Sooner rather than later, Eric Stokes is going to be added back to the Green Bay Packers’ 53-man roster. Once Stokes is activated, how Joe Barry and his defensive coaches go about dividing up playing time amongst their deep cornerback room will be the next big question needing to be answered.
“Schematically, it’s about having the proper combination defending on what we are trying to accomplish that week,” said cornerbacks coach Greg Williams on Monday. “We will go with the matchups that are presented to us. As they come week to week and as Eric filters his way back in, then we will figure out where we want to go with it.”
Stokes is still on the PUP list but has to be activated and added to the 53-man roster within the next week. Presumably, after being listed as questionable prior to the Las Vegas game, he could be available this Sunday against Denver.
In Stokes’ absence, Jaire Alexander and Rasul Douglas have been the boundary cornerbacks, with Keisean Nixon in the slot when in nickel. So where does Stokes fit in?
Well, Alexander and Douglas aren’t going anywhere–they are going to remain on the field for every defensive snap. Last season, we saw Alexander and Stokes on the boundary prior to his injury, with Douglas in the slot. However, I don’t expect Green Bay to go down this path again, given how much more effective Douglas has been on the boundary.
They could try a matchup-based approach, where when the opponent’s top receiver is in the slot, Alexander lines up there. When the Packers are facing a speedy slot presence, Stokes would take those snaps. And when going up against a bigger slot pass catcher, Douglas could hop inside.
The potential issue with this is that this play style requires a lot of movement from the Green Bay cornerbacks, not to mention that simple motion by the offense could throw all of that out of whack with the Packers’ heavy use of zone coverage. This approach would also force Stokes inside, where he has very little experience, and take Nixon off the field, who has been a willing run defender, an important aspect of playing in the slot.
“Just looking at his skill,” said Williams about Nixon, “and he does, he has a special skill set, he’s a guy that can cover. He’s a guy that can be physical and tackle in the box. He’s got ball skills. He does have what you like, with his short area quickness as well. He has what you like as far as a nickel goes. As far as being versatile from a coverage standpoint, and then being in the run game, being able to tackle in run support. I think he’s done a good job.”
During a co-branded episode of the Pack-A-Day Podcast that featured myself and Packers Wire, Andy Herman suggested that Stokes remain as the fourth cornerback option. When the Packers are in their base nickel defense, we continue to see Douglas, Alexander, and Nixon. When in nickel during an obvious passing situation, Alexander would move to the slot with Douglas and Stokes on the boundary.
Lastly, in dime, Nixon and Douglas would play from the slot, which, as Herman points out, is something Douglas has done this season, with Alexander and Stokes outside.
“There’s really no substitute for playing football,” added Williams. “You can train all you want, but there really is no substitute for playing football. We just have to evaluate a it day by day with Eric and how he feels. Just building up that callous of covering every day and covering every down. It’s a good problem to have too many good corners. I think you have a lot of guys in the league that would love to have that issue. Once we get to that point, we will figure out what to do and integrate him. But for right now, I don’t mind having that problem.”
Regardless of which path the Packers go down with Stokes and the rest of the cornerback room when it comes to playing time, there is likely going to have to be some sort of ramp-up period. Stokes hasn’t played since Week 9 of last season.
Having to make this type of decision is what Barry has referred to as a “champagne problem” or a good problem, for lack of a better word, to have. Cornerback is a premier position in the NFL and the Packers have options.
“He’s fast,” said Williams. “A really good cover guy. What you like about Eric is he’s his own worst critic. He works really hard on his craft and what he’s doing. So I’m excited, and I can’t wait until he’s back fully.”