In Packers’ Safety Dance, Ballroom Is Full

The Green Bay Packers have a lot of safeties. Are any of them good enough to start?

GREEN BAY, Wis. – I’m not sure if he coined the phrase, but the legendary coach and broadcaster John Madden observed, “If you have two quarterbacks, you actually have none.”

If you have nine safeties, do you at least have two?

That’s the question for the Green Bay Packers entering the start of organized team activities next week. With steady Adrian Amos unsigned in free agency, the Packers need one new starter. Given the struggles of his running-mate, Darnell Savage, the team might need two.

Position coach Ryan Downard has a crowded room. Strength in numbers? Sure. Strength in position? We’ll see.

“We get that nine-week period where we get to get our hands on the guys,” defensive coordinator Joe Barry said on Tuesday. “We’re in the fifth week right now and we’ve got some new faces in that room. So, that’s what OTAs are for; that’s what obviously training camp’s for. So, we’re in the beginning stages of the process of finding that out.”

At least there are options.

Darnell Savage: Savage has played plenty of high-level football. Among all safeties over the last four seasons, he’s in the top 10 with his 31 passes defensed. Among safeties drafted in 2019, Savage has a whopping eight more passes defensed than anyone else. However, he’s got four years of shoddy tackling on his resume and was benched at one point last season. For the sake of the team as well as himself, there’s not a player on the roster who needs a bounce-back season more than Savage.

Rudy Ford: In his first five seasons in the NFL, Ford started six games and had one interception. In his debut season with the Packers, he started six games and had three interceptions. He had two interceptions vs. Dallas – as many as Amos and Savage combined for the season. Ford replaced Savage in the starting lineup, only for Savage to retake the spot when Ford allowed too many big plays. The Packers re-signed him in free agency.

Innis Gaines: “Thump” was released with an injury settlement during training camp but rehabbed the injury in Green Bay in case he got another shot. He got it, then started the Week 18 game vs. Detroit as he played 44 snaps on defense the last three weeks. With size and speed, he could be a player to watch during camp.

Dallin Leavitt: A favorite of special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia, Leavitt didn’t play a snap on defense but tied for the team lead in tackles on special teams. He was re-signed in free agency.

Jonathan Owens: After his destination wedding with legendary gymnast Simone Biles, Owens signed with the Packers last week. He started 17 games last season for Houston and recorded 125 tackles. He has one career interception but is an above-average athlete and tackler.

“Jonathan played his best football a year ago. He started 17 games, had his most production on defense,” Barry said.

Tarvarius Moore: A third-round pick by San Francisco in 2018, the speedster started two games as a rookie, three games in 2019 and eight games in 2020. Big things might have been in store but a torn Achilles sidelined him for the entire 2021 season. Last year, most of his action came on special teams. The Packers signed him in March so he’s well ahead of Owens from a playbook perspective.

“T-Moore has been a guy that’s coming from a good program in San Francisco,” Barry said.

Tariq Carpenter: A seventh-round pick last year, Carpenter played only 16 snaps on defense – 13 of those came at the end of a blowout win vs. Minnesota – but emerged down the stretch as a weapon on special teams. He’s got an elite combo of size and athleticism. It will be interesting to monitor his progress this offseason. In December, he spent one day doing drills with the outside linebackers before returning to safety the next day.

Anthony Johnson: A seventh-round rookie, he started 53 consecutive games at Iowa State, with 41 at corner and 12 upon moving to safety in 2022. “I’ve always wanted to play quarterback, and I never got that opportunity until this last season playing safety,” he said upon being drafted.

Benny Sapp III: The FCS All-American has NFL and perseverance in his DNA.

That’s nine players in competition for spots on the roster and spots on the defense in this version of The Safety Dance. The dance floor is full. The music will start next week.

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