The Green Bay Packers didn’t just bring back Keisean Nixon for his kick-returning abilities. The team also sees him as a starter on defense to open 2023.
Coach Matt LaFleur said Nixon, who signed a one-year deal to return to the Packers, will go into the season as the expected starter at nickel – or slot – cornerback.
“Day 1, he’s going to be our nickel,” LaFleur said at the NFL Annual Meetings. “We’re going to give him every opportunity to earn that position, just like we do every guy, but Day 1, he will be our nickel, and it will be up to him to make sure he owns that position over the course of the season.”
Nixon led the team with 145 coverage snaps from the slot cornerback position last season, although the Packers had two others – Rasul Douglas and Darnell Savage – with over 100 slot coverage snaps. Douglas opened the year as the starting nickel, while Savage eventually moved into the slot after losing his starting spot at safety.
Nixon gave up 19 catches on 24 targets for 200 yards, zero touchdowns and an interception when covering from the slot last season.
Nixon’s expected role in the slot connects with Rasul Douglas playing perimeter cornerback, his best position, according to LaFleur, and Eric Stokes’ uncertain recovery timeline from last season’s ankle injury. Savage is expected to start the season at safety.
If Stokes isn’t ready to go to start 2023, the expected starting trio of cornerbacks would be Douglas and Jaire Alexander outside with Nixon in the slot, although LaFleur made it clear that the cornerback will be a competitive position where even veterans have to earn snaps once Stokes returns. The Packers will also continue moving Alexander around to occasionally match up with No. 1 receivers, something he did effectively over the second half of last season.
Nixon was the primary slot cornerback in six games last season: Week 3 vs. the Buccaneers, Week 4 vs. the Patriots, Week 9 vs. the Lions, Week 12 vs. the Eagles, Week 13 vs. the Bears and Week 15 vs. the Dolphins. The Packers were 4-2 in those games and gave up 24.5 points per game.
