Cornerback picks demonstrate a preference for playmakers

Green Bay — Back at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., cornerbacks Damarious Randall and Quinten Rollins were roommates.

“Hey,” Randall remembers telling Rollins, “we’ll probably end up being teammates.”

Of course, the Tyler quip proved prophetic. Dunne

At No. 30, the Green Bay Packers selected Arizona State’s Randall. At No. 62, they picked Rollins from Miami (Ohio).

Two cornerbacks, two wild backgrounds. One was a junior college baseball player (Randall), one was a Division I point guard (Rollins) for four years. Both possessed a knack for the big play.

OK, so Packers coach Mike Mccarthy says he doesn’t “buy into the fact” if there are 6-foot-5 receivers in your division you should draft 6-2 cornerbacks.

“Our opponents,” he said, “especially our division opponents, will not dictate the way we build our football team.”

Maybe not. But the modern game will. When Ted Thompson took over as general manager in 2005 and, one year later, used the fifth overall pick on linebacker A.J. Hawk, zero teams even attempted 600 passes.

Last year? Eleven did. Five years from now? Probably 15, 20? This league is trending one direction. So, the Packers’ answer to this is the playmaker, not the physical specimen. The mind, not the mugger. Starting with Randall. That “free safety” designation next to his name, the one that made fans use 140 characters worth of panic on social media Thursday night, is misleading. With Arizona State blitzing constantly, Randall said he actually was in man-to-man coverage “95%” of the time.

“And with the Pac-12 being a passing league,” Randall said, “that gets me ready for the next level.”

He says he reads the game a tick faster. At Mesa (Ariz.) Community College, playing cornerback, Randall had seven interceptions his first five games. Quarterbacks stopped throwing his way. So coaches moved him to safety.

On to Arizona State, Randall had six interceptions, 12 pass breakups and four forced fumbles. Take a third and 2, he explained. If he can tell by the formation that the action won’t spill his way, he’ll keep his eyes in the backfield. He’ll take a chance.

The pursuit of the long, physical, next Richard Sherman may rage elsewhere.

Green Bay has gravitated toward this instinctual corner, one who can play “off” coverage and read a quarterback’s eyes. In Charles Woodson and Tramon Williams the Packers lost a combined 66 interceptions and 213 pass breakups.

They deemed it time to move on from Woodson in 2013, Williams in 2015 and, last weekend, sought similar minds.

So maybe we shouldn’t be shocked to see the Packers take the 5-11, 196-pound Randall over 6-2

Eric Rowe, 6-1 Jalen Collins and their combined two picks last fall.

“I’ve always been a guy who has a knack for the ball,” Randall said. “I am pretty good at baiting quarterbacks and having them think I’m beat by a step or two — I can be very, very deceptive. I was just baiting the quarterbacks to throw it, they threw it and I got interceptions.”

Randall is told this was Williams’ forte. The game within the game.

Williams reached a point where he didn’t even worry about the wide receiver across the line, rather taking an 11-on-11 snapshot presnap.

“A lot goes into it — from watching film to knowing the situation to reading routes with the splits,” Randall said, “and having a focus on what’s going on in the game because watching film slows the game down for you. So once the game is slowed down for you, that actually makes you play fast. Once you’re playing faster than everybody else, that’s when you play better than everybody else.”

Packers inside linebacker and former Arizona State teammate Carl Bradford reiterated that the Sun Devils “blitzed every down.”

The centerfielder background — two of Randall’s brothers played baseball professionally — resurfaced often.

“He’s a ballhawk, man,” Bradford said. “He’s always around the ball. When the ball’s in the air, you know he’s going to be around it and have an impact on that play somewhere, somehow.”

With Rollins, the gamble is greater. He played only one year of college football. UCLA’S Owa Odighizuwa? No thanks. Snarling linebacker Paul Dawson? Tight end Clive Walford? Those positions could wait. Green Bay saw the seven interceptions, the 214 career steals in basketball, an upside, and chose cornerback. Again.

“I think the basketball, there’s definitely some things that transfer,” said John Hauser, Rollins’ defensive backs coach in college, “as far as seeing things happen and anticipating — especially at the point guard position. It’s just very, very similar.”

Oh, there’s another former Division I point guard waiting: Demetri Goodson. And Casey Hayward, and Micah Hyde. Yes, this position battle opposite veteran Sam Shields will be the best in training camp. The player who’s around the ball most will play. At the podium, cornerbacks coach Joe Whitt practically rung a bell.

First, he repeated how difficult Year 1 is for a cornerback. The position is complex.

Above all, he continued, this is a passing league. Interceptions. Turnovers. That’s how you change a game.

“So I value it,” Whitt said. “Six years we’ve been here, we’re No. 1 in the league by a good margin, and I believe both of these guys have the skill-set to get the ball, add it to what Sam and Casey can do, and Micah.”

The result, the Packers hope, will be another Woodson or Williams.

Last weekend, they at least increased their odds. Send email to tdunne@journal sentinel.com