Green Bay Packers rookie first-round defensive back Damarious Randall is catching the eyes of the coaching staff and fans.  He should, considering that he's this year's first-round draft pick.  Still, when Randall was taken late in the first round, some wondered if general manager Ted Thompson wasn't just unable to make a trade and had to pick someone at that spot.  There weren't many expecting Randall to go that early in the draft and then there was the matter of his being a safety on a team that needed cornerbacks. 

The Packers quickly announced that Randall would get a shot at converting to cornerback, as they already had a good stable of safeties in Morgan Burnett, Sean Richardson and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix.  Although first-rounders tend to carry more confidence in their new team and fan base, the idea of converting a college safety to corner (even though Randall had played plenty of corner in the past), was still a bit unsettling.  At the start of the team's rookie camp in early May, Randall was held out with an ankle injury.  He missed some early valuable time on the field to learn what he had been digesting in the meeting room.  And with the Packers injury history over the past few seasons, some held their breath that this wouldn't be a long-term issue for Randall.  It wasn't.  He immediately impressed the coaching staff with his ability to pick up the defense and be around the ball more often than not.  

Training camp started a week ago and Randall's name has been mentioned almost every day.  With veteran Casey Hayward having missed time while healing from foot surgery and with rookie Quinten Rollins out with a hamstring injury, Randall saw increased time during the first part of camp.  He's been around the ball often and has multiple interceptions so far.  He's also spent time on special teams.  

Before the team began offseason workouts and practices, it was Rollins who was getting most of the love as the rookie most likely to make an impact right away.  Randall had question marks around him and there weren't many sold on what he would bring to the Packers defense.  With each passing day, he's turning doubters into believers.  Those doubters had and have a right to be hesitant.  

Over the last four drafts, Thompson hasn't exactly hit it out of the park often.  In 2011, the team drafted offensive lineman Derek Sherrod, who suffered a horrific leg injury late that season and never fully recovered.  He's not even on the roster anymore.  In 2012, it was linebacker Nick Perry, another player the Packers worked to convert from defensive lineman to linebacker.  Perry has battled injuries and hasn't been able to establish any consistency.  He flashes once in a while but seems to be under the gun in 2015 to prove his worth or head out of town.  2013's first pick was defensive lineman Datone Jones who, like Perry, hasn't shown what the team and fans were hoping for.  A one-game suspension to start 2015 won't help, but the Packers are counting on Jones to return and become a big part of the rotation up front.  Last year, Clinton-Dix was the pick and he turned into a solid starter at safety by season's end.  A brilliant performance for the first three quarters of the NFC championship game made a winner out of Thompson with the pick.  Randall looks to make it two years in a row.

Preseason games will start soon and Randall will have a chance to flash his abilities against guys in other jerseys.  He's certainly not in any danger of not making the roster this season, but he's already surpassing the expectations of many and a big contribution from the former Arizona State standout would provide a huge boost to a team that already has many solid pieces in place.  And with Burnett eventually coming due for another contract, Randall could prove to be a top candidate to move back to safety and infuse the position with more youth.  It's too early to call that a certainty, but he seems to be that type of verstaile player who can do whatever the defense needs of him.  And let's not forget he's facing some of the best competition on the other side of the ball every day in receivers Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb and Davante Adams.  That can't hurt.

As I've said before, Randall has the intangible in that he understands that he'll only get so far on his ability alone.  He realizes that he has to prepare and understand the defense mentally and translate it to plays made on the field.  He knows guys are fighting for jobs and playing time and that he's not going to get a ton of help during the preseason.  It sounds like another high-character guy ready to forge his way onto another successful Packers team.  Randall is likely hoping he becomes the answer to the trivia question about who the Packers drafted in the first round when they won their latest Super Bowl in 2015.  

Should Randall continue on to have a solid freshman season in the NFL, he could in line to join the likes of former Packers defensive backs who made an early splash and had successful careers with the Packers.  Guys like LeRoy Butler, Tramon Williams, Nick Collins and Darren Sharper.  If the first week of camp is any indication, at least we know that the arrow is pointing up for Randall.