Four Critical Competitions (And Two That Aren’t) at Packers Training Camp

GREEN BAY, Wis. – “Everything’s a competition,” is one of Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur’s favorite phrases this time of year.

Sometimes, that’s nonsense. Nobody is challenging Jordan Love or Xavier McKinney. Other times, that’s true, as evidenced by training camp this year. There is a starting competition at cornerback, but it’s not the one that was expected.

Here’s a closer look at the unexpected competitions, the competitions that might be over, a surprise competition and a potential competition.

Unexpected Competition: Cornerback

One thing was for sure when the Packers signed Benjamin St-Juste and drafted Brandon Cisse.

Keisean Nixon would be one of the starters.

Last season, according to Pro Football Focus, 100 cornerbacks played at least 358 snaps (the number played by Nate Hobbs). Nixon ranked 47th with a 61.0 completion percentage and 53rd with 11.2 coverage snaps per reception allowed. He had the fifth-best missed-tackle percentage but was tied for the most penalties.

Sure, the Packers could do better; certainly, they could do worse.

Entering camp, it seemed like it would be a huge upset for Nixon to not be a Week 1 starter. He’s going to have to earn it, though, after losing first-team reps to St-Juste on Sunday and, especially, Monday.

“We have a corner competition. That’s what we have,” defensive passing-game coordinator Bobby Babich said on Friday. “So, there’s a corner competition. There’s competition in the safety room. There’s competition all over. We’re going to continue to move pieces around, all those types of things.

“We’re not worried about when your reps come, we’re worried about what you do on your reps. That’s the only thing that matters and putting together the best resume you can. Competition brings the best out in any sport and, generally, what you see is the best version of that football with the more competition you have. That’s it.”

While Nixon got all the first-team reps at Tuesday’s practice and in Thursday’s game, an egregious missed tackle was one of the lowlights of the loss at Pittsburgh.

“He’s handled it great,” Babich said of the competition. “He’s locked in. Every player is going to have plays they want back. That’s all part of the process of becoming the best version of yourself. Look, I say this all the time – I say it to players. I learned this a long time ago (and) I wish I would’ve learned it younger, to be honest with you: Failure is the best teacher for any player.

“Success is an awful teacher. If there’s certain plays that a player doesn’t like – and I’m not even necessarily talking about Keisean – sometimes those are the best teachers. And we need to be peaking as a group collectively to help the defense and in turn help the team play at the highest level we can. If we’re peaking right now with any player, there’s probably not a lot of room for growth.”

Not Competition: Cornerback

If Keisean Nixon was a lock to start, then the competition would be at the other cornerback spot with Benjamin St-Juste, who was excellent in limited playing time last year with the Chargers, Brandon Cisse, the team’s first draft pick, and Carrington Valentine, who started 30 games the past three seasons.

Instead, Valentine suffered a hamstring injury during the fourth practice of camp and Cisse has taken every first-team rep since.

“I thought he did a good job” against Pittsburgh, defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon said on Friday. “He covered well. He was physical for the most part. His alignments, his technique was right. He’s kind of a football junkie in the sense that before you send him a text about a certain play and his technique, he’s sending you the text first, and that’s good to see. He’ll definitely learn a lot from this game and continue to improve.”

St-Juste gave up only two short catches and made a touchdown-saving tackle against Pittsburgh.

“The thing about Cisse, what’s going to make him a good player, is his work ethic,” position coach Daniel Bullocks said. “The thing with him, he’s a fast learner. He never makes the same mistake twice. He’s very competitive. He has a competitive edge that you’re looking for. He’s physical. He can cover. He can run. He plays our style of play.”

Unexpected Competition: Left Guard

Green Bay Packers guard Aaron Banks, who is shown against Chicago, has not taken 11-on-11 reps since OTAs. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Veteran left guard Aaron Banks practiced throughout OTAs but has practiced only sporadically during training camp and hasn’t taken a single 11-on-11 rep.

Rookie Jager Burton has done OK in his place but should improve with time and reps.

“I think he’s going to make it extremely difficult” for Banks to reclaim the starting job, an annoyed coach Matt LaFleur said on Friday. “I think Jager has done a really good job.”

Banks was given a preposterous four-year, $77 million contract in free agency despite never being a dominant blocker and having a bit of an injury history. Whether he starts or not, the finances following a restructure practically dictate that he’ll be on the roster.

Not Competition: Right Guard

Meanwhile, what was supposed to be a coronation at right guard with second-year player Anthony Belton became an unexpected benching. Jacob Monk replaced Belton at right guard and Belton is the backup at right tackle, and there appears to be no turning back.

“You talk about a guy that plays to the play style that we want,” coach Matt LaFleur said last week of Monk. “He shows that toughness, that grittiness, the strain, and I think he’s done a pretty good job inside. He’s a valuable guy. He can play any of the inside three positions. I thought we saw a glimpse of what he’s capable of doing last year when he got some action, especially significant action in that Minnesota game at the end of the season. And I thought he performed well.”

Monk played 36 snaps against the Steelers. Nine were at right guard with the full No. 1 line and 27 were at center. He did not allow a pressure.

Unexpected Competition: Defensive Tackle

Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Jonathan Ford (64) is shown at training camp. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Entering camp, defensive tackle seemed like one of the weaker positions on the roster. The team signed 33-year-old Javon Hargrave and drafted Chris McClellan in the third round to join with injured standout Devonte Wyatt.

Everybody else was late-round picks (Warren Brinson in the sixth round, Karl Brooks in the sixth round, Jaden Crumedy in the sixth round by Carolina and Jonathan Ford in the seventh round) or undrafted (Anthony Campbell and Nazir Stackhouse).

However, this group has been solid from the top of the depth chart to the bottom. Defensive line coach Vince Oghobaase has rotated all of them through with the No. 1 defense during training camp and gotten production.

Roster cuts are due on Aug. 30. The question will be whether the Packers keep five or six, and if there’s a trade to be made because of the depth.

“Yeah, nobody can fall asleep, man,” Oghobaase said. “I think the room’s very hungry right now. A lot of competition. Nobody can take anything for granted. There’s no gimmes. You got to earn everything that you get, and I believe we’re building something special, especially being together as a unit. Being close, that’s very important to me. I don’t think any great D-line has never not been close.

“And you’ve got to build for the future, it’s a long season. So, we try to make sure we do everything as a close unit daily to build that throughout the course of the year, that way when those tough times come, guys know we’ve already been there before. It’s nothing new to us. It’s been a good camp so far, I’d say.”

Maybe a Competition: Long Snapper

With Matt Orzech on the PUP list, the Packers signed veteran snapper Cal Adomitis to fill the void.

On Thursday night, kicker Trey Smack made all four field-goal attempts, including a pair from 58 yards. With the rookie finding his groove, will the Packers turn back to Orzech, who is coming off his best season, or stick with Adomitis, for fear of upsetting the place-kicking chemistry?

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