Tag: Shemar Jean-Charles

The Green Bay Packers are releasing cornerback and special teamer Shemar Jean-Charles on Tuesday, per Tom Silverstein of PackersNews.com.

His release will be part of the team’s cutdowns to 53 players.

Jean-Charles (5-10, 184) was a fifth-round pick of the Packers in the 2021 draft. He played in 20 games for the Packers, delivering 11 total tackles. While a limited contributor on defense (40 career snaps), Jean-Charles did play 303 snaps on special teams.

The team’s depth at cornerback and struggles this preseason likely sealed his fate on the 53-man roster. Jean-Charles fell behind rookie Carrington Valentine and Corey Ballentine on the perimeter at cornerback, and Innis Gaines passed him as the backup slot behind Keisean Nixon. Jean-Charles’ experience on special teams couldn’t save him from being cut.

It’s possible Balentine will make the team as the fifth cornerback, assuming Eric Stokes starts the season on the PUP list.

Undersized but feisty, Jean-Charles was a scout favorite coming out of Appalachian State in 2021. He played in 14 games and was a core special teamer as a rookie in 2021, but an injury during the season and a change at special teams coordinator meant less playing time in 2022.

It’s unclear if Jean-Charles, the 178th overall pick in 2021, is a candidate to return on the practice squad. He may want to look for a new opportunity elsewhere.

The Packers also cut Gaines and cornerback Kiondre Thomas on Tuesday. Track all the cuts by the team here.

As good as the trio of Jaire Alexander, Rasul Douglas, and Eric Stokes can be, the depth at the cornerback position for the Green Bay Packers was in question entering the summer.

Overall, there is just a lot of inexperience behind the Packers’ Big 3.

Keisean Nixon has been in the NFL for a few seasons and has under 300 defensive snaps. Shemar Jean-Charles was on the field for only 38 as a rookie, while Rico Gafford just made the switch to cornerback from receiver. Kiondre Thomas, Kabion Ento, and Donte Vaughn have no regular season snaps.

Throughout most of training camp up to this point, Jean-Charles has been the fourth cornerback, with Nixon sidelined until recently. Jean-Charles has even had some opportunities with the ones as well.

During his college career at Appalachian State, Jean-Charles primarily lined up on the boundary. In his final season, he would lead college football in pass breakups with 16 and finish seventh among 79 eligible cornerbacks in PFF’s run defense grade.

With the Packers, however, Jean-Charles is expected to be a slot cornerback – although he played on the boundary as well against San Francisco – where in addition to coverage ability, there is a premium on tackling and holding up against the run-two areas Jean-Charles had success in at the collegiate level.

With Alexander, Douglas, and Stokes not suiting up in the first preseason game, Jean-Charles was on the “starting” defensive unit, and his 23 coverage snaps were the most on the team, according to PFF.

Yet despite being on the field often, the San Francisco quarterbacks only threw Jean-Charles’ direction one time, and it was an incomplete pass.
Jean-Charles also logged a tackle, a stop, and finished tied for second on the team in special teams snaps, playing a variety of roles while logging one tackle.

Of course, Alexander, Douglas, and Stokes will take the bulk of the cornerback snaps this season, but for a team lacking experience, specifically in the slot, having a fourth cornerback that Joe Barry can lean on occasionally, whether that be Jean-Charles or Nixon, will provide added flexibility when it comes to game planning from week to week.

Oftentimes we see a player in their second season take a big step forward as things begin to slow down and their comfortability within the offensive or defensive system grows. Early impressions indicate that Jean-Charles is making that leap.

There are still several practices left along with two preseason games and a lot to be determined, but with the fourth cornerback role and special teams snaps available, Jean-Charles has taken advantage of his opportunities and positioned himself well.

[sendtonews_embed video_id=”J4FZDt1SMV-2172151-7498″]

[lawrence-related id=83024,83021,82985,82983]

#Packers place CB Shemar Jean-Charles on the reserve/COVID-19 list https://t.co/UgmzyJo8h5

— Green Bay Packers (@packers) December 25, 2021

Another key member of the Green Bay Packers special teams will miss Saturday’s game against the Cleveland Browns.

Rookie cornerback Shemar Jean-Charles was placed on the COVID-19 reserve list on Saturday.

A sixth-round pick of the Packers in 2021, Jean-Charles has played in 12 games this season, mostly on special teams. He’s logged 189 total special teams snaps and at least 48 percent of the team’s snaps on special teams in all 12 games played.

Jean-Charles has three tackles and three assisted tackles on special teams this season.

The Packers are already linebacker Ty Summers and receiver Malik Taylor, two key special teamers who were placed on injured reserve on Friday.

It’s possible the Packers will need to ask players such as Chandon Sullivan and Kevin King to play more on special teams on Saturday against the Browns.

[listicle id=74126]

Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst could deny his scouts no longer. With Appalachian State cornerback Shemar Jean-Charles still on the board late in the fifth round, the Packers’ roster-builder had to surrender to the will of his lieutenants and finally take the ball-hawking cornerback that had won over so many on the scouting side.

Jean-Charles, the FBS leader in pass-breakups in 2020, was the Packers’ pick at No. 178 overall in the 2021 draft.

Many in the team’s draft room were encouraging Gutekunst to take him.

“He was a favorite of a bunch of our scouts,” Gutekunst said after Day 3 of the draft. “We have a certain process we go through in the final three weeks before the draft. Guys get together and they work our board from the bottom up. This was a guy that just was the outlier for them. They were so excited to try and move this guy up the board, which we did. As it unfolded, I got a lot of taps on my shoulder during those period of times about him being on the board and available. We were thrilled to be able to select him.”

Jean-Charles (5-10, 184) likely fell in the draft due to his size and average athletic profile at the cornerback position. For the Packers, the stuff he put on tape was just too good to pass up, especially on Day 3.

There’s a higher chance of hitting in the draft by taking big, elite athletes. But size and athleticism are only parts of the scouting process, and sometimes really good football players just find ways to consistently win on the field.

According to Pro Football Focus, Jean-Charles allowed only 17 receptions over 387 coverage snaps in 2020. He’s been terrific getting his hands on the ball, defending 27 passes on just 119 targets into his coverage over his final two collegiate seasons.

The Packers think he has the football IQ and quickness to compete for snaps in the slot.

“I think he has a really good chance to play inside at nickel and do some of those things,” Gutekunst said. “I also think he’s a very strong athlete even though he doesn’t have great height that will allow him to play outside if we need him to. I think we looked at him as a guy that can compete inside. He has a lot of twitch and he gets his hands on a lot of balls. Very productive year this last year at App. State. Just a great kid.”

The pick was well-received. Lance Zierlein of NFL.com highlighted the Packers’ selection of Jean-Charles as one of his three favorite picks from the fifth round.

Scouts don’t always get their way on draft day. On Day 3, Gutekunst listened to his and took a staff favorite in the fifth round. The scouting side of the operation clearly thinks Jean-Charles can play. His future is now in hands of defensive coordinator Joe Barry and secondary coach Jerry Gray, who will attempt to develop him as a pro and find a role for him within the Packers defense.

[listicle id=58231]