The Green Bay Packers got some good news on Friday when the team activated cornerback Jaire Alexander from the Covid-19 reserve list. The Pro Bowl cornerback hasn’t played in a game since injuring his shoulder making a tackle on Pittsburgh’s Najee Harris back in Week 4.
But the Packers secondary has played well in Alexander’s absence with both rookie first-round pick Eric Stokes and veteran free agent signee Rasul Douglas stepping up and playing better than expected.
With Alexander on the brink of returning to the lineup in time for the playoffs, the Packers coaching staff faces a good dilemma: how do they line up their cornerbacks?
The ideal situation allows defensive coordinator Joe Barry to put his top three cornerbacks on the field at the same time. That would be Alexander, Stokes and Douglas. But who lines up on the boundary and who lines up in the slot?
Under normal circumstances, Alexander might be the best candidate to play in the slot. He is 5’10” and coaches tend to prefer smaller corners with more quickness and who can change direction to play in the slot. Alexander does fit the mold.
But there is an issue: slot corners are more like a hybrid safety/ILB on running plays and have to make more tackles than their teammates who line up on the boundary. This is especially true on early downs or any time the offense is more likely to run. With Alexander coming off a shoulder injury that he suffered when trying to make an open field tackle, the risk of him re-injuring the shoulder is significantly higher if he plays the slot.
Stokes has no significant experience at the NFL level in the slot. Being in the slot requires a corner to make more decisions and cover more ground since the sideline doesn’t provide the defender with a boundary the receiver can’t cross like you often have on the outside.
Most rookie cornerbacks struggle but Stokes has been a very pleasant surprise. According to pro-football-reference.com, opposing quarterbacks have completed just 48.9 percent of their passes when throwing to receivers covered by Stokes and have a quarterback rating of only 71.0.
But the extra responsibilities that slot corners have is a lot to ask of a rookie without experience playing that position, especially as we head into the playoffs where one bad mistake could cost the team the game. Keeping Stokes on the boundary where he’s had so much success thus far this season seems to make the most sense.
That leaves Rasul Douglas out of the top three corners. Douglas is bigger at 6’2” and doesn’t fit the physical mold of a typical slot corner. He also lacks the speed that Alexander and Stokes possess. Douglas does have the experience and the ability to read quarterbacks well but he may struggle inside where receivers can change direction and he would have to cover more ground.
Thus far, Douglas has exceled on the boundary. Opposing quarterbacks are completing just 50.8 percent of their passes when targeting receivers covered by Douglas this season and have an anemic quarterback rating of 44.8 (again as per pro-football-reference.com).
Thus far, Chandon Sullivan has gotten the majority of the snaps in the slot. Sullivan is comfortable in the slot and has been solid in that position. He is clearly not one of the team’s top three cover corners but he has intercepted three passes and played well enough overall. The issue with keeping Sullivan in the slot corner position is that one of the team’s top three will be on the bench for those plays.
That may make some sense at first, especially if Alexander needs to be paced as he returns to the lineup for the first time since October 3. A rotation could also be worked out where Alexander plays in the slot on obvious passing downs and Sullivan goes to the dime back.
Another possibility is that Alexander, Douglas and Stokes all alternate on the boundary and Sullivan remains the primary slot corner.
Getting a shut down cover corner back in the lineup is a good thing for the Packers but it sets up important decisions that the coaching staff has to make in time for the playoffs when it’s win or go home. What decision they make can change the outcome of a playoff game. In other words, the season may hang in the balance.
You can follow Gil Martin on Twitter @GilPackers