devise a game plan, knowing teams are aware of the defensive line and Micah Parsons‘s presence, and thus will likely dial up more quick hitters. But they also need to look at whether they have enough talent at cornerback. Sustainability is key, and there are real questions about it in Green Bay’s cornerback room.
