Naturally, I begin scanning the league as we approach the free agency window to see who could be available to sign, especially those who fill positions that the Green Bay Packers need filled. One of the key areas the Packers must target this season is the cornerback room. We’ll be examining Asante Samuel Jr. today to see how he may fit into Green Bay.
Let’s begin with the high-level information.
Asante Samuel Jr. is his name. He has no nickname, according to Pro Football Reference. It seems like a warning sign.
Standing 5’10” and weighing 180 pounds
The Los Angeles Chargers selected him in the second round (47th overall) of the 2021 Draft.
Age: 25 PFF 2024 Grade: 59.3
His tackling score of 29.5 is among the lowest I’ve ever seen, and that PFF grade is awful. Overall, PFF grades are quite accurate to what I observe when I watch a player, but I prefer to take them with a grain of salt.
Since the first thing that always comes up when I mention Asante Samuel Jr. is the tackling grade, let’s start there.
Pay attention. It’s not attractive. PFF has Samuel with a missed tackle rate of 22.2% to go along with the grade.
Even if the plays mentioned above and the stats are poor, Samuel’s situation is more complex than that. Poor technique (lowering his head) or an unfavorable angle are the reasons behind the failed tackles we just examined, not a lack of hustle or effort. To some degree, both of things can be fixed.
He is on the outside in this play, originally because of Davante Adams. Samuel passes Adams off when he runs a slant, draws attention to the apartment, and then drives and kills a guy.
Or this late-game play in which he drives and tackles Brock Bowers inbounds.
Samuel’s brilliance caught my attention the most when I was observing him. He was thoroughly aware of both his own and everyone else’s tasks for each play. He interacts with the defense and executes several deft defensive shifts throughout his movie.
This one versus the Chiefs is one of my favorites. When the outside guy moves vertically, he passes him off to the safety and shifts his gaze to the flat, keeping his eyes on the quarterback. At first, he is scooping up the outside man. Samuel drives to where he sees the shallow crosser racing at him as the play begins to unravel.
He’s in excellent position on all three of those shifts.
Additionally, I adore a few of the vertical switches. Here, a switch is being run vertically to Samuel’s side by the Chiefs. Initially carrying the outside man, Samuel skillfully takes up the vertical that shifted to the boundary and hands the receiver off to the safety inside when the route bends inside.
When necessary, he also does a good job of driving down on a play. When the ball comes out, you can see him drop off at first, then immediately drive down on the slant to break up the play against the Panthers.
When the ball comes, he makes a good play, is tightly positioned, and carries the slant to the center against George Pickens.
Although he spent a lot of time in zone, he did have some admirable traits when in man coverage. He lines up close to the line on this rep against Davante Adams and maintains excellent position during Adams’ stutter-and-go, which prevents the quarterback from moving the ball.
What is the decision regarding Samuel, then?
He is an intelligent, innate player who excels in both man and zone coverage. He appears to be predominantly an outside corner based on his stature and usage statistics (88.9% of his snaps in 2024 occurred at outside corner, according to PFF).
Regarding the Packers, I have a few serious worries. His history of recent injuries is one of them. According to Daniel Popper, he only participated in four games in 2024 because of “Stinger symptoms” in his shoulders. Samuel claims in the Popper piece that he was “born with” the condition. Would the Packers be willing to shell out a lot of cash for a 25-year-old cornerback who is small and likely to have a persistent shoulder problem?
The quantity of off-coverage he plays is my second main complaint. It doesn’t take much to realize Jeff Hafley’s preferred style of play—he likes to play an aggressive defense—even though he has demonstrated the ability to successfully modify his defense to fit his players. Above all, he wants his corners to get hands on the receivers and play tight.
Samuel seldom gets his hands on a receiver to reroute him, even if there are undoubtedly times when he plays tight to the line (as seen in the Davante Adams and George Pickens films above). To find out if he was doing it under the previous administration, I even watched footage from earlier Chargers seasons. Samuel might be able to do it, but it doesn’t seem realistic. His stature plays a factor in it, but his style of play also plays a part. With his coverage skills, he can keep receivers off the line, and he can play off and still make plays in front of him because to his quick, downhill trigger.
I apologize for not including any footage above, but his lack of stature also manifests itself when he runs plays. Although he will struggle to get off blocks, a tight end may remove him from a play with relative ease.
I’m just somewhat concerned about the tackling. Although it’s something that will probably come up from time to time, I’m not as worried about it as other people are. Perhaps I should be, but I’m more concerned about his injury history and his incapacity to play press-man than I am about how well he fits into the Packers defense.
In the end, everything relies on the potential terms of the contract. You might do worse than to try to sign a guy like this if Samuel is seeking a one-year prove-it deal to boost his market once again. But for a big-money, long-term deal? I would encourage the Packers to avoid it because of the two main issues I just experienced.
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