Packers: Shawn Davis frontrunner for No. 3 safety spot?
Defensive coordinator Joe Barry and the Green Bay Packers defense are in a good spot right now.
After coming off of a top-10 season statistically, the Packers’ defense is now healthier and deeper than it has been in over a decade. That is especially the case on the back end with the defensive backs.
The Packers have arguably the best trio of cornerbacks in Jaire Alexander, Rasul Douglas, and Eric Stokes. The starting safety duo of Adrian Amos and Darnell Savage is one of the premier pairings in all of football.
But the team is looking to make that position even deeper. That is where Shawn Davis comes in.
Davis is not a well-known name by any means, but he has certainly caught the eye of the coaching staff. During OTAs, the former Florida Gator either played snaps on first-team defense or was the first backup in line behind Amos and Savage.
Davis was drafted in the fifth round last season by the Indianapolis Colts but didn’t play a single snap on defense. He spent the last four months of the 2021 season with Green Bay and recorded one special teams tackle.
Inexperience is a worry, but the only way to fix that problem is to get more snaps. Davis is doing that.
He does have a history of playing well against the best too. In his senior season at Florida in 2020, he led the team in interceptions. Recording 76 career solo tackles in the SEC is nothing to snuff at, either.
Davis wasn’t a first-round selection. He didn’t play for a championship team in college. But he has proven that he can play well against the best when given an opportunity. That’s all any player needs to make an impact.
Now, he has a real shot to provide important depth for what a lot of people are considering to be a Super Bowl-caliber defense in 2022. He will be fighting against the likes of Vernon Scott, Innis Gaines, and seventh-round pick Tariq Carpenter for the top backup spot behind Amos and Savage.
It appears as though Davis is taking full advantage of the opportunity he created by working extremely hard for a shot to play important snaps on a great NFL defense. It appears as though he has the inside track to that key reserve role on the back end of the Packers’ defense in 2022.