Davon House Offers a Temporary Fix
Davon House has been here before. He's played a role in a Packers defense that has finished near the bottom of the barrel in pass defense and a role in helping rebuild that porous standing.
He was there when the Packers finished dead last in pass yards given up in 2011 and he was there when they upped to 11th-best in the league a year later.
Now returning to the team that drafted him in that dismal year of 2011, House is hoping to play an intricate part in helping the Packers' cornerbacks bounce back after a horrific, yet, injured showing a season ago.
House is just one of three players to ever leave Green Bay and return in the Ted Thompson era, the other two being Charlie Peprah and James Jones.
"I'm one of the lucky ones," House said after last week's open practice. "This is where I wanted to be, this is where I needed to be. I feel like I can help this team out; I will."
There—hopefully—isn't anyone expecting House to be the savior the Packers need on defense. If anything, the presence House brings is more of a booster than anything.
House has familiarity with cornerbacks coach Joe Whitt Jr., who worked with a young House up until he was groomed to be the starter after the 2014 season once Tramon Williams departed to Cleveland.
The only problem, however, was that House followed suit and ended up in Jacksonville where he recorded four interceptions over the last eight games of the 2015 season. It was his first run at being a full-time starter.
The Packers then parted with Casey Hayward, who had his fair share of struggles since his impressive rookie season, only to lead the league in interceptions with the Chargers last year. It was a subtle reminder - in both of these cases - that the Packers may have made the wrong decision in letting both players walk.
After drafting Damarious Randall and Quinten Rollins with their first two draft picks in 2015, it seemed as if they were preparing for the future at cornerback. While House found success during the latter half of the season in Jacksonville, so did Randall and Rollins.
Both combined for five interceptions in just 13 starts between them—nine for Randall, four for Rollins—including Randall tying for the team-lead in that category. He also led the team in passes defended with 14.
The tale of the tape in 2016 is a grim one where Randall suffered the lingering effects of a groin injury sustained early in the season and carried throughout the duration of the regular season and into the playoffs. He also dealt with a shoulder and knee injury that made him a local on the weekly injury report.
Rollins, meanwhile, dealt with the same groin injury at the same point of the season as his counterpart. He also missed time due to a neck injury suffered in the season finale in Detroit.
These setbacks engineered the path for LaDarius Gunter, an undrafted rookie corner the team signed in 2015, who saw a majority of his reps against the opposing team's No. 1 wide receiver. In January, he covered Giants' receiver Odell Beckham Jr., the Cowboys' Dez Bryant and the Falcons' Julio Jones in back-to-back-to-back weeks leading through the NFC Championship.
Granted, Gunter didn't necessarily fair well against the three-headed trio of receiving threats, he performed far better under the circumstances presented before him than many thought he would. In most cases, throwing an undrafted corner into the fire would leave him charred to a crisp, but Gunter emerged with first-degree burns.
The return of House does more than what shows on the surface. It may leave Gunter covering the opposite perimeter, but it also can keep Randall in the slot. As a former safety at Arizona State, an area where Randall can freely roam and utilize his superb athletic ability in open space may be the best route.
The Packers still have newly-drafted cornerback Kevin King in the wing, who may also see work in the dime package that rotates in an influx of cover men. Even despite being the team's first selection in last month's draft, the possibility of King opening 2017 as a starter seems a bit hazy.
House won't bolster the Packers' pass defense from worst to first, but he does offer a cheap, temporary fix. A fix worth $2.8 million with $850,000 of it being guaranteed for a year. That may have been hard for the front office to pass up.
There's familiarity with House. Now, he reunites with Whitt and defensive coordinator Dom Capers to jump back into the fire as the third-oldest player in Green Bay's secondary behind Morgan Burnett and Demetri Goodson despite Goodson being drafted three years after House.
Familiarity and veteran help for a young, untailored group of cornerbacks whose average age last year was 24 years and six months.
"All I have to do is teach [younger cornerbacks] what the vets taught me," House said without hesitation when questioned if he can bring leadership to Green Bay. "I was lucky to have Tramon (Williams), Sam Shields, Charles Woodson, me and Casey (Hayward) came in around the same time.
"I'm different [from first stint in Green Bay]. A lot more confident. My first year in Jacksonville, I was able to do what I know I can do... It's what I expect to do here again as a full-time starter."
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Zachary Jacobson is a staff writer/reporter for Cheesehead TV. He's the voice of The Leap on iTunes and can be heard on The Scoop KLGR 1490 AM every Saturday morning. He's also a contributor on the Pack-A-Day Podcast. He can be found on Twitter via @ZachAJacobson or contacted through email at [email protected].
Comments (33)
dobber
May 30, 2017 at 01:10 pm
House isn't a panacea, but he's a reasonable patch. He's not a #1 CB...maybe a #2 in the kind of defense the Packers employ (which was no longer what the Jags were running), but he raises the talent level in the secondary meaningfully from what we saw a year ago (after Shields got hurt).
At this point, he's motivated: he's playing for his last big contract (4-year deal after 2017 puts him around 32-33) and if he plays particularly well in GB, he can make good money 2018 and beyond. He's also in a defense that should help to showcase his strengths. It's a win-win for both sides.
I really don't see him playing in GB past 2017 unless he's pretty good and other players (Randall/Rollins) fail miserably. It could force the Packers hand in keeping him longer term rather than having to draft and develop multiple CB out of next year's pool.
Handsback
May 30, 2017 at 02:28 pm
I'm not sure if Green Bay was the only team that wanted House, but frankly he may be more than a patch. The R twins will be fine, and with the addition of Jones and King there will be enough depth to keep some quality CBs even if there's more injuries like last year. I could see a rotation to keep those guys fresh and using their strength verses what other teams bring to the game. More TEs see more of Jones and House. More WRs like Atlanta, see more of the R twins.
Colin_C
May 30, 2017 at 03:27 pm
I honestly don't know why people aren't more excited about House. Look at his Jacksonville stats from 2015. The guy can play, and play well. I'm expecting him to be the teams best CB until King gets a season or two of experience under his belt. House will be our #1 CB this year, and I think he'll play out his career in GB
Lphill
May 30, 2017 at 04:14 pm
The Packers secondary will be better this season with just House and a healthy Randall, so even better if Rollins plays better and King can contribute .
cheesehead1
May 30, 2017 at 04:26 pm
Hope you're right. I can't see them being any worse though. Still way to early to know how King and Jones will pan out. King could be the next Richard Sherman or not even close. Most teams fans and local media are excited about their draft choices which is fine, but the bottom line is no one knows for sure. IMHO, if we stay reasonably healthy, this team can do some serious damage. Go Pack.
dobber
May 31, 2017 at 08:20 am
The only real comparison for Sherman and King is their heights and lengths. Beyond that, King is the far superior athlete...Sherman has proven to be pretty smart on the field and has that BS trash talky thing going for him. I don't want King to be the next Sherman, I want King to be that player 5 years from now that the next freakishly athletic tall, rangy CB is called, "the next Kevin King". And in a positive way, of course.
Tundraboy
May 31, 2017 at 12:28 pm
Yes. Me as well.
Packer_Fan
May 30, 2017 at 05:20 pm
Cornerback position is so much up in the air. Lots of ifs:
- House returns to his 2015 form
- Randall gets healthy and plays more to his potential.
- Rollins get healthy and play more to his potential.
- Kings adapts fast.
- I am not a Gunter fan. Why waste time on someone too slow.
Some of this will happen for sure. Some may take time. But some of this may not happen. People may get hurt again.
It will be fun to watch how this transpires over the season.
Tundraboy
May 31, 2017 at 12:31 pm
Going to be exciting to watch that's for sure. Looking forward to a resurrected D with some attitude.
Grandfathered
May 30, 2017 at 08:33 pm
Gunter got a real trial by fire last year and I hope he takes a step. You just can't beat the reps and experience.
Tundraboy
May 31, 2017 at 01:17 pm
Baptism by fire is a great teacher. To me if everything else goes right with the rest of the group, he will fit in well. There will be plenty of situations where he can be part of larger success, short field situations where smarts and experience count too. If someone better emerges or he is no better at least we found out sooner rather than later.
Since'61
May 30, 2017 at 10:14 pm
We need to put our best players on the field. I'm expecting that to mean House and King will be our starting boundary CBs with Rollins as the nickel DB. Gunther and Goodson should be chucked. We can find better options for our 5th CB with Hawkins, UDFAS and possibly CBs released during TC. Thanks, Since '61
Finwiz
June 01, 2017 at 12:22 pm
Exactly!!
1st cut in TC would be fine
LayingTheLawe
May 30, 2017 at 10:33 pm
The Packers defense was physically painful to watch last season. Never in history did a secondary give so many huge days to such middling to poor receivers. They often looked just plain lost out there.
My hope is that this was due to passive defensive schemes that tried to cover for the lack of talent left to put in the game. I am reminded of how the 2015 Packers were pummeled by the Cardinals in the regular season when Shields was out, and then held the Cardinals to next to nothing in the playoffs (until late and in the overtime) when Shields was back. Maybe if one good performer in the secondary can be found they can play aggressive schemes that seem to suit this team better.
dschwalm
June 01, 2017 at 02:21 pm
One thing is certain. With House, Randall and a couple of rookies, this defence is not going to improve enough overnight to have a run to the SB. I think it's still going to be a long season again for the defence, even if they don't have injuries.
Dzehren
May 30, 2017 at 10:43 pm
"That dismal year in 2011" we were 15-1 BTW
ZacharyJacobson
May 31, 2017 at 08:23 am
Thanks! They also had a historically bad defense and lost in the first round of the playoffs.
Also, I led into that dismal comment after discussing how poor that aforementioned defense was.
Arthur.Jackson
May 31, 2017 at 12:33 pm
Aggregate numbers aren't very good assessments. Defensive passer rating was 10th and points given up 19th in the league in 2011. Was the defense great in 2011? No, but it was adequate and in the playoff loss to the eventual SB champion Giants it played to it's regular season level only to see the offense play well below it's level.
The offense was also a (one of several) reason why the passing yardage totals on the defense were so high. The Packers were a front running team and forced teams to play catch up while the defense played softer to kill time.
RCPackerFan
May 31, 2017 at 07:55 am
House brings toughness to the position who can go up and be physical with WR's at the LOS. Something that has been lacking.
The way I look at it. House is better then Gunter, Hawkins, Goodson, Dorleant who all played last year.
That alone will improve the secondary from a year ago.
dobber
May 31, 2017 at 08:26 am
I will never understand how, late last season, Hawkins didn't get some snaps with Rollins and Randall out or playing hurt, and with Hyde and Gunter overmatched by better WR and TE. Why keep him on the roster if you don't have the confidence to put him in even when the cupboard is mostly bare?
I've never been a fan, but Goodson was, in his short stint last year before getting hurt, remarkably competent. Better than he'd been in past seasons when I'd cringe any time he was on the field logging defensive snaps. I suspect he goes on the PUP list and they give him 8 weeks to see if he's going to be anywhere near ready to play. Between him and Janis, they have two particularly good gunners on ST, and if Goodson is finally finding his way defensively, he could be a reasonable 5th CB...especially later in the season when injuries start to mount.
RCPackerFan
May 31, 2017 at 11:21 am
Honestly. I never understood that either. And when he was playing I thought he played well minus the one big TD he gave up to Jones.
While I admit Goodson played better then I thought he would have, there is a huge drop off from House to Goodson.
Right now Goodson at the best would be their 6th CB.
Tundraboy
May 31, 2017 at 01:23 pm
I concur. Just like a fumble, make a mistake and your pretty much done for the season, unless there is absolutely noone else like the situation with AZ in the playoffs. Drives me crazy. Waiting another whole year to see if a player has it in live action.....
Thegreatreynoldo
June 01, 2017 at 06:18 am
I thought Goodson was spectacularly bad. I wrote about the "Goodson Effect" several times. We averaged 32.4 points allowed in the 5 games Goodson played defensive snaps versus 20.54 pts/game allowed when Goodson didn't play. The only good game was week 6 against Chicago, in which Peppers broke Hoyer's arm on a sack early in the 2nd quarter. Barkely was woefully bad. Chicago managed 10 points, which included a defensive TD IIRC. If one takes the Chicago game out, the other 4 games in which Goodson had defensive snaps we averaged 38 points per game allowed. I also think that Gunter matched up well with Jeffery who went 3 recs for 33 yards. Horrible QBs in Hoyer and Barkley, and not exactly a murderers row of receivers (Zack Miller, J Bellamy, C. Meredith, Carey and D Thompson - a couple of TEs and a RB) Gunter matching up well against Jeffery: these are the explanation for limiting Chicago to 10 points. Sure, there were other moving parts. CM3 got injured for 3 of those 4 games, but we still had a healthy Perry, Peppers, and Datone, which looks pretty good compared to what is projected for 2017 in Perry, CM3, and ?
Maybe Goodson deserves a chance on PUP and then a roster spot due to his abilities as a gunner. After all, I think Goodson was as good at CB as Janis was at WR (but Janis can return kicks as well).
dobber
June 01, 2017 at 09:04 am
I think that to say the mid-season thrashings they took were all on Goodson would be a stretch. It was also the first portion of the season where they played minus Randall, Rollins and Shields for long stretches. That continued (Rollins returned in a limited role) until Goodson got hurt. You can assert that Goodson was spectacularly bad, but the defense as a whole was pitiful during that stretch, and the offense was doing it no favors.
...and we all seem to agree that good play on the part of the defense the rest of the way was spotty, at best.
Finwiz
June 01, 2017 at 12:15 pm
If Gunter, and/or Goodsen are seeing the field on a regular basis at all in 2017, it means the we have major injuries, like Randall, Rollins, King and House all getting hit by a car on the way to practice. I'm praying to the man upstairs those four guys are playing well and they have no injuries, and Gunter and Goodsen are both gone on the 1st cut.
Thegreatreynoldo
June 01, 2017 at 10:55 pm
I grant that I am in the minority on Goodson; indeed, not a few posters that I think highly of, including yourself, Dobber, disagree with me.
PatrickGB
May 31, 2017 at 10:12 am
I believe that Gunter played well despite his limitations. He frustrated OBJ to the point of a mysterious hole in the visitors locker-room. After other elite WR's figured him out he became a liability. As others have noted Goodson did ok as well. They were emergency backups. I remember House being the only CB with enough skills to Limit J. Jones when we played Atlanta a while back. I see the back end of our defense being deeper and maybe even better than last year. Our backups can cover their backups. My hope is that this year our starters can cover their starters and we return to more of an aggressive press man coverage.
Tundraboy
May 31, 2017 at 01:29 pm
Well said. Gunther was far better than others we threw out there. Wasn't his fault it was a train wreck of injuries, and we were playing some excellent WRs.
MITM
May 31, 2017 at 11:08 am
Theres really not that much to it. We couldnt possibly be any worse in the secondary than we were last year, nor any thinner depth wise than we were at seasons end. We added experience, height, and speed this offseason. Im expecting Randall and Rollins to be way better when healthy. I REALLY just hope come this time next year we arent having this same conversation about our pass rush. As thin and lacking of talent as we were last year without shields, randall and rollins(even when they played) is as thin as we would be at olb this year with injuries to both clay and perry at the same time, which we ALL know is a distinct possibility.
Thegreatreynoldo
June 01, 2017 at 06:03 am
This is obviously a valid concern. I might add that Elliott isn't a poster boy for health or availability either. He's missed a lot of games in his career due to injury to feet and hands.
Gianich
May 31, 2017 at 12:23 pm
There is no question House has the ability to be a good corner. The question lies in his ability to stay healthy and on the filed. When he is on the field he produces.
Finwiz
June 01, 2017 at 03:18 pm
Jacob Shum - GONE......CUT!!!!
PETER MAIZ
June 04, 2017 at 04:55 am
We have better corner back depth but can our line pressure the quarterback?