Despite being something of a Madden darling with slightly cooled real-life expectations, Bo Melton’s career as a wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers was effectively a non-starter. The receiving room continued to bloat as the franchise invested in the position, and he was effectively squeezed out of the offensive equation.
His switch over to the defensive side at cornerback could easily be seen as one last desperate heave by the coaching staff and front office to get something out of him before pulling the plug. But surprisingly, the swap seems to have mostly paid off early in camp, with Melton shining in his new role.
Then Sunday’s practice showcased that Melton’s transition to cornerback may have been one of the most unexpected genius moves in the entire NFL.
Melton’s position switch pays off with early first-team action
As Carrington Valentine continues to flourish in training camp, it wasn’t too much of a surprise to see him snag some first-team reps on Sunday. But opposite to him was Melton, according to Packers reporter Mike Spofford, which is a huge surprise for a player who has played the position in the NFL for a few days.
There’s plenty of excitement among Packers fans for Melton to make his mark at a new position, but there is room for cautious optimism. Sure, Melton is impressing, making plays against the run and pass on Friday. However, the opportunity to line up with the ones largely comes down to how thin the Packers are at corner.
With Jaire Alexander and Eric Stokes leaving the franchise this offseason, the top two names on the initial depth chart were Nate Hobbs and Keisean Nixon, both of whom have not exactly lost their jobs yet to Valentine and Melton. But neither Hobbs nor Nixon match up with what the Packers previously employed, so instead of signing guys off the street, they are banking on who they have in the room.
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As of this writing, there’s no word on just how well Melton performed in his stint with the ones. Having to stack up with the Packers' stacked wide receiver group is no easy task for veteran corners in the league, let alone someone brand new to the position.
While it says plenty of Green Bay’s own shortcomings at corner that the two most promising players are a seventh-round pick and a recently converted wideout, it’s the time of year on the NFL calendar for players to seize opportunities presented to them, no matter how they came about. No one across the NFL landscape is doing that quite to the level of Melton through the first week of camp.