The Packers don’t have a lot to love at cornerback right now. Keisean Nixon, Carrington Valentine, and Nate Hobbs are not a particularly inspiring trio, and their performance to end the season is probably not filling fans with a lot of confidence for the first year of the Jonathan Gannon era.
To make matters worse, the Packers are without a first round draft pick and don’t have the cap space to play in the deep end of the pool when it comes to cornerback spending. Outside of a day two or three draft pick,
the cornerback room you saw at the end of the 2025 season is more or less what the Packers will be trotting out for 2026.
However, let it be known that I hear your groans! I hear your complaints! I hear your sadness. I, too, wish the situation was better. But I am not the general manager of the Packers, so there’s very little I can do to fix things. I did, however, recently came into possession of some high-grade copium, and I’m assured it will make things seem not quite so dire. Would you care to partake?
Let’s start with Keisean Nixon. Yes, the ending was bad, but Nixon’s unlimited self-confidence is still his best feature, and we know from previous editions of the Keisean Nixon experience that he will be back for the start of 2026 fully convinced in his own abilities. I would have it no other way. If Keisean was not in the very first pew for weekly services at the Church of Keisean, I would be worried. This is how cornerbacks are supposed to be.
Furthermore, Nixon actually did have some pretty solid performances last year. Against the Commanders in Week 2 he was targeted five times and allowed no completions. He allowed just five completions in nine targets against the Cowboys in Week 4, allowing just one completion in two targets against George Pickens. Against Cincinnati, Tee Higgins had zero catches on three targets with Nixon in coverage, and the estimable Devonta Smith only managed two catches against Nixon for 25 yards. That’s a not-inconsiderable string of good performances.
What’s that you say? Nixon allowed four completions on four targets for 48 yards and a touchdown while working against Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase? Another hit of copium for you, my friend, we’re not here to talk about that.
Moving on to Carrington Valentine, I think you’ll find a much-improved player when looking at his past efforts. Valentine allowed completions on just 33 of the 61 targets for which he was the primary cover man, a rate of just 54.1%. That’s a significant dropoff from 2024, when Valentine allowed completions on more than 81% of his targets.
Valentine was at his best late in the season. In the Packers’ final two matchups against the Chicago Bears, Valentine allowed just five completions on 12 targets.
Yes, one of those targets did go for a touchdown in the playoffs, but again…well, there’s plenty more copium. Let’s carry on.
Javon Bullard isn’t technically a corner, I guess, but he plays in the slot most of the time, so let’s bring him to the party. Of the Packers’ three most notable safeties, Bullard was the odd man out in 2024. Xavier McKinney and Evan Williams were excellent. Bullard — not so much.
But in 2025, he was a new man. His coverage metrics improved across the board. He allowed just 7.1 yards per target in coverage, down exactly three yards per target from 2024. He allowed just one touchdown in coverage, down from three in 2025. And he cut his completion percentage allowed from 84.2% to 72.7%. Not too shabby!
And finally, there’s Nate Hobbs. We’re going to have to cope pretty hard here, considering we’re already working through real conversations about whether or not Hobbs, a free agent signing less than a year ago, should be cut or not. That’s a pretty tough starting point.
And truthfully, there’s not much to go on here. The best thing you can really say about Hobbs is that he’s a solid tackler. According to Pro Football Focus, he posted a career-low missed tackle rate of 10% in 2025, significantly lower than his career rate of 15.2%. That’s progress!
It may also be because he just had fewer opportunities to tackle, playing a career-low 358 snaps. But that’s not positive, so that’s not copium, so that’s not welcome here.
So there you have it. Is your confidence in the Packers’ cornerback group restored? Well, probably not. But at least there’s a little bit to like. Add a bit more this offseason, wherever they might find it, and maybe we’ll be able to resort to a little less copium next year at this time.
