Tag: Keisean Nixon

Of the 17 players with expiring contracts for the Green Bay Packers entering the 2024 offseason, Pro Football Focus believes cornerback and kickoff returner Keisean Nixon is the one free agent the team can’t afford to lose.

Nixon was the team’s starter in the slot all season and is now a two-time first-team All-Pro kickoff returner. His deal with the Packers officially voids in February.

From PFF’s Brad Spielberger: “Nixon’s 31 defensive stops were the sixth most among cornerbacks in 2023, and he averaged 27.5 yards per kick return with a long of 73 after averaging 28.8 in 2022 with a 105-yard touchdown scamper.”

Nixon signed a one-year deal worth a little over $4 million to return to the Packers last year. The team added four void years to help spread out his cap hit, but using the void-year cap mechanism means he’ll now add $1.48 million to the Packers’ salary cap as a dead money hit in 2024 as soon as his deal voids. Considering he’ll already cost the Packers something on the cap, bringing him back for another year makes sense both financially and from a roster-building standpoint.

Nixon’s value on special teams is undeniable. While his kickoff return yardage totals — he once again led the NFL with 782 return yards in 2023 — were slightly inflated by consistently taking the ball out of the end zone, Nixon has produced over 2,100 total yards as a kick and punt returner over the last two seasons. He is still a dynamic playmaking threat as a returner — his 73-yard kickoff return against the San Francisco 49ers set up a touchdown in the postseason. And he played almost 1,000 total defensive snaps over 19 games on defense.

Nixon did miss 15 tackles and allow 74 catches into his coverage. He gave up a completion percentage of 78.7 and a passer rating of 101.1 into his coverage, and he had as many penalties (five) as pass breakups. The Packers could probably use an upgrade in the slot for whomever the defensive coordinator is in 2024.

But at the right price, Nixon could be a valuable dime cornerback on a good defense and a game-changing dual-threat returner on special teams.

Given his prowess as a returner, Nixon may have other options come free agency. But he likes being in Green Bay and likes playing for special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia, and the current construction of the cornerback room suggests playing time will be available.

Green Bay Packers nickel cornerback Keisean Nixon came up with a crucial interception off Patrick Mahomes in the fourth quarter of Sunday night’s win over the Kansas City Chiefs. After the game, Nixon credited the film he and the defensive backs had watched earlier in the week, which allowed him to know the play before the ball was even snapped.

“I had to,” said Keisean Nixon on coming away with the interception. “It’s been a minute and I’ve been trying to get one this whole year. It should have been my third one, but it’s my first one. We’ll take it; Mahomes.”

With 5:20 left in the fourth quarter, the Packers held a 24-19 lead but the Chiefs were moving the ball and had 1st-and-10 from about midfield. Mahomes was in shotgun with a running back to his right and two receivers split out to the right as well. Before the snap, Nixon saw Mahomes tap his knee, which told him everything he needed to know.

“We were watching mannerisms tape earlier in the week,” said Nixon at his locker. “He tapped his knee and they put two off the ball, and I’m like, oh I’ve seen this before. I knew he was going to run it and he ran it.”

The slot receiver, who Nixon was covering, ran a fade, while the outside receiver ran a curl. However, the purpose of that curl route was also to set a natural pick on Nixon, so he wouldn’t have a clear path to the slot receiver. But Nixon knowing the route and where the ball was going, went over the top of the boundary receiver and put himself in a better position than the slot receiver to make a play on the ball.

.@keiseannixon with the INT!#KCvsGB | #GoPackGo

📺: NBC pic.twitter.com/1dwoYzleKw

— Green Bay Packers (@packers) December 4, 2023

The turnover gave the Packers offense an opportunity to extend their lead and to chew up clock, which they did. Green Bay put together an 11 play, 35 yard drive that resulted in three points, giving the Packers an eight point lead and leaving the Chiefs with only 1:09 on the clock.

Along with the interception, Nixon recorded five total tackles, including a run-stop, and held pass catchers to only 8.0 yards per reception. On special teams, he had two kick return attempts totaling 60 yards. With a critical takeaway, and his contributions elsewhere, Nixon – as well as Jordan Love – were awarded game balls after the victory.

“That was a big deal,” said Nixon on getting the game ball. “That was my first one. It took me five years to get one, but we’ll take the punches.”

Green Bay’s defense entered Sunday’s game with the fourth-fewest takeaways in football. In recent weeks, Matt LaFleur has mentioned on multiple occasions the need for the defense to be better in this area, not only to help themselves by getting off the field but it also gives the offense an added possession as well. The Packers now have four takeaways in the last two games.

Uncharacteristic of an 8-3 team, the Chiefs entered Sunday’s game minus-five in turnover differential, struggling both to take care of the ball and force takeaways. Following Sunday’s win, the Packers are now 4-1 this season when they win the turnover battle.

Overall, it wasn’t a flawless performance by the Green Bay defense by any means, but it’s not going to be against Kansas City either. The Chiefs running backs averaged nearly 6.0 yards per rush and there were a few coverage breakdowns that resulted in several chunk pass plays to Travis Kelce.

However, as they’ve done for much of the season, the Packers kept points off the board, sparked by three red zone sacks in the first half that forced the Chiefs to kick field goals instead of finding the end zone. This was the eighth straight game where the defense gave up 24 or fewer points, their second-longest streak since they did it in nine consecutive games back in 2010.

“On defense, I don’t want to say we played lights out, but he felt us for sure,” added Nixon.

“Teams are going to drive down the field, this is the NFL, they game plan just like we game plan them, but to hold Mahomes to three points two drives in a row before they got to seven, that’s a hell of a deal.”

After an All-Pro season in 2022 as a return man, Green Bay Packers Kiesean Nixon has had fewer opportunities to make that big play this season.

Despite not taking on the kick return duties until Week 6 of last season, Nixon still led the NFL in return yards and was the only player to total over 1,000. His 28.8 yards per return was the fifth-best in football, and Nixon was one of only four players to find the end zone.

Even from the Packers’ perspective, Nixon’s performance in 2022 came out of nowhere, to a degree. But now every team knows who he is, and opponents are doing their best to avoid him while they can.

“We knew going into the season that it was going to be difficult to get some clean looks as we did last year,” said special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia on Thursday. “As you can tell, earlier in the year, we made some decisions to take it out, probably too deep to some degree, and makes it problematic for those guys to hold the blocks for that long.”

In an effort to provide the team with a spark, Nixon was taking the ball out of the end zone from quite deep during the first few weeks. However, due to the difficulty that comes with holding blocks that long and a litany of special teams penalties early on in the season, the Packers were frequently starting with the ball inside their own 20-yard line, which spelled doom for an offense struggling to move the ball and tilted the field position battle in favor of Green Bay’s opponent.

Over the Packers’ last two games, however, Nixon hasn’t had any return opportunities, with Las Vegas and Denver sailing the ball out of the back of the end zone on kickoffs.

“It hasn’t really been cold yet,” said Nixon on Thursday, “so everybody is trying to kick it as far as they can out of the end zone. But the good thing about playing at Lambeau is that isn’t going to be an option. Frustration, yeah, but you can’t do nothing about it. I’ll just be mad about it, yell, and be good by the next play.”

Although Nixon ranks second in kick return attempts in the NFL, these haven’t been the same quality opportunities he’s had in the past, with many of his attempts beginning in the back half of the end zone. He’s done his best to make the most out of what he’s had to work with.

Nixon currently ranks second in total kick return yards and is averaging 25.0 yards per return this season, which ranks ninth in the NFL. However, that average figure does include end zone yardage, so in terms of starting field position for the Packers, they — on average — aren’t even beginning at where a touchback would put them.

Especially at Lambeau Field, as the weather continues to turn, there should be more opportunities for Nixon, with the ball typically not traveling as far in the cold. The weather on Sunday against Minnesota is predicted to be a crisp 41 degrees, with the Vikings allowing the 10th-highest yards per return average on kickoffs. Also, for what it’s worth, Nixon’s touchdown last season came against the Vikings.

Not all that different from this time a year ago, the Packers offense was struggling, and Nixon ended up being a factor in giving that unit a mid-season boost with improved starting field position and an overall shot of energy with his big play ability. Nixon once again has the potential to make that kind of impact, but it starts with the opponent giving him additional opportunities that don’t begin in the back of the end zone.