Big Training Camp Battles: Cornerbacks
GREEN BAY, Wis. – What a difference a year makes for a couple third-year cornerbacks.
Heading into training camp last summer, former second-round pick Josh Jackson was coming off a promising rookie season in which he started 10 times and finished second on the team in passes defensed. Meanwhile, former undrafted free agent Chandon Sullivan was something of an afterthought after Green Bay grabbed him following his release by Philadelphia.
As it turned out, Jackson barely played last season but Sullivan emerged as a vital extra defender. With training camp about to start on Saturday, Sullivan would appear to be the front-runner for the slot position while Jackson needs a career restart.
“Jaire (Alexander) has established himself as one of the better corners in the National Football League and he’s just getting started in his career. He has so much in front of him,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said this week. “And then Kevin (King), obviously, he struggled with injuries early in his first couple years with us but I think we saw what he can do when he’s healthy for a full year. Both those guys are really emerging young players and I think they can give us a lot of stability.
MOST IMPORTANT PACKERS: CHANDON SULLIVAN
“Chandon did an excellent job for us coming in last year. This is going to be Year 2 of the defense so I can see he just has a different level of confidence maybe than he had last year ,and he performed well for us last year. So, I’m excited about that and there’s a bunch of competition behind those three guys, including Josh Jackson, who struggled through some injuries. We’re excited to see where that all shakes out but I like the youth of the room and we’re certainly as athletic as we’ve ever been on the back end right now.”
While Sullivan might get the first crack in the slot, that doesn’t mean the position manned so well last year by Tramon Williams is on lockdown. If Jackson re-emerges, he could force his way onto the field. That would be just fine by Alexander, who has lobbied for slot snaps and has the quickness and toughness to thrive inside. Re-signing Williams is always an option, as well.
“I think that if I’m able to get inside, I definitely would because I like being able to do multiple things,” Alexander said.
If Alexander, King, Sullivan and Jackson are locks, there will be a battle for the fifth and potentially sixth spot. Among the contestants are Ka’dar Hollman, Kabion Ento, Marc-Antoine Dequoy and Stanford Samuels.
Hollman was a sixth-round pick last year who barely played as a rookie, with more games on the inactive list (12) than snaps on defense (four). At 6-foot and with 4.36 speed in the 40, he has quite the intriguing physical skill-set. He also has a drive, having literally written his way onto Toledo’s roster.
Ento essentially redshirted last year as an undrafted rookie after catching 20 passes in two seasons as a receiver at Colorado. Receiver prospects with Ento’s size are a dime a dozen. Cornerback prospects with his size are highly coveted. So, after his senior season, he started his transition to defense. At Colorado’s pro day, Ento measured 6-foot-1 3/8, ran his 40 in 4.54 seconds and posted a 41.5-inch vertical. He might have made more plays on the ball than any corner on the roster last summer.
“It’s tough,” he said of the transition last year. “You’re used to running forward. I stopped playing corner after high school. It’s definitely not easy coming in here and playing some of the best receivers in the world. It’s something I feel like I can do. I feel like I’m athletic enough to do it and the coaches see it in me. I just have to go out and prove that I can do it.”
Dequoy, a second-round pick in this year’s CFL Draft by Montreal, has quite a story. After graduating from high school in 2011, he sat out four of the next five seasons due to injury or other circumstances. That includes 2012, when he lost the desire to play. At the University of Montreal, he played mostly safety and had six career pick-sixes. He is the oldest cornerback on the roster by three days. At age 25, he was born on Sept. 15, 1994; Hollman was born on Sept. 18, 1994, and DaShaun Amos was born on Sept. 20, 1994.
Samuels III went undrafted out of Florida State, just like his father, Stanford Samuels Jr., who played in the CFL in the 2000s. In his three seasons at Florida State, he had eight interceptions. He’s got great size (6-foot-1) but ran a horrendous 4.65 in the 40 at the Combine.
Final roster prediction (6)
In: Jaire Alexander, Kevin King, Chandon Sullivan, Josh Jackson, Ka’dar Hollman, Kabion Ento.
Out: Stanford Samuels, Marc-Antoine Dequoy, DaShaun Amos, Will Sunderland.
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