Eric Stokes Vs. Rasul Douglas

The Green Bay Packers are in the midst of a rebuild.

Just ask left tackle David Bakhtiari.

“To me, flat out, how I look at it is it’s disrespectful to say you’re not rebuilding off a Hall of Fame quarterback,” Bakhtiari said of the Packers transitioning from Aaron Rodgers to Jordan Love. “It was disrespectful to say you weren’t rebuilding off of Brett Favre when you moved to Aaron.”

That means after years of having a veteran roster, the 2023 Packers will field one of the NFL’s youngest teams. It also means several jobs will be wide open when training camp begins on July 26.

This week, Forbes will examine several of the positional battles that await, starting with a key one in the secondary.

Cornerback

Eric Stokes vs. Rasul Douglas

Stokes, Green Bay’s first round draft pick in 2021, had a terrific rookie season. His play slipped in 2022, then he suffered a Lisfranc injury in his foot and a torn meniscus in his knee during a loss in Detroit on Nov. 6.

Both injuries required surgery.

“I knew something was up with the knee,” Stokes said. “We just didn’t know how bad the foot was. I had a plate and two screws in my foot and all that little stuff, but it is what it is.”

Stokes says his knee is fine today. The foot could be a different story.

It takes most athletes at least six months before they’re able to push off and run following Lisfranc surgery. Stokes was just getting back to running and cutting during Green Bay’s recently completed offseason program, but his availability for training camp is unclear.

“The meniscus was easy,” Stokes said. “If it was just the meniscus, I would have been back probably before the season, who really knows? It’s just really pretty much the foot. The foot’s going to take time. It’s going to take a little minute.”

The Packers will undoubtedly be patient with Stokes, who ran a blazing 4.29-second 40-yard dash coming out of Georgia. Stokes then had the league’s lowest rate of separation on his targets (24.0%) in 2021, ranked 15th among all corners in yards per target (5.9) and was exceptional in press coverage, allowing just seven receptions on 27 targets.

Stokes struggled the first two months of 2022, though, allowing 21 receptions on 25 targets before suffering his injuries.

“I absolutely hate looking at that film, but it’s just something I’ve got to do,” Stokes said. “I’ve got to learn from it. Pretty much the smallest detail, small little stuff you just took for granted, small little stuff, just simple little things like getting ready, just being lined up and just being ready.

“You’ve got to know you’ve always got to be ready. The ball can easily find you no matter what, no matter when, how or whatever, the ball can easily find you, so just keeping your gun ready, just staying ready 24/7.”

Douglas has been ready since arriving in Green Bay.

Green Bay plucked Douglas off Arizona’s practice squad on Oct. 6, 2021, and two weeks later he was in the starting lineup. From there, Douglas produced one of Green Bay’s more surprising seasons in recent memory.

Douglas led the Packers with five interceptions in 2021, and returned picks against the Rams and Chicago for scores. Douglas also intercepted Arizona’s Kyler Murray in the final seconds to preserve a 24-21 win against the Cardinals and picked off Cleveland’s Baker Mayfield twice.

Douglas wasn’t as good in 2022, when he allowed receptions on 67.1% of his targets, up from 50.8% in 2021. Douglas did finish second on the team, though, in interceptions (four) and passes defensed (13).

“With Eric not even being able to practice, we feel like we’ve got two pretty good outside corners in (Jaire Alexander) and Rasul,” Packers defensive coordinator Joe Barry said. “That’s the thing I keep saying about OTAs and training camp. All that stuff will sort out.”

Prediction

Douglas will be the Week 1 starter as Stokes slowly works his way back from his Lisfranc injury.

However, Stokes is the more gifted player and a former first round draft pick, and will reclaim his starting job once he’s 100%.

Both players are starting-caliber corners, though. So once Stokes returns, it will be up to Barry to find ways to get both players on the field as much as possible.