This position is tougher to nail down than many others, but we want to find the Packers’ best slot corner.
APC made its decisions this week on the best boundary cornerbacks of the 2000s era for the Green Bay Packers, and that CB2 position is one of the tightest votes in our entire All-Quarter Century Team series so far. Today we move our focus inside a bit more, looking at the team’s top slot cornerbacks from the past 25 years.
This is a bit of a difficult position to define, however. Only a handful of players have served even primarily as slot corners, let alone exclusively. While Charles Woodson was truly elite from the slot, those duties also largely coincided with his work on the boundary. And with him also earning outside CB1 honors, we’re keeping him there and looking to a handful of players who were truly slot players for much or most of their Packers careers.
Slot Cornerback Nominees
Casey Hayward (2012-15)
3rd place in 2012 Defensive Rookie of the Year Voting
Regular season stats: 51 games, 20 starts; 168 total tackles (134 solo, 34 assisted), 6 TFLs; 9 interceptions (one returned for a TD), 34 pass defenses, 1 forced fumble, 2 fumble recoveries (one returned for a TD)
Postseason stats: 6 games, 2 starts; 20 total tackles (17 solo, 3 assisted), 1 TFL; 3 pass defenses
In 2012, the Packers loaded up on defense throughout the NFL Draft coming off a 2011 season that saw the team go 15-1 despite allowing the most yards of any NFL team. They went defense with each of their first six picks in that draft, selecting outside linebacker Nick Perry in round one (#28) and trading up in round two for Michigan State defensive tackle Jerel Worthy at pick number 51. Green Bay then traded back into the second round to select Hayward at 62, and the Vanderbilt product quickly became the team’s primary slot corner as a rookie.
Hayward was a bit on the smaller and slower side, but his elite agility times made him a perfect fit as a slot defender while Sam Shields and Tramon Williams manned the boundary positions. He recorded an astounding 20 pass breakups as a rookie and picked off six passes that year alone, landing him behind only Luke Kuechly and Bobby Wagner in the race for rookie of the year.
Much of Hayward’s second season was lost to a nagging hamstring injury, but he bounced back in 2014. Despite playing only about 40 percent of the team’s defensive snaps, he posted another three picks and a pair of fumble recoveries, taking one of each back for scores as the team marched towards the NFC Championship Game. Hayward got a little bit of run as a boundary corner in 2015, but that was limited as the Packers’ coaching staff seemed convinced that he was solely a slot corner.
Thus, the team did not make a major effort to re-sign him in free agency when his rookie contract came up during the 2016 offseason, and Hayward left for the Chargers, who offered him a chance to be a boundary corner for the first time. He far exceeded expectations and made both the Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro in his first two seasons with the Bolts. He posted at least 20 pass breakups and four interceptions in each of those two seasons, proving that he could hold up just fine on the outside.
Still, he had a tremendous run as a slot defender for his four years in Green Bay.
Micah Hyde (2013-16)
Regular season stats: 63 games played, 33 starts; 227 total tackles (184 solo, 43 assisted), 8 TFLs, 4.0 sacks; 8 interceptions, 24 pass defenses, 2 forced fumbles, 5 fumble recoveries
Postseason stats: 8 games, 4 starts; 30 total tackles (21 solo, 9 assisted), 2 TFLs, 1.0 sack; 1 interception, 5 pass defenses, 1 forced fumble
What exactly was Hyde in Green Bay? Dom Capers and the defensive coaches could never seem to figure out how best to use him, but he was most commonly played in the slot. Even at Iowa he played both safety and cornerback, but he proved to be a versatile player in the Packers’ secondary, pitching in wherever the team needed him.
As a rookie, he played significant duty in the slot when Hayward was out with an injury. He carried that over as a primary slot corner and hybrid safety in 2014. 2015 saw him primarily line up as a strong safety, but he was back in the slot heavily after Hayward’s free agency departure for 2016.
Hyde’s safety instincts came through in the slot though, as he was more helpful in run defense than Hayward was. Though not as prolific a ballhawk as Hayward, he did a bit better job hanging with bigger receivers and tight ends. Additionally, he was a constant presence on the Packers’ special teams units, serving as a primary punt return man and taking three punts back for scores in his first two seasons.
Like Hayward, the Packers chose not to re-sign Hyde in free agency in 2017, and he signed elsewhere with the ability to focus on a single position. The Bills asked him to be a full-time safety from day one in 2017, and again like Hayward, he delivered a Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro season in his first year with his new team.
Keisean Nixon (2022-24)
2x All-Pro (as a kickoff returner)
Regular season stats: 51 games played, 32 starts; 191 total tackles (138 solo, 53 assisted), 12 TFLs, 3.5 sacks; 3 interceptions, 15 pass defenses, 4 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries
Postseason stats: 3 games played, 1 start; 18 total tackles (11 solo, 7 assisted), 1 TFL, 1.0 sack; 2 pass defenses
The most recent star slot corner is Nixon, who played well on the inside in his first two seasons before becoming more off a boundary corner in 2024. Signed in free agency in 2022, Nixon was intended to be a special teams ace, but impressed enough to earn sporadic playing time in the slot, while taking over as the Packers’ kickoff returner at midseason. He then became a full-time starter on the inside throughout the 2023 season, which saw him on the field for around 60 to 90 percent of defensive snaps week in and week out. Nixon delivered the #1 play on APC’s Top Plays Countdown for 2023 with an alert interception of Patrick Mahomes, underscoring his playmaking and coverage ability from the inside.
Nixon far exceeded expectations in those two years, earning himself a 3-year, $18 million deal prior to the 2024 season. Last fall, with Jaire Alexander unavailable for much of the season, Nixon found himself moving to the boundary for much of the season, where he again responded impressively well. Nixon is now slated to be one of the team’s outside starters in 2025, likely working in tandem with Nate Hobbs and Carrington Valentine to comprise the top line of the cornerback room.