26 Days Until Training Camp: Biggest Question at Safety

The big question at safety is also the biggest question on the entire defense. Who will emerge as the starter opposite Darnell Savage?

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
Jun 30, 2023 10:17 AM EDT

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Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – When the Green Bay Packers run onto the practice field for the first time in training camp on July 26, Darnell Savage will be the team’s clear-cut No. 1 safety.

Imagine the play of Savage not being the biggest question at safety. Or the entire defense, for that matter. It’s not, though. Rather, who’s going to replace Adrian Amos at the other safety?

The Packers have a lot of options. Are any of them truly palatable, though? As it stands, it looks like it’s going to be a two-man battle between Rudy Ford and Jonathan Owens.

Ford was one of last year’s surprises. A sixth-round pick by Arizona in 2017, he spent two seasons with the Cardinals (one start, zero interceptions), two seasons with the Eagles (one start, zero interceptions) and one season with the Jaguars (four starts, one interception). When Jacksonville released him at the end of camp last summer, the Packers pounced.

Initially, Ford was a big-time weapon in kick coverage. Eventually, he replaced Savage in the lineup. He wound up starting six games and intercepting three passes. However, Ford gave up too many big plays and lost the starting job to Savage for the final couple games.

Owens went undrafted out of Missouri Western in 2018 and signed with the Cardinals. During the final week of OTAs, he suffered a torn ACL. Owens joined the Houston Texans’ practice squad in September 2019, and played in one game in 2019, six games in 2020 and seven games in 2021, when he started his first two games and recorded his first interception.

Last season, Owens started all 17 games and piled up 125 tackles.

From a stylistic perspective, this could hardly be a more intriguing competition. Ford has big-time speed and a nose for the ball; he had more interceptions than Savage (one) and Amos (one) combined. Owens hasn’t shown that playmaking ability – he had zero interceptions and four passes defensed last year – but is one of the top tacklers in the league at the position.

The Packers spent most of the spring with Savage and Ford forming the No. 1 duo, though Owens, who signed less than two weeks before the start of organized team activities, got some first-team reps, too. It will be interesting to see if he pushes for more playing time as he gets more comfortable in his new scheme.

The wild card could be Tarvarius Moore, who like Ford and Owens signed a budget-friendly one-year deal. He was good enough to start eight games for the powerful 49ers in 2020 before suffering a torn Achilles. He showed his speed and playmaking ability during the offseason practices.

“I’d like to have a two-way safety,” defensive backs coach Ryan Downard said at the start of OTAs. “What I mean by that is a guy that can cover and a guy that can tackle. If you can thump, if you bring power on contact, that’s a bonus. But I’ve got to be able to get guys on the ground. So, tackling’s a premium.

“Obviously, coverage and taking the ball away is a premium. If we have two of those guys who can do both, then we can play them left and right. If we have a guy whose skill-set is anchored more towards tackling or physicality to his game, then we might place say in the boundary and the other guy in the field. So, we’ve got to see who’s going to be that guy. Whoever that guy ends up being, then we’ll kind of finagle the spots as we will.”

Whoever emerges, will he be a legit replacement for the ever-reliable Amos? The answer to that question might determine whether Green Bay’s defense is good enough to lead the team back to the playoffs.