Josh Jackson is at a Career Crossroads in Year 4

Josh Jackson was taken in the same draft as Jaire Alexander, but his career has gone in a much different direction.

Jaire Alexander was Brian Gutekunst’s first draft pick. He might be Gutekunst’s best.

A 5-10 dynamo, Alexander harries his opponents with the intensity of a Jack Russell terrier, dogging receivers and fighting for every ball as though the idea that it belongs to anybody but him is a personal affront. His approach has worked to great effect — Alexander has emerged as the Packers’ top corner and one of the best defenders in the league.

Josh Jackson was Brian Gutekunst’s second draft pick. He might be Gutekunst’s worst. Blessed with quick feet and ball skills, Jackson has been unable to recapture the magic that made him a one-year wonder at Iowa. Through three seasons in Green Bay, Jackson has looked lost, unable to best utilize his zone-corner skills in Mike Pettine’s man-heavy scheme.

And while Alexander stands at the precipice of generational wealth via his fifth-year option and the lucrative contract that’s sure to follow, Jackson enters the 2021 season fighting for his NFL life.

How can the Packers utilize Josh Jackson?

To be fair to Jackson, his situation is not entirely of his making. In retrospect, Jackson was both overdrafted and miscast. Taken too high based on his one outstanding season at Iowa, Jackson has so far been asked to play in a man-heavy defensive scheme. The problem? Jackson’s physical profile and soft skills paint him as much more of a zone player. Jackson’s smooth change of direction skills and ability to play the ball in the air make him well-suited to sitting back and reading receivers in a zone, but less so for running hip to hip with opposing pass catchers.

But a poor scheme fit is not an adequate excuse for Jackson’s performance. Even if he wasn’t a good fit for what Pettine wanted to do, his play was suboptimal at best. According to Pro Football Focus, Jackson has been targeted with 96 passes in his NFL career to date. He’s allowed 66 completions for 743 yards and six touchdowns — an NFL passer rating of 112.7. For comparison, opposing passers have earned a passer rating of just 81.5 when targeting Jaire Alexander in coverage.

An NFL corner should still be able to put up a better performance in an imperfect scheme. Even allowing for a poor scheme fit, his numbers don’t cut it. Jackson has to be better.

Fortunately for the former second-round pick, he has an opportunity for redemption. With the arrival of Joe Barry, Jackson should get a new lease on life — if only a short one. A new coordinator gives Jackson a built in margin of error for this season. “See, I wasn’t a great fit for the last guy, but just watch,” Jackson can say. “This new scheme will let me really show off my stuff.”

In this case, Jackson could offer a strong argument. If Barry’s scheme mirrors that of Brandon Staley and Vic Fangio (whose schematic brilliance led Matt LaFleur to pursue a coach from their lineage), the Packers should be more zone oriented this year. Staley and Fangio love pattern-matching zone concepts behind creative defensive line play. In theory, that should be a great fit for Josh Jackson.

Could the Packers play Josh Jackson at safety?

If it isn't, Jackon may have one life line available: a position switch. Given that Barry’s scheme is heavy on defensive backs generally and safeties specifically, it’s possible that a move to safety might be a win-win. Jackson would get a shot to play a position that may align better with his skills, while Barry would gain another option at a position his scheme uses heavily.

But that a position switch is even a theoretical possibility should show exactly how dire Jackson’s situation is. Moving to safety wouldn’t even be on the table if Jackson had lived up to his draft day billing. Now, he has to show that he belongs on the Packers defense — somewhere, anywhere. If he can’t, he’ll soon be trying to convince a new team of exactly the same thing.