Green Bay Packers haven’t given up on Quinten Rollins yet

The Green Bay Packers aren’t giving up on Quinten Rollins yet.

So far this offseason, Green Bay Packers fans have witnessed some fan favorites depart.

Jordy Nelson, Damarious Randall and Morgan Burnett are all gone. Meanwhile, the Packers have brought in the likes of Tramon Williams, DeShone Kizer, Muhammad Wilkerson and Jimmy Graham.

These moves have been met by plenty of speculation by Packers fans. However, GM Brian Gutekunst has not been afraid to make moves in his first days spearheading the operations for the Packers.

In my opinion, one of the more interesting actions taken by Gutekunst is his decision to hang on to Quinten Rollins. The former second-round draft pick from Miami (OH) has completed his third season with the Packers. However, he has yet to truly become a reliable defensive back when they’ve needed him to contribute.

Here’s a quick look back at Rollins’ first three years in the league.

2015

In 2015, Rollins was pressed into action right away. He played in 14 games, and started four of them. Rollins finished the year with 31 tackles, a sack, but most important was his pass coverage. While only defending six passes all season, Rollins finished with two interceptions, the most notable of which was a pick-six against the Rams.

All in all, Rollins’ rookie season was a fairly decent first step towards hopefully becoming a mainstay at corner.

2016

Rollins’ second season was a somewhat strong step forward, but not quite what was hoped for.  He came into the season competing with Randall and LaDarius Gunter for a starting spot at corner because Casey Hayward was no longer with the Packers.

Rollins didn’t end up becoming the starting corner, but still was a solid contributor throughout the year. He finished the season with 39 tackles and one interception while playing in 13 games, starting 10 of them.

His best single-game performances came against Jacksonville, when he had two tackles and two pass breakups, and Seattle, when he had an interception, two pass breakups and seven tackles.

Rollins could have had a much better season, but a groin injury sidelined him for a couple of weeks during the regular season.

2017

Rollins’ solid first two seasons in the NFL are what made his 2017 campaign all the more disappointing. Throughout the offseason, Rollins received high praise from the Packers coaching staff. Expectations were high heading into the season. However, Rollins was outplayed by his counterparts in the secondary, and ended up suffering an Achilles injury in Week 6 that put him on IR for the remainder of the season.

He played in just six games, and started only the season-opener.

Most of the time Rollins was on the field he just seemed too slow to keep pace with receivers at the cornerback position, and was ineffective playing at nickelback as well.

Even with the drop-off from his first two seasons to his third, Rollins remains on the team.  Despite getting rid of Randall, it seems as though Gutekunst and the rest of the Packers staff haven’t given up on Rollins.

He will get his shot to prove himself in Mike Pettine‘s new defensive scheme.

For Rollins, training camp this summer may be his last chance to prove he is capable of being a consistent NFL cornerback.

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He may also be dealing with fierce competition at the position, given the return of Williams, and the likelihood of the Packers selecting a cornerback in the NFL Draft later this month.

For all those Packers fans that were dismayed at the trading of Randall, don’t hang your heads just yet.

Rollins still does have the chance to surpass the potential of Randall, and become the lockdown corner the Packers have long been looking for.