Packers Film Study: Rasul Douglas is the real story

Everyone remembers the game’s cut-off, but Green Bay Packers corner defender Rasul Douglas showed his teammates that he belonged on Thursday night with a great performance. Arizona Cardinals.

Douglas bounces during this offseason by joining three different training camps or training teams before finally landing on the Packers in response to an injury to Jaire Alexander and Kevin King. His last stop before Green Bay was actually Arizona, so Thursday’s race was technically a revenge game for the 26-year-old.

Arriving in Green Bay, Douglas has quickly overtaken Isaac Yiadom on the depth chart and has had a big impact as an outside corner. By Pro Football Focus (requires subscription), Douglas has been the target 16 times in three games, allowing only nine catches for 87 yards, an abduction and an opponent’s feeder rating of just 45.6.

After recording in the last few weeks, it’s obvious that Douglas is the corner defender of the starting caliber not only because of his table setting skills, but also because of his aggression.

One of the big things certain Packers corner defenders have struggled with over the last couple of seasons has been grabbing their receivers when the feed rush doesn’t immediately return home. This extra time has typically led to panic or mistakes that have led to explosive games.

Douglas hasn’t shown much panic in his game as an established veteran. His first big game on Thursday night was against AJ Green. As the Cardinals receiver broke across the field, Douglas stayed at the same point with him all the way and then played a safe game to break the pass at the catch point.

It wasn’t the most impressive game from a technical standpoint, but Packers fans will appreciate the corner defender who keeps his receiver across the field without grabbing or barking at the game.

Packers fans are also likely to wonder how Douglas treats the deep ball as an outside corner defender. There’s also good news there, as Douglas is quite happy with his strength and tenacity to get the recipients to naturally drift using the sideline as an extra defender. This is called “using a sideline as a lever” and is a great way for a corner defender to avoid giving up big games on the deep bottom.

The Packers have also needed a corner defender who can attack downhill aggressively to play against running and on-screen / swing passes in Jaire’s absence. Rookie Eric Stokes has shown a good willingness to break down, but his attempts at fireplace have not always been the cleanest, and blocking recipients can sometimes get him out of the game.

While the game below still led to the first loss, Douglas did a great job of showcasing his physical toughness and aggression by fighting through the block to get to the ball carrier and slow him down in time for help to arrive.

Such plays are also not abnormal for Douglas. He finished Thursday night’s game with nine solo tactics, the most games on either team, and he finished sixth in the Packers defense with 18 solo tactics during the year, even though he has seen action in only three games.

His open field tackle also looks pretty solid. Douglas uses a wide sole, keeps his feet moving, and attacks with a low padding level to wrap the ball supports up at his feet to lower them consistently.

As students searched, I remembered Douglas as a ball hawk in West Virginia. He finished his last college season in 2016 with eight cutouts and eight passes, which helped his draft stock make him 99th in the overall competition. 2017 NFL draft.

Everyone is referring to AJ Green for messing up Arizona’s last offensive game, which is more than fair. However, the play that Douglas was able to play with the ball, even though it was rocked, is a credit for his ball skills, which have been on display since mountaineers.

Douglas also earns bonus points for one of the coldest ways to celebrate the game’s sealing and waving goodbye to the audience almost immediately.

For someone who signed to the training team just a few weeks ago, Douglas has a huge impact on Green Bay’s defense in a situation where the team is very thin. It’s an honor for CEO Brian Gutekunst and his professional staff department to find Douglas, and it’s a sign that Packers ’defense can be very dangerous when players like Jaire and Z’Darius Smith are healthy.