A year ago, the Green Bay Packers made the bold decision not to address the safety position until the seventh round of the draft despite losing longtime starter Adrian Amos in free agency.
This offseason, the Packers needed help at cornerback. Or at least, so we thought. They waited until—you guessed it—the seventh round to draft Kalen King, passing on several opportunities to land one of the best cornerbacks in the class.
The Packers are banking on Jaire Alexander and Eric Stokes staying healthy and Stokes getting back to the level of play we haven’t seen since his rookie season. They also need second-year Carrington Valentine to continue his development and hope King can contribute as a rookie.
Not investing more resources into upgrading the safety position last year hurt the Packers. A recent mock draft indicates they may have made the same mistake at cornerback.
Mock draft season will be here again in no time. The Packers’ work on the upcoming class is already underway, and a prospect they could pay close attention to is Arizona cornerback Tacario Davis.
That’s who the Packers select in a recent mock draft by Ian Cummings of Pro Football Network.
“Tacario Davis will have to become comfortable with Jeff Hafley’s press-man tendencies, but he has the tools to thrive in the Packers’ middle-field-closed looks,” writes Cummings. “Davis is a suffocating force on the boundary with unique explosiveness, length, and ball skills.”
Cornerback will become an even bigger need for Green Bay if Eric Stokes and Corey Ballentine depart in free agency. They only have one year remaining on their contracts.
It makes it all the more puzzling why they didn’t address the cornerback position sooner. They could’ve traded up for Terrion Arnold or Quinyon Mitchell in the first round after both fell further than many expected. Green Bay passed on Cooper DeJean on the opening night and could’ve traded up a few spots to get him in the second round.
Green Bay’s confidence in its current group is risky, especially considering how many games Alexander and Stokes have missed over the past three seasons (a combined 47).
The Packers may need to target a cornerback early in next year’s draft, just as safety became a top priority after not addressing the position last offseason.
