Green Bay Packers: Offseason roster cut candidates
By Kenn Korb
Demetri Goodson & Josh Hawkins
Goodson
2016 Statistics
Regular Season (6 games; 182 snaps): 14 tackles (10 solo), 1 pass defensed
Playoffs: N/A
PFF* Rankings: 43.2 (overall), 43.5 (coverage), 43.3 (run defense), 60.0 (pass rush)
Contract Details**
Remaining Length/Cost: 2 years/$7,533,334 remaining
Potential Cap Gain/Dead Money: $3,283,332/$333,334
Hawkins
2016 Statistics
Regular Season (11 games; 8 snaps): 5 tackles (5 solo), 1 pass defensed
Playoffs (3 games; 15 snaps): 2 tackles (1 solo)
PFF* Rankings: 48.9 (overall), 48.9 (coverage), 60.1 (run defense), 60.0 (pass rush)
Contract Details**
Remaining Length/Cost: 2 years/$1,170,000 remaining
Potential Cap Gain/Dead Money: $540,000/$0
Outside of a late-season renaissance by Micah Hyde, there was little good shown by any of the Green Bay cornerbacks in the whole 2016 season.
Shields wasn’t having a good game in Week 1 before his concussion stole the rest of his year. Damarious Randall did have a good game there, but immediately got torched by Stefon Diggs the next week; he ended up struggling with injuries (missed 6 games) and inconsistencies to a poor sophomore season. Quinten Rollins wasn’t quite as bad, but he too struggled mightily while missing 5 games to injury and playing at a much lower level than he did during his rookie year. Seeing as he was supposed to be the #4 corner at the start of the year, LaDarius Gunter did about as well as possible in taking over as the #1 CB for most of the year, but the 2nd-year undrafted player was massively outclassed when facing top-tier wideouts (the Odell Beckham Jr./Dez Bryant/Julio Jones trio would be rough on anyone, but it especially exposed Gunter’s limitations).
Past those guys, there weren’t many other snaps to go around, but the few times players like Goodson and Hawkins hit the field they were at least as bad.
Goodson had 182 snaps across 5 games in the middle of the year; in those, he was routinely taken advantage of, both in coverage and in run defense. He’s only gotten worse in his three years in the league, proving himself unable to make the transition from basketball to football (he switched over in his final year of college).
Hawkins isn’t the same situation (a rookie rather than a third-year player; also, no basketball-football transition to worry about), but the results came out pretty bad in their own way. He didn’t see the field nearly as much as Goodson, but his time out there was highlighted by mistakes and big plays by the opposition (remember: during the Week 3 comeback attempt by the Detroit Lions, it was a failed tackle by Hawkins which led to a long score by Marvin Jones Jr.). He wasn’t as bad on special teams, but he was hit-or-miss — literally — far too often; on any given opposing return attempt, he was just as liable to completely whiff on an attempt as he was to make a concise tackle.
Definite moves have to be made at this position in the offseason, and the other CBs have a better case for sticking around. Hyde is a free agent; it’d be smart to bring him back. Gunter may not be a #1 cornerback, but he did well in certain matchups and has done enough to stick around in a smaller role. Randall and Rollins looked awful most of the year, but are entering just their third seasons and showed enough as rookies to be worth another chance despite their sophomore struggles — especially considering there aren’t any high-end options at the position on the roster to replace them. Between free agency and the draft, at least two more players/prospects should be brought in.
That all takes up at least 6 roster spots, and doesn’t even include Goodson, Hawkins, or Makinton Dorleant, who ended up being the guy designated for return from Injured Reserve during the season over guys like Eddie Lacy or Shields. Accounting for the fact that only 7 players took CB snaps for Green Bay despite their struggles, somebody has to get the axe. Goodson and Hawkins have shown the least positive signs of being anything positive for the team, so odds are it will be those two who are shown the door.