The 90 to 1 Green Bay Packers roster countdown: No. 16

The Green Bay Packers, and their 90 players on the roster, are in the midst of their first training camp under coach Matt LaFleur. In an annual tradition from my 11 years at Packer Report, I rank the players in order of importance from No. 90 to No. 1. This isn’t just a listing of the team’s best players. Our rankings take into account talent, importance of the position, depth at the position, salary and draft history. More than the ranking, we hope you learn something about each player. (Note: The start of this series can be found with my former employer.)

No. 16: CB Tramon Williams ($6,375,000 cap)

Tramon Williams opened last season at cornerback and ended it at safety.

As he embarks on his 13th NFL season, he’s locked in as the Packers’ nickel defender.

“I like it,” Williams said after the third day of training camp. “The coaches came to me, they told me that they wanted me to run in the nickel spot, and I’ve done that in a couple different places. The great thing about being in the nickel spot is you can communicate with everybody. Not just on one side of the field, but you can kind of communicate across the field. That’s definitely an important position in this defense.”

Williams brings a wealth of experience and stability to the Packers’ secondary. Despite his age, he seems impervious to injury. Last season, he led the defense with 1,059 snaps – that’s 99.5 percent.

Still, Williams understands that he needs to make plays. He didn’t make many last season. In his prime, Williams was one of the league’s underrated defenders and top ballhawks. From 2008 through 2014, he trailed only Charles Woodson, Ed Reed and Asante Samuel with 27 interceptions. Last season, for the first time, he failed to intercept a pass. His four passes defensed were his fewest since his rookie season of 2007 and nine fewer than he had with Arizona in 2017. According to Pro Football Focus, he allowed eight touchdowns with zero interceptions, including four touchdowns in seven games at cornerback before moving to safety. He wasn’t bad but he’s not irreplaceable, either.

“You still need to be able to show something,” Williams said. “I’ve always carried that with me into every camp. No matter where the arrow is pointing, whether it’s pointing at me making the team or not, or whatever, I carry that with me. That’s what you have to do because, at the end of the day, you have situations like Mike Daniels. Those situations give you a perspective of your time could be short, so you don’t take these snaps for granted. You have to go out there and competing and making plays and earn your keep.”

At age 36, Williams is the oldest defensive back in the NFL. His leadership and knowledge should be an asset to a secondary filled with youth. Kevin King is in his third season but injuries have limited his playing time. Jaire Alexander, Josh Jackson and Tony Brown are in their second seasons. Ka’Dar Hollman is a rookie.

“I actually stay after practice with some of the young guys now because they have questions about the things that went on in practice, how do they play certain things,” Williams said. “Guys are really trying to put things together, whether they get the reps at practice or they don’t get enough, we try to stay after practice and get those guys up to speed while we’re out on the field before we get back in here. Guys are definitely sponges.”

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