Packers 2024 Report Card: Grading Xavier McKinney and Safeties

All-Pro Xavier McKinney and promising rookies Javon Bullard and Evan Williams changed the safety position from weakness to strength for the Green Bay Packers.

Bill Huber | Jan 31, 2025

Green Bay Packers safety Xavier McKinney / Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

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Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers had arguably the worst group of safeties in the NFL in 2023. With the additions of Xavier McKinney, Javon Bullard and Evan Williams, the Packers might not have the best group of safeties but they are on their way.

Here is Part 10 of our annual series of player report cards. As we’ve done for about 15 seasons, the grades are viewed through the lens of the salary cap. Why? Because the financial component is so critical to building a team. A championship team needs its most-expensive players to be among its best players, and it needs young, inexpensive players to rise to prominent roles.

All cap figures are from OverTheCap.com. Analytical stats are from Pro Football Focus and Sports Info Solutions.

Xavier McKinney

2024 salary cap: $7,800,000. Position rank: 10th.

Last season, the Packers went into the playoffs with Darnell Savage and Jonathan Owens as their No. 1 safeties. Combined, they had zero interceptions and four passes defensed as the Packers finished with seven interceptions as a team.

Signed to a four-year, $67 million contract in free agency in free agency, Xavier McKinney had eight interceptions and 11 passes defensed to earn All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors. He finished second in the NFL in interceptions and tied Detroit’s Kerby Joseph for first with nine takeaways.

Of 73 safeties who played at least 300 coverage snaps, McKinney ranked third with a 56.4 passer rating allowed and zero touchdowns.

It’s not just the coverage. Of 89 safeties who played at least 400 total snaps, McKinney had the seventh-lowest missed-tackle percentage (five misses, 5.4 percent).

There’s a reason why the Packers typically shy away from free agency. Too often, there’s too little return on investment as too many teams chase too few veterans. Through production and leadership, McKinney would have been a bargain at twice the price.

Grade: A.

Javon Bullard

2024 salary cap: $1,219,297. Position rank: 80th.

A second-round pick, Javon Bullard started 11 of his 15 games. He finished with 85 tackles, but really made almost no big-play impact with two tackles for losses, zero sacks, interceptions or forced fumbles, and one pass breakup.

Bullard looked like a terror during the offseason practices and training camp. That didn’t show up during the games. Maybe it’s because he spent May through September playing safety and October through January playing in the slot.

Of 33 defensive backs who played 200 coverage snaps in the slot, Bullard ranked 25th in yards allowed per snap, 28th in snaps per completion and 26th in passer rating (108.0). In total, he allowed three touchdowns catches. Of 89 safeties who played at least 400 total snaps, Bullard ranked 35th in missed-tackle percentage (10 misses, 11.0 percent).

PFF has a stat called a “stop,” which is the same as Green Bay’s win/loss grading system. It measures impact tackles. For instance, a solo tackle on first-and-10 that limits the play to 3 yards or less is a stop. Bullard had 25 stops, as many as the rest of Green Bay’s safeties combined and 19th overall among safeties.

The big question the coaches must answer: Is Bullard a good enough slot defender to handle the likes of Amon-Ra St. Brown?

Grade: C-plus.

Zayne Anderson

2024 salary cap: $1,055,000. Position rank: 100th.

Zayne Anderson entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2021. During his first three seasons, he played exactly zero snaps on defense. In 2024, he was thrust into action after rookies Javon Bullard and Evan Williams went down and played really well off the bench at Detroit and in his first career start against the Saints with seven tackles, one interception and two passes defensed. He missed one tackle and didn’t allow any catches in a total of 122 snaps.

“It’s coming sooner than you know,” defensive backs coach Ryan Downard said of being thrown into the action. “I tell the rookies that, I told him that, and then to see him get an opportunity, that’s a credit to him and his preparation to just go out there and do your job and let the plays come to you. I’m actually getting chills talking about it, because it’s such a good story for him. I’m really proud of Zayne.”

He added nine tackles on special teams, which trailed only Edgerrin Cooper (10).

Grade: C.

Evan Williams

2024 salary cap: $995,720. Position rank: 107th.

A fourth-round pick, Evan Williams was a training camp sensation. The ball just seemed to find him as he made one big play after another.

There was some of that during the season as he finished with 47 tackles, one interception, three passes defensed and one forced fumble in 13 games (six starts). However, after a game-clinching breakup at the Rams in Week 5 and a forced fumble against the Cardinals in Week 6, Williams didn’t get his hands on the ball the rest of the season.

During the regular season, the Packers were 10-0 when he had at least one tackle and 5-1 when he started.

Of 89 safeties who played at least 400 total snaps, Williams ranked 53rd in missed-tackle percentage (seven misses, 14.0 percent). Of 73 safeties who played at least 300 coverage snaps, Williams ranked fourth with a 56.5 percent catch rate and ninth with a 69.7 passer rating allowed and one touchdown allowed.

The future is bright.

Grade: B.

Kitan Oladapo

2024 salary cap: $858,569. Position rank: 130th.

A fifth-round pick, Kitan Oladapo missed the offseason practices due to an injury sustained at the Scouting Combine. The injury and the depth chart were too much to overcome.

In the first 11 games, he was inactive for eight. He played a total of 18 snaps on defense headed into Week 18, when a barrage of injuries meant Oladapo went from the end of the bench to starting. In 50 snaps, he was in on four tackles, didn’t miss any tackles and didn’t allow any completions in an impressive debut.

With his size and athleticism, he should have been a weapon on special teams but finished with three tackles in 14.7 percent playing time.

Grade: D.

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BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.