NFL: The Green Bay Packers have high expectations for their defense going into 2023. The Packers may have to rely on their defense more so that in years past to start the season. While everyone hopes Jordan Love and the new Packers offense hits the ground running, it is not guaranteed.
Over the last 5 games of the 2022 season, the Packers’ defense only allowed 17 points per game. The team hopes to continue that trend going into the 2023 season. DB Rasul Douglas will be an important piece of the secondary’s success.
Green Bay Packers CB Rasul Douglas Admits To True Position On Social Media
Bill Huber of Sports Illustrated recently asked Douglas what position he will play going into week one. Rasul said he believes that he will be the team’s starting safety on Week One:
“I think it’s I’m just a ballhawk, so people want to see me roam and be like Ed Reed. They want to see that. You see somebody with a lot of picks, you’re like, ‘All right, if he was at safety, we know he could be more.’ It’s one of those. Now they want to see it.”
Packers fans had been expressing a desire to move Rasul Douglas, who has primarily played as a cornerback, to the safety position. Despite starting at cornerback for the past two seasons, fans believe that shifting Douglas to safety could help alleviate the logjam at cornerback.
Additionally, fans are impressed with the performance of rookie Carrington Valentine in training camp and believe that giving Douglas a chance at safety would open up playing time for Valentine. However, none of this will happen. Packers’ defensive coordinator Joe Barry was asked about Douglas’ position on the team, this is what he had to say:
“I’ve never seen Rasul Douglas play safety … Rasul Douglas is our starting corner right now.”
Rasul Douglas then responded on social media to Barry’s announcement:
Nomore trolling for me thanks to Joey Badass 😒 https://t.co/fbknZ1Zsm3
— rasul (@RasulEra) August 18, 2023
Green Bay Packers Corner Back Position Is Extremely Deep (NFL)
The starting cornerbacks are, of course, Jaire Alexander and Rasul Douglas on the boundary, along with Keisean Nixon in the slot. Eventually, 2021 first-round pick Eric Stokes is going to be activated off the PUP list and become available. Considering how well rookie seventh-round pick Carrington Valentine is playing, he seems deserving of some snaps as well.
“We definitely have to look at something,” said Matt LaFleur on Wednesday in regards to getting Valentine on the field, “because he’s done a lot up to this point. Again, he’s got to keep progressing. There’s still a lot of ball in front of us in terms of practices and games, so we will just see how he progresses, but up to this point, he is worthy of getting some snaps, for sure.
This is certainly a good problem for the Packers’ defense. However, it will certainly raise some questions as to who will emerge as the team’s starting safeties.
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