Getty Stanford Samuels #34 of the Green Bay Packers participates in a drill during Green Bay Packers Training Camp at Lambeau Field on August 20, 2020, in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
The Green Bay Packers are bidding farewell to one of their young cornerbacks one day after swapping veterans at the position with the New York Giants.
Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst announced Wednesday afternoon, August 18, that second-year cornerback Stanford Samuels III had been waived in a move that cleared the way for free-agent quarterback Jake Dolegala to re-sign to their 85-man roster. Earlier in the day, the Packers also made official their trade with the Giants that shipped former second-round pick Josh Jackson to New York in exchange for Isaac Yiadom, who started 10 games at corner last season.
Samuels was one of the Packers’ early standouts from 2020’s undrafted free agent class, missing the initial 53-man roster cut but earning a place on the practice squad after a solid camp as a rookie. While he never became an official part of the active roster, the Packers did elevate him to their game-day roster twice last November, though he played no snaps on defense.
The release of Samuels takes the Packers down to nine cornerbacks going into their second preseason game against the New York Jets on Saturday, August 21. While most of the personnel at the top of the depth chart is solidified, there remains an open competition for the sixth spot in the rotation between Kabion Ento, Yiadom, Ka’dar Hollman and Dominique Martin.
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Will Yiadom Push Out Ento?
The Packers’ first preseason game was a tale of two cornerbacks. While Jackson quite literally played his way out of Green Bay with an atrocious night in coverage (giving up seven receptions for 91 yards on 10 targets), Ento balled out as one of the best defenders on the field, allowing no completions and picking off a pass on the goal line one play after Jordan Love fumbled the ball away to the Houston Texans on a strip-sack.
Will he continue to stand out, though, now that Yiadom is competing for reps?
Yiadom was a 10-game starter last season for the Giants, giving him an edge in terms of experience against someone like Ento who has not seen a single regular-season snap. Availability is also another plus for Yiadom as he has missed just three games over his first three seasons (all as a rookie in 2018) while Ento was shut down for the entire 2020 season due to an injury.
And yet, the Packers trading for Yiadom doesn’t guarantee him anything. While he possesses experience that Ento does not, he has been far from a lockdown cornerback when on the field. On 392 coverage snaps in 2020, Yiadom gave 34 receptions on 54 targets for an average of 13.3 yards per catch. He also allowed an opposing passer rating of 126.4 when targetted in coverage and tallied more missed tackles (eight) than stops (seven) on the year.
The best facet of Yiadom’s game in 2020 was easily his run defense, garnering an 82.1 grade on the season from Pro Football Focus, but he will need to show improved coverage skills to ensure a place on the Packers’ roster in 2021. Expect both him and Ento to get a large chunk of playing time (likely together) against the Jets this weekend.
Davis beats Yiadom deep by a good margin but Zach Wilson overthrows him.
Ento making plays out here for Packers. Blew up a screen and had a nice PBU deep down left side intended for Cole.
Wilson throws deep TD to Berrios over SJC, but it would’ve been disrupted by Previlon.
Will Packers Cut More CBs at Next Deadline?
The Packers’ cornerback room isn’t the most crowded on the roster, but ultimately some of the nine are going to have to drop out of the roster race in the coming weeks. The Packers could keep the competition going all the way up until their final roster cuts on August 31 after seeing two more preseason games, but don’t be surprised if another cornerback is shown the door prior to the second cutdown deadline at 4 p.m. Eastern time next Tuesday, August 24.
While Ento and Yiadom will both likely be decisions that go down to the wire for the Packers, Hollman and Martin don’t have the same security or body of work. Martin is a relatively new addition who is occupying an NFL roster for the first time, having only played professional football in startup leagues such as The Spring League and Fan Controlled Football. He could show enough promise to be considered for a practice-squad role, but he’ll likely need a standout moment or two against the Jets to help his case.
As for Hollman, the former Toledo standout and 2019 sixth-round pick has been unable to climb the depth chart in his first two seasons. Despite playing in 18 games during that span, he has only played 112 total snaps of defense and has too small of a sampling size (seven completions allowed on 17 targets) to effectively judge in pass coverage. Maybe his special teams utility will earn him an edge, but the Packers could just as easily ask Ento or Yiadom to contribute in that phase.