Personnel Decisions Were Perplexing

Coaches in the National Football League watch players practice for hours each day and then spend even more time breaking down video of what they just saw live. You’d think after months of repeating the same routine; it would be easy to make the correct decisions as far as personnel is concerned. Well, you’d be wrong, at least in regard to the Packers.

The following are four personnel decisions that either never should’ve been made or should’ve been rectified much sooner:

1) It took eight games and four fumbles before returner Amari Rodgers was finally benched and replaced by Keisean Nixon, who went on to be named to the All-Pro team. While it’s hard to blame the coaches for not knowing what they had in the former Raider since he had returned only six kicks for 70 yards in the previous three seasons, sticking with Rodgers for so long is indefensible. Not only did he struggle to hold onto the ball, but he showed little explosiveness in 31 attempts as a rookie in 2021. It sure seemed as if the coaching staff, perhaps at the urging of GM Brian Gutekunst, was looking for a way to get something, anything, out of a third-round draft pick who had already failed miserably at receiver. Regardless of the rationale, sticking with Rodgers for so long proved to be a mistake. How big of a mistake? It’s fair to argue that the Packers would’ve made the playoffs had Nixon started returning kicks and punts a month earlier.

2) I, along with countless other observers, spent the month of August criticizing the play of Jake Hanson and Royce Newman. It was clear that neither young offensive lineman had any business starting, and yet there they stood, side-by- side when the Packers opened the season in Minnesota. What happened in that game was only surprising to the coaches. Za’Darius Smith, Danielle Hunter, and Dalvin Tomlinson dominated Green Bay’s overmatched right guard (Hanson) and right tackle (Newman). To be fair, there weren’t a lot of good options since David Bakhtiari and Elgton Jenkins were both out, and rookie Sean Rhyan had a disappointing summer. Still, the correct choice to start at one of the two positions would’ve been fourth-round pick Zach Tom, who impressed from Day 1. When Jenkins returned at right tackle seven days later, Hanson went to the bench, and Newman shuffled over a few feet and stunk it up at right guard.

3) Figuring out a way to have Jaire Alexander, Eric Stokes, and Rasul Douglas on the field at the same time was always going to be a challenge due to the fact that only one of the three (Alexander) possesses the skill set to play inside. But teams don’t spend $84 million on slot corners, so in what was a classic example of trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, the coaches decided to give that job to Douglas. While the ex-Eagle, Panther, Raider, and Cardinal has many good qualities, covering quick-as-a-hiccup receivers isn’t one of them. Douglas is a leggy mover who gives up separation at the break point. Not surprisingly, he struggled mightily before moving back outside after Stokes was placed on injured reserve in early November. It’ll be interesting to see what the coaching staff does with Douglas in 2023. Moving him to safety might be the only option – an option that should’ve been considered as soon as he signed a $20M extension last spring.

4) Darnell Savage is a former No. 1 pick whose fifth-year option worth $7.9 million was picked up last April, so it came as no surprise when the coaches stuck with him at free safety despite numerous mental mistakes and missed tackles. The surprise was how long they stuck with him. It wasn’t until Week 10 that the former Maryland star was replaced by journeyman Rudy Ford, who intercepted three passes and provided more physicality at the position. That the defense was better with Savage spending more time on the bench than the field doesn’t bode well for his future. The 25-year-old did show some potential as a nickel back, and that’s probably where he’ll take the majority of his reps once OTAs begin in the spring. Savage takes questionable angles to the ball, so it makes sense to play him closer to the line of scrimmage.