Through four Packers’ training camp practices we’ve seen a pretty constant rotation at the safety position when it comes to who is lining up next to Xavier McKinney. On Monday and Wednesday, it was Javon Bullard. On Tuesday it was Evan Williams and on Friday it was Anthony Johnson Jr.
“Our coach likes getting us ready to the speed of the ones and that’s both of us, so he’ll, I mean, he did the same thing at OTAs,” said Williams on Tuesday. “Kind of moved us around, he wants us getting comfortable playing with X, comfortable playing with each other, a little bit with Anthony, and just seeing a different look than with the 2s. Getting to run against Luke (Musgrave) and (Dontayvion) Wicks and feel that speed and yeah, just kind of get us up to speed. I was anticipating it a little bit and it was good to be out there.”
Through the few practices that have taken place, it has been Williams who has made the splash plays coming away with two interceptions, one of which he looked like a wide receiver making the play. But overall, the safety group and the secondary as a whole have been around the football, making plays on it, and near the line of scrimmage to help out in the run game.
“I feel good, man. I feel good,” said Bullard after the first practice. “Those coaches man, Coach Ansley, Coach Haf, RD (Ryan Downard), they do an amazing job of really just putting us in positions to make plays and positions to just be ourselves. Not trying to change who we are, not trying to change the player we are, but put ourselves in comfortable positions to actually just make those plays that we’re used to making. So I feel real good going into training camp.”
The Packers decision to rotate between Williams, Bullard, and Johnson early on is happening for a few reasons. The obvious is that each player is being evaluated to find out who will be starting alongside McKinney come Week 1. But as Williams mentions, the coaching staff also wants to get each of the young safeties comfortable playing with McKinney and filling different roles because we are going to see a lot of movement from this position group this season.
Rewinding back to the NFL combine, when GM Brian Gutekunst described what he was looking for at the safety position, the key word he kept using was “interchangeable,” meaning that whether it be the nickel corner, the free safety or the box safety, Gutekunst wanted defenders who could fill all three roles.
Bullard spent time as Georgia’s primary slot cornerback in 2022 before being asked to be the free safety in 2023. Williams played all over the Fresno State and Oregon secondary’s during his college career, while Johnson was originally a boundary cornerback at Iowa State before moving to safety his final season where he played both from the box and in the slot, while during his rookie year with the Packers, most of his snaps came as the free safety.
“Versatility is valuable,” said Bullard. “Being that guy that coach doesn’t want to take off the field because you so versatile is huge and I pride myself on that. So I’m going to continue to do that.”
As we watched OTAs and minicamp take place in late-May and early-June, one of the more noticeable changes that was going to be taking place defensively was the versatility at the safety position along with the added post-snap movement. That has carried over into training camp, where from snap-to-snap at times we’ve seen a different defender deep versus in the box, and vice versa. We’ve also seen the safety position lined up in the slot and three safeties on the field at one time.
“You gotta be able to build chemistry with different guys,” said McKinney. “I think that’s why it’s smart we’re doing that now and kind of building that now, so when the season does get here, knowing that everybody isn’t always going to be perfect. We’re not always going to have the same guys next to each other, just being able to build chemistry and knowing how the next guy works and what he wants to do. Just working around, that’s been good.”
Adding this level of versatility among multiple players to the safety position generates a layer of unpredictability to the Packers’ defense. Pre-snap, opposing offenses won’t be able to necessarily get a beat on what responsibility each player has or where they might end up as the play unfolds based solely upon who is on the field or where each safety is initially lined up.
From a game-planning perspective, this feature also opens up the playbook for Jeff Hafely, who has the flexibility to change things up from week-to-week, or even play-to-play, depending on the opponent and what the Packers want to take away.
Along with the coaching and the on-field experience that the safeties are gaining each day, McKinney’s presence has been extremely valuable in the early growth of this young position group as well, as he provides on the spot coaching and making sure everyone is positioned well pre-snap to make the play successful.
“He’s definitely accommodating,” said Williams about playing with McKinney. “Whenever we’re on the field, pre-snap we’ll just communicate who’s going down, if he wants to be high on this play based on personnel and situation and stuff, but yeah, just being able to kind of play with him and observe how he thinks pre-snap and just go through his mental processes, I think it’s definitely helped me as a player as far as what I should be thinking about, the types of things I should be considering pre-snap. And we’ll always talk post-snap, too, just about the previous play, a quick little recap so the next time we get that look I’ll be able to see it a little quicker.”
There is still a long ways to go before anything is going to be determined, and the real test for the young safeties on the Packers’ roster will come when Jordan Love is back on the field and the offense can find its rhythm.
Ultimately, it is going to be the day-to-day consistency that determines who is starting next to McKinney, and not only at one position on the field, but being consistent while filling multiple roles is going to be a requirement. And just because two of these safeties may not be a starter, doesn’t mean that there isn’t playing time or a role that can still be filled. Movement at the position and versatility are key in Hafley’s defense.
“I think whoever goes out there and gives us the most consistent effort and is able to make plays,” said LaFleur on what he’s looking for at safety. “We’re fortunate really when you look at all of those other guys, they’re all pretty intelligent guys that allows us to interchange X, whether we want him to be down in the box or put him in the post, just that flexibility is huge. So, whoever is starting opposite of him has got to be able to do both jobs as well.”