Packers keep early expectations in check for top-pick CBs Randall, Rollins
GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Joe Whitt immediately tempered any early expectations that might be placed upon the Green Bay Packers' top two draft picks. By selecting cornerbacks in the first two rounds, the assumption could be that Damarious Randall and Quinten Rollins will be asked to step in and contribute significant snaps right away.
That's not necessarily the case. The history of rookie cornerbacks suggests that getting acclimated to the NFL is a slower process than at some other positions.
"This is a hard game and he's going to have some challenges when he gets on this level, which all guys do," said Whitt, who's entering his seventh season as the Packers cornerbacks coach. "You know, corner is a hard position to come in and play as a rookie."
Whitt noted how infrequently cornerbacks have received Defensive Rookie of the Year votes in the past decade, with Casey Hayward and St. Louis' Janoris Jenkins being the recent exceptions.
"So it's a hard position to come in and play very early," Whitt continued. "So let's make sure that we have other guys in the room that are going to have great opportunities to show that they're worthy of playing as well."
It won't make the transition from college to the NFL any easier when it's two players who took unique paths to get to this point. Randall chose baseball out of high school and didn't play football in 2010 or 2011. Rollins chose basketball out of high school and took four full years off from football while honing his skills as a point guard.
"They'll be able to play and make plays and make splash plays here or there, but can they not make the mistake when you're in a big game?" Whitt said. "Can they play consistently? How fast can we get them to that point? That is the difficult part of it because all young players make mistakes.
"I don't care if they played the position all the way through from grade school. When you're a rookie, you make mistakes. And some of the mistakes, you just have to see it. You have to make it to learn from it. That's just football. How fast can I expose them to hard situations and get them to feel comfortable out there and be able to play fast?"
Though Randall and Rollins didn't play as much football in recent years as the majority of those cornerbacks they competed with for draft positioning, they had both proven themselves to Green Bay's coaching staff and front office.
Randall played safety at Arizona State, but that was only out of team necessity. His man-coverage skills are thought to be among the best of any draftee, so switching to cornerback shouldn't be an issue for him.
Rollins went from being overwhelmed in spring practice last year at Miami (Ohio) to being his team's best defensive player by the early weeks of the season. If he could pick it up that quickly after not stepping on a football field for four years, the Packers believe his upside is big.
Randall and Rollins also thrived on creating turnovers, which appealed to Green Bay. In two seasons, Randall had six interceptions and four forced fumbles. In Rollins' only year of college football, he had seven interceptions.
Whitt described Rollins' ball skills as "rare" and "something special."
That all sounds encouraging. It seems like a couple young players who could star as rookies in the Packers' secondary. But again, Whitt preached patience.
Even after the free-agent departures of Tramon Williams and Davon House, Green Bay still had Casey Hayward, Sam Shields, Micah Hyde and Demetri Goodson. Before Randall and Rollins can force turnovers on game day, they'd have to outplay Hayward, Shields, Hyde and Goodson in practice.
"Nothing really changes with the way we will approach the room; the best players will play," Whitt said. "The next guys will sit there and work to get ready to play. Are they going to play inside? Are they going to play outside? We'll let practice and all that figure that out."
Last season, when it was Williams, Shields, Hayward and House competing for snaps, Whitt consistently said it was an open competition for playing time every week. Now it's a six-man battle with two new, highly prized faces in the room.
"If it's a first-rounder or a free agent, if you play well, you'll play; if you don't, you'll sit there and watch," Whitt said. "I hope both of these guys don't think they're going to come in just because of their pedigree that they're going to necessarily play in front of anybody else. That's not how it works in our room. The best guys play."
Rollins was already embracing the challenge that lies ahead for him.
"I need to work on everything," the No. 62-overall pick said. "I've only played one year. I'm not coming in thinking I'm polished or anything. I need to work on everything, including my ball skills, even though that's I think one of the solid points of my game. I need to work on everything from A to Z, and I can't wait to get to work."
Packers director of scouting Brian Gutekunst described the "overriding theme" of drafting cornerbacks in Rounds 1 and 2 as being all about competition.
"I think anytime guys are challenged, you usually get the best out of them," Gutekunst said. "So I think that's a positive."
It's now up to Whitt to get his rookies ready to go and to keep his cornerback group on the same page as they all compete with each other.
"This is a young room," Whitt said. "We have a lot of work in front of us. I understand the challenge that's in front of myself and this group, but we're going to answer it. I'm very confident in the men that I working with."
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