Randall Demoted..kinda

[rodell330]

Based off what I've been reading and keeping up with Capers plans to put Randall as the slot guy. Can't say I'm shocked or surprised. I'm really worried about his inability to tackle tho in space. Maybe this move will turn his career around . Also tells me that they've finally saw the light and decided to get bigger and more athletic on the outside . Unless Gunter is there...then God help us all.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Based off what I've been reading and keeping up with Capers plans to put Randall as the slot guy. Can't say I'm shocked or surprised. I'm really worried about his inability to tackle tho in space. Maybe this move will turn his career around . Also tells me that they've finally saw the light and decided to get bigger and more athletic on the outside . Unless Gunter is there...then God help us all.

If Randall holds on to the nickel cornerback slot I don't consider moving him inside a demotion as it is basically a starting job in Capers' defense and most likely better suited to use him to his strengths.

 

[gopkrs]

Based off what I've been reading and keeping up with Capers plans to put Randall as the slot guy. Can't say I'm shocked or surprised. I'm really worried about his inability to tackle tho in space. Maybe this move will turn his career around . Also tells me that they've finally saw the light and decided to get bigger and more athletic on the outside . Unless Gunter is there...then God help us all.

I like Gunter. I think he deserves playing time.

 

[jakemillar]

Based off what I've been reading and keeping up with Capers plans to put Randall as the slot guy. Can't say I'm shocked or surprised. I'm really worried about his inability to tackle tho in space. Maybe this move will turn his career around . Also tells me that they've finally saw the light and decided to get bigger and more athletic on the outside . Unless Gunter is there...then God help us all.

This is sort of baseless for more than one reason. Randall was a safety in college, and in his draft class he was regarded by most as THE best safety in the 2015 draft. His ability to tackle in space, as he displayed countless times during the 2015 season when he was not injured, was really good. If you'll recall the Carolina game from 2015, he brought down Cam on two seperate occasions on 3rd down in the open field, and many more times throughout the year.

Secondly, playing "slot" is not a demotion in today's NFL. A lot of teams top CBs play the slot in the nickel/dime/big dime/quarter sub-packages. IMO, Randall is in line to realistically be a top 2 corner for GB, and in sub-packages, he'll slide inside to the slot, much like Woodson did from 2010-2013 with Shields coming in and playing the boundary.

Finally, I think Packers fans are giving Gunter way too hard of a time for his play down the stretch last year. He had to play debatably the hardest trio of receivers in the NFL in consecutive weeks, and he held his own. It is so weird to me how people all of a sudden held Gunter to such a high standard, as if he was a 1st round pick, or even a drafted player at all... He was undrafted, presumably for a reason. The guys he was asked to match up with in Odell Beckham or Julio Jones are probably in the top 30 athletes on the whole planet.

For where he came from to this point in his NFL career & his path there, Gunter has done a wonderful job and worked very hard, and he doesn't get enough credit for that. Randall included. After his 2015 season, he looked like a rising star at CB. He played really well in 2015 & this year I do believe injuries played a huge role in his drop off.

I think it would be good practice for fans to try and empathize with the players a little more instead of being overly critical. I myself am only 23, and I can't imagine the pressure some of these young players my age are faced with.

 

[brandon2348]

Randall is finally inside where he belongs playing the "Star Position". I really like this move and the additions of House and King allowed for this. I believe Randall will do well inside as it plays to his strength which is quickness in short space. Now if he can just hold up physically this could work out real nice.

 

[C-Lee]

McCarthy also stated that Randall has had an outstanding offseason.

We need him to bounce back.

 

[HardRightEdge]

This is sort of baseless for more than one reason. Randall was a safety in college, and in his draft class he was regarded by most as THE best safety in the 2015 draft. His ability to tackle in space, as he displayed countless times during the 2015 season when he was not injured, was really good. If you'll recall the Carolina game from 2015, he brought down Cam on two separate occasions on 3rd down in the open field, and many more times throughout the year.

I think that's right. And it's worth recalling that Clinton-Dix came in as something of an ankle biter. Guys develop tackling technique. Shields was pretty dreadful at it for a couple of years, even denying it was a problem at one point in contradiction to the coaching assessment. There was probably a "come to Jesus" moment after those public comments; his tackling improved.

Randall's problem is not tackling. It's that he's a natural FS trying to play CB. WR moves and breaks remain something of a mystery to him. When he plays press he's vulnerable to the double move. When he plays outside technique he doesn't react well to the inside break or visa versa. He doesn't have top-tier recovery speed like Shields which covers a lot of recognition sins. Playing slot corner he'll have less to worry about. More short route coverages, fewer double moves, stretch routes go into safety help.

I feel bad for the guy. He should have gone somewhere to play in a scheme where a coverage FS is valued, where he could use play recognition/closing skills/ball skills from the deep middle.

Now, I would not write him off just yet as a perimeter corner, though the prognosis does not look good. If House or King stumble, you might see him back out there. And there's always the possibility that a light goes on.

 

[Sunshinepacker]

Based off what I've been reading and keeping up with Capers plans to put Randall as the slot guy. Can't say I'm shocked or surprised. I'm really worried about his inability to tackle tho in space. Maybe this move will turn his career around . Also tells me that they've finally saw the light and decided to get bigger and more athletic on the outside . Unless Gunter is there...then God help us all.

Starting slot corner in the NFL is rapidly becoming more important than a team's second best outside CB...that's not a demotion, seems like they think he has the talent AND, if Jones is playing ILB, it would add a little more size closer to the ball to help with the run.

 

[rodell330]

This is sort of baseless for more than one reason. Randall was a safety in college, and in his draft class he was regarded by most as THE best safety in the 2015 draft. His ability to tackle in space, as he displayed countless times during the 2015 season when he was not injured, was really good. If you'll recall the Carolina game from 2015, he brought down Cam on two seperate occasions on 3rd down in the open field, and many more times throughout the year.

Secondly, playing "slot" is not a demotion in today's NFL. A lot of teams top CBs play the slot in the nickel/dime/big dime/quarter sub-packages. IMO, Randall is in line to realistically be a top 2 corner for GB, and in sub-packages, he'll slide inside to the slot, much like Woodson did from 2010-2013 with Shields coming in and playing the boundary.

Finally, I think Packers fans are giving Gunter way too hard of a time for his play down the stretch last year. He had to play debatably the hardest trio of receivers in the NFL in consecutive weeks, and he held his own. It is so weird to me how people all of a sudden held Gunter to such a high standard, as if he was a 1st round pick, or even a drafted player at all... He was undrafted, presumably for a reason. The guys he was asked to match up with in Odell Beckham or Julio Jones are probably in the top 30 athletes on the whole planet.

For where he came from to this point in his NFL career & his path there, Gunter has done a wonderful job and worked very hard, and he doesn't get enough credit for that. Randall included. After his 2015 season, he looked like a rising star at CB. He played really well in 2015 & this year I do believe injuries played a huge role in his drop off.

I think it would be good practice for fans to try and empathize with the players a little more instead of being overly critical. I myself am only 23, and I can't imagine the pressure some of these young players my age are faced with.

You could always go be a professional air hockey player ‍

 

[pizzle]

Randall is finally inside where he belongs playing the "Star Position". I really like this move and the additions of House and King allowed for this. I believe Randall will do well inside as it plays to his strength which is quickness in short space. Now if he can just hold up physically this could work out real nice.

Randall is best suited in the slot. Also, I always thought that the Packers wouldn't pay to keep Hyde/would replace him with R&R. In many respects, those two were playing out of position for much of their careers in GB. Them as slot guys will help them bounce back this year...

 

[HardRightEdge]

Starting slot corner in the NFL is rapidly becoming more important than a team's second best outside CB.

Nickel corner is a de facto starting position across the league, and that's been the case for some years now. While many teams don't run nickel and dime 80% of the time as with Capers, it's above 50% everywhere.

I wouldn't say nickel corner is more important than the #2 perimeter corner and probably won't be in any foreseeable future. Certainly more teams have put more emphasis and resources into the slot receiver position. NE wins championships with TEs and slots, with wideouts you cannot even name, and it is a copycat league. But the fact of the matter is the perimeter requires a more diverse skill set and presents a wider array of vulnerabilities. As good as some slot receivers might be, when covering them there's help all around. If the guy beats you off the break, there's usually somebody in the vicinity to limit the damage. We saw that regularly with Hyde and the similar issue with the coverage ILBs trying to handle better TEs.

They don't call the perimeter corner position the "island" for nothing. And the Packers did not go out and get House for nothing. If nickel corner were more important, we'd be talking about House playing that position.

 

[gopkrs]

Personally, I am unsure about House. I did not really like him all that much when he was here and he came back pretty easily. We may end up relying on other players. imho I just hope McCarthy shows a lot of flexibility and willingness to put the best player out there...regardless of how much they are paid or where they were drafted. We certainly have a lot of secondary people to look at.

 

[brandon2348]

Personally, I am unsure about House. I did not really like him all that much when he was here and he came back pretty easily. We may end up relying on other players. imho I just hope McCarthy shows a lot of flexibility and willingness to put the best player out there...regardless of how much they are paid or where they were drafted. We certainly have a lot of secondary people to look at.

I think House will be serviceable as No.2. The huge pressure point on this whole thing working is King being able to come and be the no. 1. It's a lot to ask of a rookie.

This is why I wanted them to sign Mo Claiborne on a cheap 1 year deal.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

IMO, Randall is in line to realistically be a top 2 corner for GB, and in sub-packages, he'll slide inside to the slot, much like Woodson did from 2010-2013 with Shields coming in and playing the boundary.

Finally, I think Packers fans are giving Gunter way too hard of a time for his play down the stretch last year. He had to play debatably the hardest trio of receivers in the NFL in consecutive weeks, and he held his own.

Randall included. After his 2015 season, he looked like a rising star at CB. He played really well in 2015 & this year I do believe injuries played a huge role in his drop off.

I think it would be good practice for fans to try and empathize with the players a little more instead of being overly critical. I myself am only 23, and I can't imagine the pressure some of these young players my age are faced with.

Randall should play inside full time as he isn't suited to excel on the perimeter. While he started pretty well in his rookie season when teams mostly avoided throwing his direction for some reason he struggled once opponents targeted him more often in 2015.

I agree that fans are criticizing Gunter too much as it wasn't his fault he had to cover opposing top receivers, a task he mostly wasn't up to.

There's no reason to empathize with struggling players though as they get paid a shitload of money to deal with the pressure they're facing.

I think House will be serviceable as No.2. The huge pressure point on this whole thing working is King being able to come and be the no. 1. It's a lot to ask of a rookie.

There's no doubt the Packers needed a #1 cornerback this offseason and in my opinion House doesn't fit that bill. We'll have to waait and ssee if King is capable of turning into a decent player atop the depth chart at the position.

 

[easyk83]

Nickel corner is a de facto starting position across the league, and that's been the case for some years now. While many teams don't run nickel and dime 80% of the time as with Capers, it's above 50% everywhere.

I wouldn't say nickel corner is more important than the #2 perimeter corner and probably won't be in any foreseeable future. Certainly more teams have put more emphasis and resources into the slot receiver position. NE wins championships with TEs and slots, with wideouts you cannot even name, and it is a copycat league. But the fact of the matter is the perimeter requires a more diverse skill set and presents a wider array of vulnerabilities. As good as some slot receivers might be, when covering them there's help all around. If the guy beats you off the break, there's usually somebody in the vicinity to limit the damage. We saw that regularly with Hyde and the similar issue with the coverage ILBs trying to handle better TEs.

They don't call the perimeter corner position the "island" for nothing. And the Packers did not go out and get House for nothing. If nickel corner were more important, we'd be talking about House playing that position.

Not necessarily, although I mostly agree with your conclusions. Depending on the scheme and the player a nickel will have more opportunities for splash plays than he would outside. Of course we're talking about an aggressive blitzing scheme that can generate pressure where a talented and INSTINCTIVE corner will get a lot of opportunities for sacks picks pick sixes and TFFLs. However, I suspect that Dom would not give Damarious the same kind of leash that he gave Woodson back in 2009, there's a bit of a difference between the two players.

I will say this much for Randall though, when MM has seen fit to single guys out for praise in the offseason they have usually gone on to have good seasons.