Defense Has Thrived, Not Survived, Without Alexander

The Green Bay Packers wouldn't be 13-3 or rank eighth in scoring without two hugely important moves by GM Brian Gutekunst.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Last year, with All-Pro Jaire Alexander playing lockdown defense, the Green Bay Packers finished 13th with an opponent passer rating of 90.8.

This year, with Alexander missing the last dozen games with a shoulder injury but potentially returning for Sunday’s regular-season finale at the Detroit Lions, Green Bay is eighth in that key indicator with an 84.5 rating. It’s fifth with 18 interceptions, up seven from last year.

How is that possible, especially when paired with Za’Darius Smith’s pass rush missing for practically the entire season?

“I think one of the things that we know that you’re one play way from playing in the NFL. That was our message early on,” defensive backs coach Jerry Gray said on Thursday. “I’m always about competition. You hate to see a good football player go down, especially like Jaire. I think he was having another good year.”

It takes a village to raise a child and it takes a village to replace one of the best cover men in football. General manager Brian Gutekunst – the village president, so to speak – made two key moves. The first was using his first-round draft pick on Georgia cornerback Eric Stokes, an elite size-speed prospect who endured a trial-by-fire training camp with frequent matchups against Davante Adams. With Alexander, Kevin King and Chandon Sullivan, Stokes was not expected to play significant snaps right away, let alone in a featured role against top receivers every week.

“All of a sudden, here is a young rookie that really don’t know how to play,” Gray said. “He’s ready to be molded. He’s watching Jaire every day in practice so, all of a sudden, his number’s called. He’s been going against Tae and Aaron Rodgers every day in training camp. So now, there’s no fear in him. He just has to learn how to play. One of the things that we talked about is, ‘Hey, it’s your time now. It’s your time to step up. Do what you’re supposed to do.’ To me, I think our group responded well.”

Stokes has done more than play well. According to Pro Football Focus, 87 cornerbacks have played at least 50 percent of the defensive snaps. Grading cornerback play is an inexact science but PFF has Stokes ranked 20th in passer rating (78.4) and tied for second in completion rate (50.0 percent). Sports Info Solution has Stokes yielding a completion rate of just 46.2 percent.

He hasn’t always been great – he took his lumps at Minnesota, for instance – but he’s never backed down from a challenge. Ove the last five games PFF charged Stokes with 14-of-33 passing (42.4 percent) for just 94 yards. Half of those completions came in a superb performance against the Ravens in which he gave up only 35 yards on seven completions.

“These guys want to see if you can hold up to being a No. 1 pick or can you play past being a rookie,” Gray said. “In this league, they pick on the weak guy. They don’t pick on the strong guys up here. To get them to stop throwing at you, you’ve got to become one of the strong guys. He’s done a good job. A team’s going to test him every week, trust me. I think training camp really helped a lot. Going against No. 17 is not an easy task.”

Gutekunst’s other big move, obviously, was plucking journeyman Rasul Douglas off Arizona’s practice squad. It was one of the great transactions by any team this year. Not re-signed by Carolina after starting a career-high 11 games last season, Douglas was released by Las Vegas and Houston during training camp and was spinning his wheels on Arizona’s practice squad when Gutekunst signed him following Alexander’s shoulder injury.

Douglas is third in passer rating (51.1) and ninth in completion percentage (53.2). SIS has charged him with a 46.8 percent completion rate. Even while starting only eight games, he’s tied for fourth among corners with five interceptions. Two of those – at Arizona and vs. Cleveland – were season-changing plays.

“There’s the expectation the bar is not high,” Gray said. “When a guy has the ability to say, ‘Hey, Coach, can you help me watch film. I’m a smart player. I know what I can do. I know these things. Just give me a chance.’ I think that’s what he really needed. When you get a guy that your expectations meet his expectations and he goes out there and he plays, then everybody says this guy’s a good player. Well, he’s been a good player. I think this is his time.”

Combined, the surprising play of the cornerbacks is a huge reason why the Packers are eighth with 20.9 points allowed per game.

Said defensive coordinator Joe Barry: “All those guys, from top to bottom, when they’ve had opportunities to make plays, they cashed in on those opportunities, and it’s been great.”