The Green Bay Packers have no shortage of questions to answer throughout the roster coming into the 2026 NFL campaign. On defense, there shouldn't be any questions about the efficacy of Xavier McKinney and Evan Williams.
The trouble lies in who the Packers have behind them on the depth chart.
The reserve group, consisting of players like Jaylin Simpson, Kitan Oladipo and Jonathan Baldwin II, is still an inexperienced unit. Both Simpson and Oladipo were day-three selections in the 2024 NFL Draft, but have faced limited action over their first several professional seasons.
Javon Bullard, a second-round selection that year at safety, has been relegated to the nickel spot and has been largely productive over his first two seasons. Despite the secondary's top-end talent, the unit's depth will remain monitored in the case of an injury.
Let's explore the concerns among Green Bay's safety depth for the 2026 campaign.
Injuries To Xavier McKinney, Evan Williams Will Spell Disaster For Packers Safety Group
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Knock on wood, Packers fans, we'll be exploring some unfortunate hypotheticals over our next few paragraphs. There is no denying the production of Green Bay's starting safety tandem of McKinney and Williams.
McKinney maintained his status as one of the NFL's top safeties in 2025, posting an 81.2 PFF grade. He racked up 107 tackles, the second-highest mark of his career, with two interceptions, earning a second-team All-Pro nod. Williams faced his share of inconsistency in coverage, but emerged as one of the league's top safeties against the run with a run-defense grade of 82.4, the No. 10 mark of all qualified safeties last season.
The tandem set an encouraging foundation, but a lack of veteran contributions behind the two is concerning. Should one of the two go down with injury, one of Green Bay's inexperienced reserves in Simpson and Oladipo, will be thrust into a starting role.
Such a situation could critically hamper the overall production of the secondary, as Matt LaFleur and his coaching staff could be forced to lean on its defense once again in 2026 due to losses on the offensive side of the ball. Suddenly, a near-top-10 unit from last season could fall outside the top half of the league with a potential loss to one of its key contributors.
A number of quality free agent options are available for the Packers' front office to consider, such as veterans like Rayshawn Jenkins, Donovan Wilson and Jimmie Ward. Each of the three provides the unit with veteran experience at the position, filling a potential need should an injury arise.
The front office can shore up the position ahead of the season, with training camp approaching later this month on the 29th.
