Packers 2017 Recap: CB Demetri Goodson
Demetri Goodson has faced more than his share of adversity on the football field. 2017 was just another chapter in the same story.
After tearing up his knee in 2016, Goodson worked through the long recovery process and looked set to take a place on the roster, only to never quite make it to the field.
2017 Stats
- Zero games played
Expectations going into the season: Low
Expectations were: Not met
What we said last season:
It just never clicked for cornerback Demetri Goodson as a member of the Green Bay Packers. Drafted in 2014’s sixth round, he played Division I basketball at Gonzaga for three seasons and transferred to Baylor where he played in 19 games over three seasons.
In three seasons with the Packers, Goodson has played in just 28 of a possible 55 regular season and postseason games. Injuries plagued his 2016 season, and a massive knee injury puts a damper on his future career as an NFL cornerback.
Analysis: Goodson can’t make it all the way back
When people say a player “blew out his knee” typically they mean that a player tore his ACL.
But when you’re talking about Demetri Goodson, saying he “blew out his knee” in 2016 really, truly means pretty much his entire knee.
On a Sunday Night Football matchup with the Washington Redskins, Goodson tore his ACL and his MCL and his meniscus and dislocated his kneecap. That leaves only his PCL and LCL as the big ligaments holding the top of his leg together with the bottom of his leg, at least according to WebMD.
So even though he didn’t ever make it to the field in 2017, that playing was even a possibility for Goodson is a testament to the amount of work he put in over the last year. His horrific injury happened on November 22, 2016. He was cleared to return on November 30, 2017, and would have been ready to play on December 3 but for a hamstring injury that ultimately kept him out for the rest of the season.
Whether Goodson gets another shot at the roster next year is a legitimate, fair question. He hasn’t done much outside of his admittedly very good special teams work in his young NFL career. But his drive to return is commendable, even if it didn’t make a measurable impact for the Packers this season.
