Bo Melton Has Surprised Himself at Packers Training Camp

How surprising has receiver-turned-cornerback Bo Melton’s play been during Green Bay Packers training camp?

Even Melton is surprised.

“Oh, yeah, for sure,” Melton said after Thursday’s practice. “I definitely wasn’t expecting to make tons of plays. I ain’t made a million of them, but I’ve made some plays. I was like, ‘OK,’ so I did surprise myself with the skills I brought to the table, I would say. It definitely was fun, just getting out there with the boys.”

Melton probably will get a long run “with the boys” in Saturday’s preseason game against the New York Jets at Lambeau Field. With Nate Hobbs out following knee surgery and Keisean Nixon getting the day off, Melton joined Carrington Valentine as the No. 1 corners on Thursday.

Even if Nixon plays against the Jets, he probably won’t be on the field for long. That Melton played with the starters on Thursday would signal that he’ll be on the field before the young group that includes Kalen King and Micah Robinson. 

“I’m hyped now. I ain’t going to lie,” he said. “I’m ready to see, go against somebody else. We’ve been going against the same people every week, so I’m just excited to go out there and compete with somebody else.”

Usually, position changes end poorly in the NFL. In the case of a receiver-to-cornerback conversion, it’s hard to compete with players who’ve played a position for a decade while going against players who’ve played that position for a decade.

Melton, though, has played with surprising consistency. It’s not as if receivers are running past him for big plays, dusting him on double moves or beating him on contested catches. He hasn’t been perfect – no cornerback is perfect – but he’s well on his way to earning his spot on the 53-man roster.

The key question is how much of Melton’s play is because he knows the ins and outs of Green Bay’s offense. For instance, during one-on-ones on Tuesday, defensive backs were routinely calling out routes. Melton, obviously, knows plenty about Green Bay’s offense and the veteran receivers.

Melton, though, downplayed that advantage.

“I’ll say I thought I was going to know a lot more going over to defense, like just knowing the offense more,” he said. “Really, the only thing I knew for real was the 2-minute drill but, regardless of that, it’s hard. They motion a lot on offense, so you can’t really tell what’s going on. Coach LaFleur and Coach Steno [offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich] and Coach Vrable [passing-game coordinator Jason Vrable], they’re very creative, so it’s hard to tell what they’re doing.”

Melton intercepted Sean Clifford during one-on-ones on Wednesday. It’s not the big plays, though, that stand out. It’s the lack of plays. The quarterbacks just haven’t targeted him as much as you might expect. Savion Williams caught a pass over the middle near Melton on Thursday, but Melton was in good position to limit the gain. It was the only time he was targeted.

“The break-in mechanics – seeing a route and being able to react quick – that’s what kind of surprised myself,” he said. “I thought I was going to be a step or two late sometimes. Sometimes you will be but, for the most part, I feel like I’ve been on top of routes. It’s hard but isn’t as hard as I thought it would be.”

It might get tougher coming up. The Jets are going to play their starters on Saturday night. The next two weeks are joint practices and games against the Colts and Seahawks.

Melton laughed when asked if he might get to play receiver, too, in the preseason. Melton loves receiver but he’s starting to “really like corner.” For him, breaking up a pass wearing No. 16 on defense is the equivalent of scoring a touchdown wearing No. 80 on offense.

On Saturday, Melton will get his first big test. With a lot of reps at practice and help from coaches, teammates and his brother, Arizona Cardinals cornerback Max Melton, he’s as ready as possible.

“Definitely going to be one for the books, for the first time going out there at corner,” Melton said in looking ahead to Saturday. “Definitely confident. I’m ready to go. I feel like they have really coached me up to the point where I am now. I feel like I’m going to get better every single day. I’m going to keep stacking, keep getting better every day. I can’t control everything so, at the end of the day, I just want to go out there, be myself and play corner.”