Green Bay Packers: Post-Senior Bowl seven-round 2021 NFL mock draft
By John Blair
Round 3: Asante Samuel Jr., CB, Florida State
One position the Packers have spent a lot of draft capital on over the past few years is cornerback. Unfortunately, they have missed on most of these players as guys such as Kevin King and Josh Jackson have been below average NFL players. The one player they did hit on was Jaire Alexander who they drafted in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft. Now the goal is for the Packers to find a corner who can fill the spot opposite Alexander.
A player who could possibly fill this role is Florida State cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. Despite being on the small side, coming in at 5-foot-10 and 185 pounds, he does show the potential to develop into a starting corner in the NFL. One of the traits he shows that makes me think he can make this transition is his quickness.
Samuel does a great job of closing any cushion a wide receiver gets on him and also will rarely get beat deep due to this speed. In addition to his speed, he has the loose hips to cover the smaller and more athletic wide receivers he might see if lined up as a nickel corner.
I would look for Samuel’s to start off a nickel corner in Green Bay, and possibly move into the starting lineup down the road.