wpr
  • wpr
  • Preferred Member Topic Starter
a year ago

Safety Darnell Savage has reemerged in a new role under defensive coordinator Joe Barry.

Two months ago, Green Bay Packers  defensive coordinator Joe Barry stated that safety Darnell Savage would be an “unbelievable”  nickelback. With 2022 in the rearview and redemption on the horizon, Barry and Savage had a successful start to 2023 when the former first-round pick was plugged into the slot position, full-time, for the first time in two seasons.


Prior to last Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings , the Packers’ primary nickel was either Rasul Douglas — who is now starting at outside cornerback in place of the injured Eric Stokes — or Keisean Nixon — who was limited to just three special teams snaps vs Minnesota as the potential All-Pro returner was still battling through a groin injury. Enter Savage.


Savage has gone through a rollercoaster of a season. Struggling as a tackler, he was benched in Week 12 against the Philadelphia Eagles  after starting 57 of 57 available games in his Packers career as a safety. He then eventually replaced his own replacement, Rudy Ford, mid-game against the Miami Dolphins  in Week 16. This Vikings game was set to be the first start for the former first-round pick, whose fifth-year option for 2023 was already picked up by Green Bay , since he was handed back the reigns.






The Packers’ nickel defense vs Minnesota.




Based on Acme Packing Company’s charting of the game, Savage played 35 of 41 slot snaps available before the Packers pulled their starters. The reason that both Savage (45) and Ford (50) got so many defensive snaps last week , their first time over a significant period of play, was that Ford came off the bench in these nickel sets to play high safety for the displaced Savage.






#Vikings  RT Brian O'Neill's injury occured on the Darnell Savage pick six. Hustling like crazy to try and get the tackle and he pulls up. pic.twitter.com/KDn2PuRJ9g 
— Luke Braun (@LukeBraunNFL) January 2, 2023 








The slot alignment is where Savage made his pick-six against the Vikings. Lined up in coverage against receiver Adam Thielen, Savage was able to react to a broken-up pass and put six points on the board.








The other six slot snaps in the game went to fellow safety Innis Gaines, who played the slot when starting safety Adrian Amos was asked to play an inside linebacker role in the Packers’ nickel set out of dime (six defensive back) personnel. With Amos at linebacker and Gaines in the slot, Ford and Savage played the high safety positions together.


The deployment of those four safeties allowed Green Bay to play receiver Justin Jefferson, who had nine receptions for 184 yards and two touchdowns against the Packers in Week 1, with specific guidelines on crucial downs. If Jefferson was an outside receiver, Green Bay would typically play “cloud coverage” toward him — meaning that a cornerback would play a shallow zone to him with a safety playing a deeper zone over the top of him. If Jefferson lined up in the slot, the Packers often ran a bracket coverage, exhausting two players to double-cover him in man-to-man.


The result? Green Bay was up 41-3 before they swapped in their second-team defense against the Vikings midway through the fourth quarter on Sunday. Minnesota quarterback Kirk Cousins completed just 16 of 29 (55 percent) passes against the starting defense for 149 yards (5.1 yards per pass), three interceptions and two sacks.


The question now is if this was a game-planned solution for Jefferson or if the Packers will continue this strategy versus the Detroit Lions  in Week 18 and potentially the postseason. Again, Nixon was the team’s starting slot until he was injured, so it’s uncertain if his return to the defensive side of the ball would push Savage back to full-time safety and Ford to the bench.


Either way, Green Bay’s pecking order in the secondary is otherwise clear. Outside of possibly Nixon, the Packers seem more confident in Savage in the slot right now than anyone else on the roster. Gaines currently fits in as the third slot on the depth chart behind Savage and Nixon. At safety, the next man up is Ford, but they’ll play Savage over him as long as Savage isn’t lining up in the slot.




Continue Reading @ justis.mosqueda 

justis.mosqueda wrote:



It seems to be working.
UserPostedImage
Zero2Cool
a year ago
I really thought he'd shine starting in year three. I was hoping for that Nick Collins type morph. Glad to see the defense found a spot for him where he excels!
UserPostedImage
Fan Shout
Zero2Cool (3h) : 49ers might be down their QB, DL, TE and LT?
packerfanoutwest (17h) : Jaire Alexander says he has a torn PCL
Zero2Cool (20-Nov) : Even with the context it's ... what?
Mucky Tundra (20-Nov) : Matt LaFleur without context: “I don’t wanna pat you on the butt and you poop in my hand.”
beast (20-Nov) : We brought in a former Packers OL coach to help evaluate OL as a scout
beast (20-Nov) : Jets have been pretty good at picking DL
Zero2Cool (20-Nov) : He landed good players thanks to high draft slot. He isn't good.
Zero2Cool (20-Nov) : He can shove his knowledge up his ass. He knows nothing.
beast (20-Nov) : More knowledge, just like bring in the Jets head coach
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : What? Why? Huh?
beast (19-Nov) : I wonder if the Packers might to try to bring Douglas in through Milt Hendrickson/Ravens connections
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : The Jets fired Joe Douglas, per sources
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : Jets are a mess......
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : Pretty sure Jets fired their scouting staff and just pluck former Packers.
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : Jets sign Anders Carlson to their 53.
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : When you cycle the weeks, the total over remains for season. But you get your W/L for that selected week. Confusing.
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : the total and percentage are the same as the previous weeks
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : the total and percentage are the same as the previous weeks
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : the totals are accurate..nrvrtmind
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : I don't follow what you are saying. The totals are not the same as last week.
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : ok so then wht are the totals the same as last week?
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : NFL Pick'em is auto updated when NFL Scores tab is clicked
Martha Careful (19-Nov) : The offense was OK. Let's not forget the Bear defense is very very good.
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : Who updates the leaderboard on NFLPickem?
beast (19-Nov) : Has the Packers offense been worse since the former Jets coach joined the Packers?
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : Offense gets his ass in gear, this could be good.
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : Backup QB helped with three wins. Special Teams contributed to three wins.
bboystyle (18-Nov) : Lions played outside thats why. They scored 16 and 17 in the only 2 outside games this year
Zero2Cool (18-Nov) : The rest of the NFL is catching up to Packers ... kicking is an issue throughout league
packerfanoutwest (18-Nov) : Packers DL Kenny Clark: We knew 'we were going to block' Bears' game-winning field goal attempt
Zero2Cool (18-Nov) : Lions seem to be throttling everyone, but only (only) got 24 lol maybe the rain is why
Zero2Cool (18-Nov) : Packers vs Lions game doesn't seem so bad.
beast (18-Nov) : Dennis Green "They are what we thought they were, and we let them off the hook!"
Martha Careful (17-Nov) : comment of the day Z2Cool "Bears better than we want to admit. Packers worse than we think. It's facts."
Mucky Tundra (17-Nov) : my worst case scenario: Bears fix their oline and get a coach like Johnson from the Lions and his scheme
Zero2Cool (17-Nov) : Bears get OL fixed amd we might have a problem
buckeyepackfan (17-Nov) : Pretty sure they already have scouting reports on guys who aren't even starting for their college team. The future is now for me.
buckeyepackfan (17-Nov) : I tend to let Gute and Co. Worry about the future.
beast (17-Nov) : That's great news and Packers need to keep upgrading their OL, DL and DBs this off-season, so missing one guy doesn't kill them
beast (17-Nov) : That's great news and Packers need to keep upgrading their OL, DL and DBs this off-season, so missing one guy doesn't kill them
buckeyepackfan (17-Nov) : Jaire and Evans Williams are both ACTIVE! Good news.
Martha Careful (17-Nov) : The badgers really need to change the whole offensive scheme. No draws no screens plus the quarterback is marginal
Cheesey (17-Nov) : If the Badgers had a decent QB, they would have won. The guy can't hit a wide open receiver
Martha Careful (17-Nov) : chop block
Martha Careful (17-Nov) : there was a very questionable job Block call that upon viewing replay was very borderline
beast (17-Nov) : How so? (I didn't watch)
Zero2Cool (17-Nov) : Badgers got hosed vs Oregon
packerfanoutwest (16-Nov) : damn,he hasn't played since week 2
Mucky Tundra (15-Nov) : poor guy can't catch a break
wpr (15-Nov) : wow. That three different things for the kid.
Please sign in to use Fan Shout
2024 Packers Schedule
Friday, Sep 6 @ 7:15 PM
Eagles
Sunday, Sep 15 @ 12:00 PM
COLTS
Sunday, Sep 22 @ 12:00 PM
Titans
Sunday, Sep 29 @ 12:00 PM
VIKINGS
Sunday, Oct 6 @ 3:25 PM
Rams
Sunday, Oct 13 @ 12:00 PM
CARDINALS
Sunday, Oct 20 @ 12:00 PM
TEXANS
Sunday, Oct 27 @ 12:00 PM
Jaguars
Sunday, Nov 3 @ 3:25 PM
LIONS
Sunday, Nov 17 @ 12:00 PM
Bears
Sunday, Nov 24 @ 3:25 PM
49ERS
Thursday, Nov 28 @ 7:20 PM
DOLPHINS
Thursday, Dec 5 @ 7:15 PM
Lions
Sunday, Dec 15 @ 7:20 PM
Seahawks
Monday, Dec 23 @ 7:15 PM
SAINTS
Sunday, Dec 29 @ 12:00 PM
Vikings
Saturday, Jan 4 @ 11:00 PM
BEARS
Recent Topics
5h / Green Bay Packers Talk / Martha Careful

19h / Green Bay Packers Talk / Martha Careful

22h / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

21-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

21-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

21-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

20-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

20-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

20-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

20-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

20-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / wpr

19-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / dfosterf

19-Nov / Featured Content / Zero2Cool

19-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / Martha Careful

19-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / wpr

Headlines
Copyright © 2006 - 2024 PackersHome.com™. All Rights Reserved.