Inbox: He's a star in the making

[Cheesehead]

Will from Mechanicsville, VA


What are your thoughts on Raven Greene's performance on Sunday? He seemed pretty active. Any idea on his injury situation?


Greene was active early on before the oblique strain. Injuries really have been the only thing holding him back through his first two-plus NFL seasons. When healthy, he's been the best fit for the Packers in that hybrid safety role since Morgan Burnett left three years ago.


Josh from Tega Cay, SC


Incredible showing! Were you surprised AJ Dillon didn't get more involved?


Not at all. As I wrote Saturday, Jamaal Williams is capable of being a bell-cow back in this league. With Aaron Jones out, the offense needed to ride Williams and the fourth-year veteran produced as a runner, pass-catcher and blocker.


Jacob from Mason, OH


Can Jamaal Williams make GB into the two-headed threat that we so desperately need?


He's been doing that since 2017.


Richard from Madison, WI


Is Jamaal Williams really as cool in person as he appears to be on the field? Man, he makes me smile every time I see him!


I've never covered anyone quite like him, at any level. They broke the mold with this guy.


Jeff from Muskego, WI


When is Jones due back?


We'll see whether he practices Wednesday but it doesn't sound like he should be out long.


Margeaux from Tallahassee, FL


I don't know how many snaps Kamal Martin played but he looked good to me. What say you?


He plays hard, fast and physical. Everything I saw in training camp was on display Sunday. Martin still has a ways to go. It wasn't perfect but he's an athletic thumper. The Packers appear to have found two solid ILB prospects in Martin and Krys Barnes through the 2020 draft process.


Bret from Hertel, WI


Dear Wes, the Packers' draft picks the past few years show you why you need a lot of picks vs. trading them away. Some high like Jaire are becoming stars, while others are still waiting to make an impact (e.g. Darnell Savage/Rashan Gary), but other rookie free agents or late-round picks are becoming as valuable to the team as some higher picks (Barnes, Vernon Scott, Black, Jones, and Williams). How do you tell fans or critics that you need to look at the whole draft process and not individual picks?


There's more uncertainty involved with drafting players as opposed to trading picks for proven commodities, but it's the safe and manageable way to build for the future. I know everyone is salivating over these clickbait "The Packers should trade for J.J. Watt" stories, but the reality is such a move would be a giant hit on Green Bay's salary cap. As much fun as it is to acquire a player, that leaves less money for a team to spend elsewhere. At only 23, he's a star in the making. Alexander has had that mentality since the day he walked in the building.


Tom from Blaine, WA


Without chortling, might I suggest Alexander Atoll?


I was caught off-guard by how many of these "Alexander Atoll" submissions we received Monday.


Jordan from Virginia Beach, VA


Can we just combine Jaire to Island and call it Jaisland? As for the talk about his lack of interceptions, couldn't the argument be made that he is shutting people down to the point he isn't getting as many chances? Next Gen Stats should have a metric for interception per target/closest defender. If they can tell us how fast a player is going at a given time, who wins against pass/run blocks and all the other numbers they provide, why not a DB stat showing effectiveness, not just picks and PBUs?


Pro Football Focus actually has a couple measurements like that – yards allowed per snap and snaps per allowed reception. Alexander ranks second in yards allowed per snap (0.55) and sixth in snaps per reception (15.9) among cornerbacks with at least 200 coverage snaps. If this keeps up, the pundits will need to start using the Darrelle Revis metric on Alexander. It's hard to get picks if QBs aren't throwing at you.