Could the Packers Move Douglas to Safety?

Carrington Valentine has gone from afterthought to the star of training camp in two weeks' time. 

A seventh-round pick is far from a roster lock when they come into camp.

Valentine's two pick-sixes in practice coupled with three pass breakups and an interception in last Friday's preseason opener could have the Packers not only locking him into the roster but finding a way to get him onto the field. 

"Yeah,. I mean every person’s different. I think he’s a guy that obviously has a lot of talent and I think he’s approached it the right way." LaFleur said before Wednesday's practice.

"I think G-Money and Hoodie are doing a great job with him and he’s getting a lot of opportunities, especially with a guy like Stokes being out and he’s taken full advantage of those. And every practice he makes a play. You guys saw it at the end of the last practice we had making that pick-six and he’s super talented and he’s just maximizing those opportunities." 

When Rasul Douglas was giving his exit interview going into free agency after the Packers' disappointing 13-10 loss against the San Francisco 49ers, he said he would be willing to do anything. That included playing safety. 

Douglas re-signed in Green Bay that offseason, giving the Packers a good problem.

They had a healthy Jaire Alexander. Eric Stokes was coming off an excellent rookie season, and Douglas was returning to the team.

The team felt they had three good corners. The problem? 

They are all best suited to play on the boundary.

That led to some experimentation.

Douglas played safety in camp for one day last year. Nothing came of it. Instead, Douglas was the slot corner when the season began. 

The experiment didn't go well, and Douglas returned to his more natural position of outside corner by midseason.

The experiment wasn't as useful last season because they had established starters Adrian Amos and Darnell Savage roaming the back end.

Amos is in New York. Savage is fighting for long-term stability. The safety position next to him is unsettled, at best. 

That leaves the safety position unsettled. 

The cornerback position has a bit of a logjam. Valentine has done nothing but make plays.

Jaire Alexander isn't moving anywhere. He's one of the best players in the sport at his position. 

Eric Stokes is a former first-round pick, who has plenty of talent and good NFL experience. He's likely going to get every opportunity to prove he is the player he was as a rookie.

None of those players are best suited to play inside, so how do they get all of them on the field? Cornerback isn't a position that typically rotates.

Well, Matt LaFleur might at least be considering a position change. 

LaFleur did use the word potentially to describe the ways the Packers could experiment in camp to get all of their talented defensive backs on the field. 

Douglas' skillset as a ball-hawking physical cornerback seems to be best suited for a potential move should they do something like that.

LaFleur did caution, however, that each position is different. 

"I think that’s certainly a possibility, yeah. I think you could absolutely do that. LaFleur said. 

"There is a different requirement, I would say, in terms of just coming up and fitting some of the runs and just, there’s different responsibilities, totally different position, although they’re all classified as defensive backs. I think the job criteria is a little bit different between a corner and a safety and even a nickel."

It's early enough in camp to where the Packers could still do some experimenting with their secondary.

The goal would be to get their best group of defensive backs on the field. With the safety position unsettled, it's worth considering.

It looks like the Packers are at least doing that.