Green Bay Packers the latest to take a shot on Isaac Yiadom
The Green Bay Packers are the latest NFL team to take a shot on former Boston College third-round pick Isaac Yiadom. Can he figure it out in Green Bay?
The New York Giants recently struck a trade with the Houston Texans for some depth at the cornerback position with the Texans sending Keion Crossen to the Giants for a 2023 sixth-round pick. With the depth they wanted in place, the New York Giants then traded former Denver Broncos third-round pick Isaac Yiadom to the Green Bay Packers, according to multiple reports.
CB Isaac Yiadom is being traded to the Green Bay Packers, per sources. Yiadom was acquired in a trade with the Denver Broncos before the start of last season. Started 10 games for the Giants.
— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) August 17, 2021
Yiadom was a third-rounder in the 2018 NFL Draft to the Denver Broncos, who at the time had planned on him being a pretty immediate starter in Vance Joseph’s defense.
He played 24 percent of the defensive snaps in his rookie season with the Broncos, notching his first (and so far, only) career interception late in the season off of (then) Chargers QB Philip Rivers.
Entering year two, Yiadom was expected to be a full-time starter and they certainly gave him that shot, but he only ended up playing 48 percent of the snaps in year one under Vic Fangio. He was firmly on the roster bubble in 2020 after the Broncos went out and got AJ Bouye in a trade and used a third-round pick on Michael Ojemudia.
The Broncos sent Yiadom to the New York Giants near the time of final roster cuts, so this is familiar territory for him.
He goes from a team with some okay upside in 2021 to a legitimate NFC contender in the Green Bay Packers, who added Eric Stokes in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft.
The Green Bay Packers also brought back Kevin King this offseason, and Jaire Alexander may be the game’s top cornerback. If not, he’s in the discussion.
Yiadom will provide depth at corner as well as on special teams.
The Packers brought in Joe Barry to coordinate the defense in 2021, and he comes over from a Los Angeles Rams team that saw the development of a variety of unheralded defensive backs in recent years.
This is a solid situation for Yiadom to be getting into, and hopefully he can revive what once looked to be a very promising NFL trajectory.
Pro Football Reference credits him with six touchdowns allowed last season, as well as a 120.1 rating for quarterbacks throwing into his coverage. The Packers are very much buying low here with Yiadom but since he’s not yet 26 and has intriguing length as an outside corner, it’s worth a shot.