Douglas Proclaims Himself ‘Starting Safety’

With a glut of quality cornerbacks but a lack of proven safeties, could Rasul Douglas be a man on the move? He discussed the possibility after Wednesday’s practice.

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
Aug 16, 2023 7:16 PM EDT

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Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Rasul Douglas proclaimed himself “the starting safety for the Green Bay Packers” on Wednesday.

Douglas, always quick to give grief to the No. 1 offense, the officials, reporters and perhaps his own shadow, was in his typical good mood after the Packers got done with Day 1 of joint practices against the New England Patriots.

Before practice, given the glut of starting-caliber cornerbacks following the unexpected rise of Carrington Valentine, coach Matt LaFleur wouldn’t rule out moving Douglas to safety.

“Potentially. It’s trying to find those best five, I guess,” LaFleur said before picking on himself about using his standard response to the offensive line. “We’re going to look at everything. We’ll look at everything and try to put our best people who can make plays, and if ‘Sul’s one of those guys … we had ‘Sul obviously in there at the nickel position last year quite a bit. So, he has a really high football IQ and he understands the jobs of really everybody in the back end. We’ll see where it goes.”

It didn’t go anywhere on Wednesday. Douglas, as always, lined up at right cornerback, where he broke up three passes – two of which were near-interceptions. Asked why he wasn’t at safety if he were, indeed, a starting safety, he replied, “You didn’t watch practice” and accused reporters of enjoying the sunny weather too much.

There was a change at safety, though. Rather than going with Darnell Savage and Jonathan Owens, the pairing for most of the past two weeks, former 49ers player Tarvarius Moore joined Savage against the Patriots. Owens and rookie Anthony Johnson ran with second unit.

Rasul Douglas (Tork Mason/USA Today Sports Images)

Poached off Arizona’s practice squad following Jaire Alexander’s shoulder injury in 2021, Douglas ranks third in the NFL with nine interceptions the past two seasons. His vision, hands and sky-high football IQ have made him a premier playmaker.

However, his size, strength and aforementioned ball skills seemingly would fit well at safety, especially given the numbers at cornerback once Eric Stokes returns from last year’s foot injury. Alexander is a two-time All-Pro. Douglas is a playmaker. Stokes had an All-Rookie-caliber season as a first-round pick in 2021. Valentine has been a sensation.

Only two cornerbacks can play at a time – unless Alexander moves into the slot – so two quality players would be stuck on the bench. Meanwhile, the Packers are filled with question marks at safety.

“I think it’s I’m just a ballhawk, so people want to see me roam and be like Ed Reed. They want to see that,” Douglas said. “You see somebody with a lot of picks, you’re like, ‘All right, if he was at safety, we know he could be more.’ It’s one of those. Now they want to see it.”