Grading the 2023 Packers: Darnell Savage and Safeties

You get what you pay for is a pretty good rule of thumb, whether you’re shopping for a mattress or an NFL secondary.

The Green Bay Packers in 2023 made only a modest investment in their safety corps. Having triggered the fifth-year option on safety Darnell Savage the previous offseason, the Packers re-signed Rudy Ford and Dallin Leavitt and added Jonathan Owens on one-year, rock-bottom contracts, and drafted Anthony Johnson in the seventh round.

In a shocking development, the Packers’ safety corps provided mediocre play throughout the season. Leavitt was dumped at midseason after a stupid penalty, and there’s at least a chance neither Savage, Ford nor Owens will return in 2024. Here is the season-ending report card, with grades based on a player’s impact relative to the salary cap.

Darnell Savage

2023 cap: $2,444,200. Position rank: 51st, according to OverTheCap.com.

Savage played under the fifth-year option of $7.901 million; to help with the accounting, the team added four void years on the back end of the deal. Thus, Savage’s cap hit was rather minimal; he’ll leave behind almost $5.5 million in dead money, though.

Savage was All-Rookie as a first-round pick in 2019 and had four interceptions and 12 passes defensed in a strong second season. However, his career went into a tailspin. In 10 games (all starts) in 2023, he had zero interceptions and one pass defensed. Yes, one pass defensed. He did have a critical pick-six in the playoff win at Dallas, a first-round pick-worthy combination of instincts, intelligence and athleticism, but dropped a potential pick-six and was at least partially responsible for a long touchdown pass to George Kittle in the playoff loss at Dallas.

About the only thing consistent in his game has been tackling. And by that, we mean bad tackling. His hit-or-miss approach consists of running as fast as possible and throwing his shoulder at the ball-carrier’s legs. He finished seventh on the team with 50 tackles but whiffed on Christian McCaffrey’s long touchdown in the playoffs.

According to PFF, he had 12 misses for a missed-tackle rate of 18.5 percent. Of the 95 safeties to play 300 regular-season snaps on defense, his missed-tackle rate ranked 85th and fell right in line with his career mark of 17.6 percent. PFF charged him with 13-of-16 passing for only 113 yards; his 23.1 coverage snaps per reception ranking 39th.

An excellent teammate, Savage will be headed to free agency. Will the Packers be happy to move on, or will they be intrigued by his potential in a new defense? So long as the price is right and the new coaching staff believes it can teach Savage some rudimentary tackling skills, the answer might be yes.

Grade: D-minus.

Rudy Ford

2023 cap: $1,500,000. Position rank: 70th, according to OverTheCap.com.

Ford played in 13 games with nine starts. He was sixth on the team with 68 tackles, had a team-high two of its meager seven interceptions, and was tied for third with six passes defensed. In two years, Ford has five interceptions.

Of 92 safeties with at least 200 coverage snaps, Ford was seventh with 36.4 snaps per reception and first with a 30.1 passer rating, according to PFF, which charged him with just 9-of-22 passing for 88 yards and one touchdown. Of 95 safeties to have played at least 300 total snaps, he was 14th with a missed-tackle rate of 8.1 percent (six misses). That’s all pretty darned good. And yet it was Ford who was the odd man looking in at the starting lineup down the stretch.

In a nutshell, Ford played 68 more snaps than Savage and had 18 more tackles, six fewer missed tackles, two more interceptions and five more passes defensed.

Grade: B-minus.

Jonathan Owens

2023 cap: $1,010,000. Position rank: 95th, according to OverTheCap.com.

A 17-game starter with Houston in 2022, Owens played exactly to his scouting report as a steady defender but not much of a playmaker. In 17 games that included 11 consecutive starts to end the season, he was fifth on the team with 74 tackles. He had zero interceptions, three passes defensed, one forced fumble and a fumble-recovery touchdown. He had the only sack among the safeties as the thought of blitzing one of the safeties crossed Joe Barry’s mind once every other week.

PFF charged Owens with 22-of-33 passing (66.7 percent) for 221 yards. Those were all the worst on the team. However, of the 95 safeties to play at least 200 coverage snaps, he ranked 55th in snaps per reception (19.8) and 75th in passer rating (115.8). He gave up three touchdowns; Ford gave up the only other touchdown among the safeties. Of 92 safeties to play at least 300 total snaps, he was 28th in missed tackles (9.2 percent; seven misses).

With 10 tackles on special teams, Owens trailed only linebacker Eric Wilson’s 11.

Grade: C-plus.

Zayne Anderson

2023 cap: $940,000. Position rank: 102nd, according to OverTheCap.com.

Claimed off waivers from Buffalo at the end of training camp, Anderson missed the first seven games of the season due to injury. Over the final 10 games, he played 127 snaps on special teams and had four tackles. His only snaps on defense came toward the end of the playoff rout at Dallas. It didn’t go well; it didn’t go well for anyone, though.

The Packers hoped Anderson would be a weapon on special teams. He had his moments but not enough of them. He is under contract through the 2024 season.

Grade: D.

Anthony Johnson

2023 cap: $770,941. Position rank: 131st, according to OverTheCap.com.

Johnson was a nonfactor to start the season, but injuries thrust him into a Week 9 start against the Rams. Highlighted by a diving interception, it was a big-time debut. However, he didn’t play nearly as well in starts/extensive reps against the Chargers, Lions and Panthers during the regular-season. He finished the season with one interception, three passes defensed and 23 tackles. That he had just one tackle and was 32nd on the team with 57 snaps on special teams was a disappointment.

Of 92 safeties to play at least 200 snaps against the pass, Johnson ranked sixth with 38.8 snaps per reception and 14th with a 68.8 passer rating, by PFF’s reckoning of coverage assignments. It charged him with 5-of-6 passing for 60 yards. So, that was good. Of 95 safeties to play at least 300 total snaps, he was last with a missed-tackle rate of 28.1 percent (nine misses). That made Darnell Savage look like Jack Tatum and Ken Easley by comparison.

Grade: C.