The guys who line up with the first-team offense and defense when the Green Bay Packers open OTAs are always interesting. This year, no group is more interesting than the defensive backfield.
More often than not, the guys who are on the first team in OTAs and minicamp will also open training camp on the first team. That excludes guys who are being held out of the former because of injuries, of course.
When the Packers lined up their first-team defense on Tuesday, the defensive backfield was Davon House and LaDarius Gunter at the outside cornerback positions, and three safeties — starters Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and Morgan Burnett, and second-year man Kentrell Brice.
Obviously, that’s a nickel package, which the Packers employ more often than they do their 3-4 base defense.
We predicted House and Gunter would open the season as the starters at outside corner. Surely, rookie Kevin King will have something to say about that. However, NFL rules forbid King from attending the offseason program while school is still in session, so he isn’t yet present.
We also imagine Damarious Randall and Quinten Rollins will factor in here somewhere as well. Both players rotated in on the outside after House and Gunter.
We had assumed one of those guys would end up in the slot, but the Packers sure seem to like putting big, fast guys there right now. In addition to Brice, rookie Josh Jones has been getting plenty of hype.
Long way to go, but we at least have a glimpse of the coaches thinking when it comes to the defensive backfield.
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