With the loss of Jaire Alexander, the Green Bay Packers’ cornerback room is spread very thin. The three starting CBs currently are Keisean Nixon, Nate Hobbs, and Carrington Valentine, with an honorable mention of Javon Bullard, who played a lot of snaps in the slot during the 2024-2025 season. How reliable are these players truly, and what should fans expect from them?
Nixon has been with the Packers since 2022, making him the longest-running defensive back they have. Over his three years with Green Bay, he’s had a total of 191 tackles, three and a half sacks, four forced fumbles, and three interceptions. This past season, specifically, he had one interception, three forced fumbles, three sacks, and 88 tackles on 1,018 snaps played.
In coverage, when targeted, Nixon allowed 56 receptions, almost 9 yards per reception, and a 99.7 passer rating. This earned him a coverage grade of 60.7 on Pro Football Focus. So while his coverage isn’t elite, he sits around average compared to the rest of the NFL. Nixon’s tackling ability is decent, missing only 10 this past season, while posting over 80 tackles.
Nixon’s best trait is his versatility. He can play slot, outside CB, along with being a blitzer, which he excelled at this past year under Hafley’s system. When blitzing, he created 9 pressures and had a 92.7 grade on PFF, rating him as the fourth-best CB blitzer across the NFL.
Overall, each year Nixon has started for the Packers, he’s improved, moving from an overall grade of 59.8 in 2023 to 64.5 in 2025. Fans should expect Nixon to be a little more consistent in year two under Jeff Haley, but shouldn’t expect him to be one of the league’s top corners.
Hobbs is the newest member of the defensive back room. He played for the Las Vegas Raiders from 2021 to 2024. In his time with the Raiders, he totaled 200 tackles, three sacks, and three interceptions. Over that time, he struggled with some injuries, playing 16 games in his rookie season, 11 in 2022, 13 in 2023, and 11 in 2024.
Hobbs’ performance was up and down throughout his time with the Raiders. He performed as one of the best in the slot during his rookie season, but dropped in 2022 with fewer games played, then in 2023, Hobbs had a 69 overall PFF grade, but fell again in 2024 to 61 in the 11 games he played.
Hobbs signed with Green Bay on a four-year, 48 million deal with only 16 million guaranteed this season. If he performs well, the contract will have been a great move by Green Bay; however, if he doesn’t live up to expectations, the Packers can release him with minimal punishment after this next season. His impact on the Packers will be, at worst, an average corner, but when he’s playing at his best, Hobbs has shown that he can be a top defender.
The Packers selected Valentine in the seventh round of the 2023 draft, and he has exceeded all expectations in his first two seasons. During his rookie year, he was thrown in due to injuries and the trade of Rasul Douglas. Valentine is the only Packer who hasn’t allowed a touchdown in his first 250+ coverage snaps in the past 11 years. In 2024, he played a total of 546 snaps, had 32 total tackles, allowed only 23 receptions, had five pass breakups, and two interceptions.
While he isn’t the best in the run game and lacks elite tackling, Valentine was given a 74.4 coverage grade, putting him in the top 30 of CBs in 2024. This shows that he has the potential to be a great corner given more snaps.
Overall, these starting three should at the very least be average. They might not be one of the top CB rooms, but they have a strong safety unit behind them with Xavier McKinney, Evan Williams, and Javon Bullard, as well as good linebackers in Quay Walker and Edgerrin Cooper. The biggest concern is the lack of proven depth. The Packers may be relying on the fact that Williams and Bullard can play snaps at CB if one of the trio gets injured.
With the loss of Alexander, there are some questions about how the group will perform throughout a full season, but the defense has already had to go through stretches without Alexander in the past. If the pass rush improves at all in the second season of Hafley’s defense, along with second-year improvements on players like Cooper and Williams, the Packers should have a top-10 defense and improve from this past season.
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