For New Packers Cornerback, It’s Been Image-Good Startwork to Coaching Camp

GREEN BAY, Wis. – New Green Bay Packers cornerback Benjamin St-Juste has an old-school interest.

Photography.

Not immediately’s instant-gratification digital pictures made attainable by a brand new digital camera or a top quality cellular phone. St-Juste carries a Yashica T4 or Olympus digital camera. How the photographs prove are a thriller till he develops the 35-millimeter movie.

“I love the fact that it’s not like digital where you can come back and be like, ‘Oh, let me pose again or let me try something different,’” he stated this week at Packers coaching camp. “It’s film. You take one picture and it comes out good or comes out bad. But that’s that little surprise that I like.”

The Montreal native received his begin whereas he was a scholar/athlete on the University of Minnesota in the course of the pandemic.

“We had a lot of downtime and I saw somebody post on Instagram a couple pictures,” he stated. “I love the feel that it has. It has a vintage feel, like sometimes a picture has a little bit of a burnt film around it. So, it was like, I’m going to buy one on eBay – 40, 50 dollars – and I’ve been taking pictures ever since.”

St-Juste stated he appreciates “the art” of movie pictures, and he’s used it to chronicle lots of his adventures.

“I take a lot of trips during the offseason up in Europe or it could be car stuff or it could be football trips,” he stated. “I remember last year when we played at the Chiefs in Brazil, I brought it there, took some pictures, memories that I can probably show my kids that I’ve done.”

Benjamin St-Juste Could Be Big Solution at Cornerback

The Packers signed St-Juste in free company to probably clear up their issues at cornerback. To say he’s created reminiscences in his quick time in Green Bay, after all, could be an overstatement, however he did have a memorable pick-six at follow on Friday.

“I didn’t really see any action the first couple of days of training camp,” he stated. “I was still in the right spot, but I wasn’t chasing the play. Like, ugh, I’m not making any plays and all that stuff. Finally, the ball came and I was going to go capitalize.”

The Packers for a couple of years have been one thing of an oddity at cornerback. They don’t like quick cornerbacks. Period, finish of dialog. That began with Ron Wolf’s admitted mistake with Terrell Buckley within the first spherical in 1992 and was rekindled with Mike Sherman’s ill-advised determination to interrupt from Wolf’s coverage when he drafted Ahmad Carroll in 2004.

But the Packers haven’t had any tall cornerbacks, both. Last yr’s starters had been Keisean Nixon (5-foot-10 14), Carrington Valentine (5-foot-11 5/8) and Nate Hobbs (5-foot-11 3/8). At the Scouting Combine in 2021, then again, St-Juste measured 6-foot-3 1/4, making him one of many tallest cornerbacks within the NFL.

“Yeah, the crazy thing is at 15 I was 5-9,” he stated. “I remember making my highlights at the end of the year and I was 5-9, 145. And then the next year at 16, I was 6-3 and like 175. 

“So, it was a big learning curve to learn how to play at this height because a lot of coaches, they’re like, ‘Yeah, he’s tall, but can he move? Does he have hips? Does he have good feet?’ So, I’ve always been working on that since a young age because I never wanted to be the tall corner that’s stiff.”

St-Juste has hips. He’s not only a tall cornerback. He ran his 20-yard shuttle in 4.01 seconds – a time nearly as elite as his dimension.

St-Juste’s Height Could Be Huge in Certain Matchups

That made him a third-round choose by Washington. He had his moments of enjoying high-level soccer. In 2022, when he was a full-time starter for the primary time, he allowed a catch fee of solely 53.8 %, based on Pro Football Focus. In 2023, that soared to 68.0 %, however he completed among the many NFL leaders in passes defensed. In 2024, he allowed a catch fee of 63.6 % however 4 touchdowns and a passer score of 107.0.

Last offseason, he settled for a one-year cope with the Chargers. Their depth at cornerback restricted him to 2 begins and 356 defensive snaps. When he was on the sphere, although, he was glorious when it comes to protection (50.0 %, 64.0 passer score) and tackling (3.3 % missed tackles). In reality, he was within the prime 10 within the league in all three classes.

“I’m very versatile,” St-Juste stated. “With my size, I tackle well, I’m able to set the edges, make sure that on my side of the ball, it’s not easy to run the ball there. If we play man, I’m very aggressive with the smaller receivers. That’s where they like me using my length, using my arms to slow down the process.

“Sometimes the quarterback might look my way and the receiver’s getting jammed up, and then that helps the corner and the safety on the other side because then he’s got to take his progression to the other side. And then also in zone, it’s very hard to get the ball over me in Cover 2 or Cover 3, jump balls and stuff like that.”

St-Juste might be an enormous piece – pun meant – in Green Bay’s revamped cornerback room. The Packers launched Hobbs, signed St-Juste and drafted Brandon Cisse within the second spherical and Domani Jackson within the sixth spherical.

St-Juste, after all, is eyeing a beginning job, however who’s on the sphere might be dictated by matchups. At his dimension, he might be a key participant in opposition to sure receivers.

“Receivers are big nowadays,” he stated. “There’s a lot of mismatches, that they like to call it on the offensive side when they see a smaller DB. So, with me, that doesn’t really exist. We get into the red zone and trying to throw the jump ball, the fade ball and trying to take advantage of a smaller corner, it’s going to be pretty tough for me.”

St-Juste Learned From Experience

St-Juste referred to as final season the perfect of his profession. He believes his success with the Chargers and enjoying in an identical defensive scheme can carry over to Green Bay.

“Oh, yeah, 100 percent,” he stated. “You’re always trying to do better than what you did last year. And what I did last year, I’ve learned a lot from what I’m good at and what I’m trying to own on and really work on the details.

“And that’s the same thing I’m trying to do this year. I feel like you learn more from your down years or bad years. I feel like there’s no player that just have a steady ascension every year. If you have a little bit of roadblock or a down year, that’s where you learn a lot and you can take that next step. I think that’s what I did.”

His massive takeaway with the Chargers was merely counting on what he does greatest. At this level in 2024 with Washington, he was getting into his ultimate season beneath contract. While he completed fourth within the league with 17 breakups in 2023, he had just one interception – the primary of his profession.

“It was a big knock on me,” he stated. “It was like, OK, he covers well, he’s a big corner, he’s always in man, but he needs to get his hands on football. He needs to get more interceptions. He has tons of PBUs but he needs to get more interceptions.”

So, St-Juste tried to alter issues up by attempting to bait quarterbacks into unhealthy selections that he may flip into interceptions.

“That’s not what made me great,” he stated. “That’s not why they drafted me. That’s not why I’m here.”

St-Juste began his faculty profession at Michigan beneath Jim Harbaugh, who’s now the coach of the Chargers. St-Juste not solely reunited along with his outdated coach final yr however his former play type.

It labored.  

“You can’t chase plays,” he stated. “You got to let the plays come to you, and you might get one or two opportunities. Don’t try to be greedy and go get four or five now. Now, they run a double move on you or something else and score. So, you got to take what they give you, and I had to learn that.

“Obviously, you either grow from it or you die from it. I think I grew from it last year, learning it and getting better. And then now, we’re just going to double down on that this year.”

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