Packers Undrafted Free Agents: Texada, Sterling Could Add Depth in Secondary

Baylor's Raleigh Texada and Oklahoma State's Tre Sterling joined positions that lack established depth.

Author:
Bill Huber
Updated:
May 8, 2022 6:20 PM EDT
Original:
May 8, 2022

In this story:

GREEN BAY, Wis. – At Friday’s Green Bay Packers rookie minicamp practice, undrafted cornerback Raleigh Texada made a diving interception of a deflected pass.

The play came from equal parts athleticism, instinct and family history.

His father, Ranthony Texada, started training young Raleigh from an early age. Older brother Ranthony Texada II was an all-Big 12 cornerback at TCU. Younger brother Ridge Texada will be a junior cornerback at North Texas in the fall.

Primarily a perimeter cornerback for the Bears, Raleigh Texada finished his career with three interceptions, 15 passes defensed and 6.5 tackles for losses. He started 37 games in his career, including eight of his 14 appearances as a fifth-year senior in 2021, when he had one interception and four passes defensed.

“They’re all natural corners, so when they walk into a program they know how to play,” his father told The Waco Tribune. “My oldest son was the more natural corner of the three, but Raleigh was always the hardest worker of all of them. He built himself into a cornerback through hard work.”

According to PFF, he allowed a 63.4 percent completion rate and three touchdowns (114.1 passer rating) in 2021. He was guilty of five penalties but didn’t miss any tackles. Baylor coach Dave Aranda called Texada “a scrappy dude, a guy who will punch you in the face.”

At Baylor’s pro day, Texada measured 5-foot-10 1/4, ran his 40 in 4.43 seconds and jumped vertically 37 inches. The Packers didn’t draft a cornerback and Texada was the only corner that signed afterward. With no proven depth behind the starting trio of Jaire Alexander, Rasul Douglas and Eric Stokes, the door is open for Texada to make the team.

Tre Sterling catches a pass at Oklahoma State's pro day. (Sarah Phipps/USA Today Sports)

The door is open for undrafted safety Tre Sterling for similar reasons. While the Packers drafted Georgia Tech’s Tariq Carpenter in the seventh round, Sterling was the only pure safety added this offseason. Like at cornerback, there is no proven depth behind the starting tandem of Darnell Savage and Adrian Amos.

Sterling, a 22-game starter at Oklahoma State, is a product of both of his parents. His father played football at North Texas. His mother is an interior designer. Along with being a playmaker in the Cowboys’ secondary, Sterling was a marketing major with an eye for graphic design. In high school, he put together his own highlights package to help him get recruited. He’s done projects that have involved fellow defensive backs at Oklahoma State, OSU wrestling standout Boo Lewallen as well as for his high school.

“I obviously don’t charge anything for it just because it’s a hobby of mine, and it’s practice,” Sterling told The Oklahoman. “When they ask me for one, it just gives me another opportunity just to perfect my craft, which is Photoshop and digital media and stuff, so I’m always excited when they come up to me and ask me to do stuff like that.”

Sterling was a big-time playmaker at Oklahoma State, with the Cowboys’ coaches putting him in attack mode. An injured right wrist that required surgery limited him to five games in 2021 but, in 2020, he was a weapon with 12 tackles for losses among his 74 tackles along with two interceptions. As a junior in 2019, he had eight passes defensed and eight tackles for losses.

According to Pro Football Focus, he allowed a 75.9 percent completion rate with two touchdowns vs. three interceptions (88.9 rating) for his career. His missed-tackle rate was a too-high 14.3 percent. He played a lot of snaps in the box, in the slot and as a traditional safety.

At OSU’s pro day, he measured 5-foot-11 5/8 and 205 pounds. His 4.71-second time in the 40 and truncated final season doomed his draft chances.

“At the end of the day, if you want someone that is going to make plays and get wins and who cares about getting wins for the team, and at the end of the day cares about each other, that is the type of guy that I am," Sterling told Ocolly.com.