Part 10 of an 11-part position-by-position series in which the 68 players on the Packers’ 53-man roster and various reserve lists are graded. Playing-time percentages in the 18 games are for offense and defense only.
Previous grades: WR | TE | OL | QB | RB | DL | ILB | OLB | CB
Safeties (6)
Adrian Amos (98.3 percent)
Nothing really has stood out about Amos during his two seasons in Green Bay after four in Chicago. He isn’t great against either run or pass, and doesn’t make game-changing plays. Amos’ significant value stems from his durability and dependability. In those six seasons, he has missed just four of a possible 101 games due to injury. A fifth-round draft choice from Penn State in 2015, he has been a starter for all six seasons. He brought a professional, mature approach to the defense in Green Bay, living up to his four-year, $36 million contract ($12 million guaranteed).
Packers safeties Darnell Savage and Adrian Amos have been all over the place in coverage the last two weeks…
🔸7 PBUs, 1 INT vs CAR/TEN pic.twitter.com/TcYBjdOY3U
— Ben Fennell (@BenFennell_NFL) December 29, 2020
Amos ran 4.47 at the Nittany Lions’ pro day but doesn’t play anywhere near that nowadays. He can’t be matched up against wide receivers, and some of the better tight ends present coverage problems as well. Amos understands his athletic limitations, plays to his help and generally holds up as best he can. With his size and hard-nosed approach, he’s best deployed near the line of scrimmage. He shows no fear working in and around offensive linemen, throws his body around and always gets back up. He tied for the team lead in tackles with 91 while missing 12, three more than a year ago. He isn’t a punishing tackler, and hasn’t forced a fumble during his two seasons as a Packer. When aligned in the back end, Amos is well-prepared, poised and usually does the job despite his limited movement ability. He intercepted three passes while dropping two, and drew only two penalties. Mike Pettine rushed him 16 times, and he came through with three pressures.
Amos, who will be 28 in April, provides stability and a strong role model for young players. Grade: B-minus
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Henry Black (2.4 percent)
Made a name for himself on special teams after a stay on the practice squad until mid-October. Despite playing just 149 snaps in the kicking game, he finished third in tackles with 11. He logged the most special-teams snaps late in the season against the Titans and Rams. He’s a thickly built, strong tackler. Started only as a senior at Baylor, but scouts liked his serious approach and love for the game. Played 27 snaps on defense, mostly as a box safety, and didn’t looked out of place. Never had the chance to run a 40 last spring, but scouts expressed reservations about his speed. Grade: D
Raven Greene (28.4 percent)
He’s a smart, gritty, undersized safety/linebacker with a nose for the ball. However, he plays too big for his body and can’t stay on the field. His medical history continued to grow in 2020 with a quadriceps injury (missed one game), oblique injury (missed 1 1/2 games) and shoulder injury (missed last 6 1/2 games). In 2019, an ankle injury in Week 2 sent him to the injured reserve for the remainder of the season. As a rookie free agent in 2018, he missed the final six games because of an ankle injury. At James Madison, he missed most of one season (2014) with a tibial stress fracture then had back problems in 2017.
The majority of his playing time came at inside linebacker in the light nickel defense. His tackle rate of one every 8.2 snaps led the safeties, but he also missed eight times. He had three pressures in 16 blitzes, exactly the same numbers as Adrian Amos. Greene is a useful player if he can ever avoid injury. Grade: D-plus
Will Redmond (32.6 percent)
At 5-10 1/2 and 186, Redmond is almost too small for cornerback let alone safety. Yet Redmond ended up as the team’s No. 3 safety for the second year in a row after Raven Greene went down again. Opposing quarterbacks have taken advantage of him in the passing game. He’s feisty, but often loses the matchup because he’s so small.
Despite playing 673 snaps the past two seasons, he hasn’t produced a takeaway. His best chance came two plays before a first half-ending TD pass in the NFC Championship Game when he dropped a wayward sideline lollipop pass from Tom Brady. Redmond has done some good things as a blitzer and will hit, but he also missed too many tackles (six). Injuries knocked him out of 1 1/2 games in 2019 and 3 1/2 this year. Although he finished third in playing time on special teams with 276 snaps, he got in on just four tackles. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent. The Packers can do better. Grade: D-plus
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Darnell Savage (86.8 percent)
Played better than he did as a rookie but remains just a middle-of-the-road starter. At his size and with his speed, one would think free safety would be his best position. Yet he was much more effective playing in a box/lurk role later on in the season than he was lined up in the middle of the field before that. Sees ghosts in the deep half, takes chances and gets gashed for huge plays. His eye discipline isn’t close to where it needs to be. Can accelerate quickly on plays in front of him. Led the team in interceptions with four, the most by a Green Bay safety since Ha Ha Clinton-Dix had five in 2016, and dropped two others.
Willing to mix it up in the run game, but size limits his physical impact. Missed 15 tackles, the most on the team. Led the defensive backs in pressures with four. Is it possible he would be better suited as a slot cornerback? He played there as a freshman at Maryland, and in his final three seasons as a safety, he did spend time on passing downs covering receivers in the slot. Grade: C-plus
Vernon Scott (7.9 percent)
There was debate within the organization regarding Scott’s playing time. Some thought he should play more, but in the end, the coaches stayed with Will Redmond as the No. 3 safety. When Scott did play, often it was when the Packers had a large second-half lead.
Scott was a late bloomer, starting only as a senior at Texas Christian. His 4.46 40 at pro day in April 2019 convinced scouts to take another look. Showed some aggressiveness popping people in the flat and on special teams. He ranked fifth in special-teams tackles with seven after ranking sixth in snaps with 198. He’ll definitely be given every chance to earn a more prominent role next year. Grade: D
(Photo of Savage and Amos: Jonathan Daniel / Getty Images)