Over the course of his four seasons in the NFL, new Packers cornerback Nate Hobbs has played more than twice as many snaps in the slot than on the boundaries. So, when the 2021 Raiders draftee left Las Vegas for Green Bay this offseason by way of a four-year, $48MM contract, our Sam Robinson noted that Hobbs had set a new high-water mark for slot defenders if the Packers indeed plan to deploy him in that capacity.
While Hobbs will surely see plenty of action in the slot in Wisconsin, the club has something of a hybrid role in mind for him, as detailed by Jason Wilde of Channel3000.com. Per Wilde, defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley wants to compensate for the roster’s lack of a true shutdown corner by using Hobbs, Keisean Nixon, and Carrington Valentine interchangeably.
During OTAs and mandatory minicamp, Hobbs sometimes lined up across from Nixon on the boundary in base packages. In nickel looks, Valentine came onto the field and played outside the numbers while Nixon and Hobbs shared time in the slot and out wide.
“Nate can play outside and Nate can play inside. So we’re going to have him do both,” Hafley said. “When you’re getting ready for free agency and you’re evaluating tape, it’s one thing that you love about him. He’s had a lot of success inside, and I thought his tape outside was equally as good.”
The Packers had hoped that Jaire Alexander, who landed a then-CB-record four-year deal worth $84MM in May 2022, would serve as their No. 1 corner for the long haul. Unfortunately, Alexander’s injury problems contributed to his release last month, thus increasing the pressure on Green Bay’s current top trio.
Nixon, 28, has played nearly 2,000 defensive snaps over the past two seasons thanks in large part to Alexander’s lack of availability, and he has acquitted himself reasonably well. Last season, one year after spending most of his time in the slot, he led the Packers in snaps as a boundary corner and limited opposing passers to a 57.5% completion percentage and 78.9 QB rating as the nearest defender. He also earned First Team All-Pro acclaim for his work as a kick returner in the 2022-23 seasons.
Valentine, a 2023 seventh-rounder, has been pressed into starting duty in each of his two pro seasons, lining up almost exclusively outside the numbers. It sounds as if the club will give him a greater opportunity to show off his versatility this year, and 2024 second-rounder Javon Bullard remains an option to see extensive work as a nickel CB, just as he did as a rookie (although Bullard is not mentioned in Wilde’s piece).
Despite the impressive AAV on his new contract, Hobbs received only $16MM in guaranteed money. So, while Green Bay would take on a $12MM dead money hit if it were to part ways following the 2025 slate, such a maneuver would not be prohibitive and would actually yield a modicum of cap savings. To preserve his future earning power, then, Hobbs will need to live up to his team’s hopes for his multifaceted skill set.
For right now, that does not appear to be a concern.
“He is competitive, he’s tough, he is physical, he plays the game fast,” Hafley said of Hobbs. “You can tell he loves it. It just jumps off the tape. That versatility, where you can move him around and again, I’m a big fan of that.”
That’s not going to go well. He’s an elite slot corner. He is a below average boundary corner. I’m sure they’re going to want him to do more since they screwed up their CB room, but that’s not a good idea.
When the signed him the plan was already to play inside and out. He did so in LV already and did fine doing both roles.
Haf’s defense has very similar responsibilities for inside and outside corners. The only one of their top 4 CBs who will be entirely inside is Bullard.
The problem is you can’t do that with every DB.
Yep. Josh McDaniels already tried this. As soon as he got fired, Patrick Graham and Antonio Pierce put him back in the slot full time, and he played well again.
He didn’t do both well in LV. You just going to hope it into existence? He was a below average CB when Josh McDaniels moved him outside in 2022. Keep believing the lies they’re telling you that they planned to use him in both places when he signed. If that was the case, he would have a bigger contract than the one he signed. His contract directly tracks with the slot CB market, but they screwed up their CB room, so they’re kind of stuck and are going to ask him to do something he’s not good at.
Your key word: “Josh McDaninels.” Don’t confuse a well run organization with a dumpster fire organization.
The Packers didn’t screw up. They did exactly what they wanted to do. They were done with Jaire, and Jaire didn’t want to redo his contract because he wanted to pick his spot – even for less money.
Green Bay’s front office marches to the beat of their own drum. They always have. They’re generally extremely conservative. They draft relatively well, pay their own players, and augment through free agency – but never at the top of the market (at least since Reggie White).
Hobbs is exciting – both inside and outside – in Haf’s defense. Other than his injury history. That has me concerned. The top 4 with Bullard in the slot is going to be just fine. Maybe not elite. But fine. But one injury and you’re counting on a late round pick or UDFA to play big snaps and that is concerning.
You do realize he didn’t coach the defense or defensive backfield, but just like LeFleur, it was his idea to have him play outside because on paper, it should work. It didn’t. It won’t work here either. It’s just not his skill set.
This is coming from Hafley, not MLF. And Hafley did use his top 10 secondary last season interchangeably. All of them. Literally every player moved around.
Why would this be any different?
This is the opposite of a winning strategy.
It seems to me that Green Bay is quite comfortable playing guys at any position when there’s a deficiency at that group. They win a lot of games, so they’ll managed to do well, but I wonder what the team could be if those positions had properly addressed. This may work, but it feels like it’s not the optimal use of Hobbs’ or the others’ skill sets. Hey, we could be surprised…
This is a fair point
I wish the Packers would sign Asante Samuel Jr. or Rasul Douglas and bring them in before someone else has the need. I’m sure they could get either at a good price.
I’m not sure either would be better than the young guys, or more available than Jaire was…. I would have preferred going CB in round 2, and OL in round 3. But that ship sailed. Just have to hope the pieces they have stay healthy.
lol, Because we’ve seen “interchangeable” before and it works sooooo well…
This whole “Packers are screwed on defense” narrative is wildly stupid. They were a top 10 defense by yards, points, and DVOA last year. Jaire only played in 6 games, only 10 snaps of which were against the entire NFCN. And yet? They were one of the BEST defenses against the past last year.
How does adding Hobbs and not losing Jaire for 13 of their 19 games (including 6 of their 7 losses mind you) make them worse?!? This, in combination with additions to the front 7.
It’s mind bending offseason crap. I’m glad Jaire is not in the NFCN and wish him well. Moving on.