The 90 to 1 Green Bay Packers roster countdown: No. 27 – Josh Jackson

Second-year cornerback Josh Jackson has fallen behind due to injury.

The Green Bay Packers, and their 90 players on the roster, are in the midst of their first training camp under coach Matt LaFleur. In an annual tradition from my 11 years at Packer Report, I rank the players in order of importance from No. 90 to No. 1. This isn’t just a listing of the team’s best players. Our rankings take into account talent, importance of the position, depth at the position, salary and draft history. More than the ranking, we hope you learn something about each player. (Note: The start of this series can be found with my former employer.)

No. 27: CB Josh Jackson ($1,421,841 cap)

After a brilliant final season at Iowa, Jackson was considered one of the top cornerback prospects in the 2018 draft. A somewhat-sluggish 40-yard dash at the Scouting Combine, however, played a role in Jackson falling into the second round.

Speed wasn’t Jackson’s problem as a rookie, though. While he finished second on the team with 13 passes defensed, he also had a defense-high eight penalties. Jackson played a physical style at Iowa. He either failed to adapt or didn’t trust his ability, which resulted in clutching and grabbing.

“It’s a typical rookie year,” defensive coordinator Mike Pettine said near the end of last season. “He’s had his ups and his downs, and teams have gone after him. He’s improved. Just like Jaire (Alexander), he loves to play. He’s competitive. So that’s the beginning part. If you have that and an NFL skill-set, you’re going to end up being in this league for a long time. So we feel the future with Josh is bright.”

The Packers need Jackson to take a big step forward after allowing a 66.7 percent completion rate with four touchdowns and no interceptions, according to ProFootballFocus.com’s best guess at coverage responsibilities. Beyond Alexander, last year’s first-round pick, questions abound at cornerback. Can Kevin King stay healthy? Can Tramon Williams turn in a solid season at age 36? The door is open for Jackson. Is he capable of taking advantage? Missing the first week-plus of training camp due to injury didn’t help Jackson’s development.

“The thing about Josh is we realize that he is a ballhawk,” secondary coach Jason Simmons said. “One season where he didn’t get a bunch of interceptions doesn’t take that away from him. He still has that skill-set. The deal is it doesn’t always happen for you, particularly for a DB in your first year. Nobody’s down on him or anything like that. We still have faith in what he can do, and he shows it all the time on the practice field. Now it’s time to make sure to take it from the practice field and apply it in games.”