New Position Coach Believes Savage Can Be ‘Elite’
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Green Bay Packers safety Darnell Savage is entering the biggest season of his career. A first-round pick in 2019, Savage is entering his final year under contract. Maybe they’ll trigger the fifth-year option on his rookie deal by the May 2 deadline. But, at this point, Savage appears set to enter a 17-game dash for cash.
In his first three seasons, Savage has been good. Sometimes, he’s been spectacular.
What’s the next step?
“Here’s how I view it,” said new safeties coach Ryan Downard, who is entering his fifth year on staff so has seen Savage’s career trajectory. “Darnell is a special talent. I think Darnell Savage has the ability to be an elite player in this league.”
Elite was the hope. Savage was drafted because of his athleticism and versatility. With 4.36 speed in the 40 and a 39.5-inch vertical jump, Savage’s athletic ability is practically unmatched at the position. At Maryland, he played in the slot as well as at safety. What Downard wanted to talk about, though, was Savage’s intellect.
“He’s incredibly intelligent. He is probably among the best that I’ve been around with the ability to retain information, so he carries that,” Downard said. “The second thing, he cares so much that he takes great pride in not making mistakes twice. I think with that approach, he’s going to continue to build and build and build. I know he’s focused on that, talking to him in the offseason, and so I look for to him continuing to get better and better and better and developing into that elite player.”
Safety is a difficult position at which to be considered elite. If a safety plays deep a lot and serves as the last line of defense, he’s often invisible – literally, if you’re watching from home. If he does his job and takes away the deep pass, he might go unnoticed because the ball doesn’t come his way.
The Packers put Adrian Amos in a playmaking role last season. Despite offseason talk about giving Savage a shot in the slot – the “star” position in defensive coordinator Joe Barry’s lingo – Savage generally played deep. The decision was likely two-fold. First, moving Savage into the slot would have required finding someone to replace him at safety, an option the team obviously lacked. Second, Barry used Savage’s speed as a giant eraser in a quest to limit big plays.
From a team perspective, it worked. But Savage went from four interceptions, 12 passes defensed and 75 tackles in 15 games in 2020 to two interceptions, nine passes defensed and 63 tackles in 17 games in 2021.
The perception of Savage might be different had he cashed in more of his opportunities. He dropped three interceptions last season, one off the dubious league lead, according to Sports Info Solutions. Hang onto two of his seven career drops, he’d have a draft-class-high 10 interceptions.
“I think that absolutely can be coached,” Downard said. “I think one of Darnell’s greatest abilities is his range in the post. We all know in here that he can really track down any ball you put in the air, and I think opposing quarterbacks know that.
“I won’t get too technical with you on all the things involved in reading a quarterback and all the tips and tells and indicators: a quarterback’s shoulders, hips, his weight, all those things. But Darnell’s done a great job of reading the quarterback and he continues to work on finishing on the ball. I’m not concerned with that. I’m excited about his ability to get to the football because the ball skills aren’t lying. Those are opportunities for us that we’ll take advantage of.”
