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Is the Chargers cornerback a fit in Green Bay?
As we look ahead to the free agent period, I naturally start looking around the league to see who may be available to sign, particularly those who play positions that the Green Bay Packers need. The cornerback room is one of the big positions the Packers need to attack this year. Today, we will be looking at Asante Samuel Jr. and seeing how he may fit in Green Bay.
Let’s start with the high-level stuff.
Name: Asante Samuel Jr. (According to Pro Football Reference, he doesn’t have a nickname. Feels like a red flag.)
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 180lbs
Drafted: 2nd round (47th overall) in the 2021 Draft by the Los Angeles Chargers
Age: 25
2024 PFF Grade: 59.3
That PFF grade is bad, and his tackling grade of 29.5 is one of the worst I’ve ever seen in that regard. I tend to take PFF grades with a grain of salt, but, overall, they tend to be fairly close to what I see when I watch a player.
Let’s start with the tackling grade since that’s the first thing that seems to come up whenever I bring up Asante Samuel Jr.
Listen. It’s not pretty. To accompany the grade, PFF has Samuel with a 22.2% missed tackle rate.
However, while the numbers and the above plays are bad, those are not the entire story when it comes to Samuel. The missed tackles we just looked at aren’t the result of a lack of effort or hustle: they’re the result of poor technique (dropping his head) or taking a less-than-ideal angle. Both of those are fixable to a certain extent.
On this play, he’s on the outside, initially over Davante Adams. When Adams runs a slant, Samuel passes him off and gets eyes to the flat, where he drives and cuts a man down.
Or this play where he drives and tackles Brock Bowers in-bounds in a late-game situation.
What stood out to me the most when I was watching Samuel was his intelligence. He clearly understood his assignment on each play, as well as the assignments of those around him. His film is filled with him communicating with the defense and making some smooth defensive switches.
One of my favorites is this one against the Chiefs. He’s initially picking up the outside man, but when that receiver goes vertically he passes him off to the safety and gets eyes to the flat, angling himself to keep eyes on the QB. As the play starts to break down, Samuel spots the shallow crosser running at him and drives there.
That’s three different switches and he’s in great position on each one.
I also really love some of the vertical switches. Here, the Chiefs are running a switch vertical to Samuel’s side. Samuel initially carries the outside man, but when that route bends inside, he passes that receiver off to the safety inside and seamlessly picks up the vertical that switched to the...
