Ladarius Gunter continues to impress at Green Bay Packers camp

There was a lot of attention on the Green Bay Packers first two draft picks from this past spring. Quinten Rollins and Damarious Randall were, and still are, expected to play major roles in the defense but if they’re not careful they could see a portion of their snaps being given to an undrafted free agent. LaDarius Gunter followed up his strong work in the off-season during mini-camps and OTA’s with another strong practice on the first day of an NFL training camp.

Early in the team portion of practice, Gunter mirrored second year wide receiver Jared Abbrederis on a fade route and came down with an interception off of the reigning MVP Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers throws interceptions in practice just as often as he does in games (rarely) so it’s fairly notable that the undrafted cornerback out of Miami (FL) was able to make a play at the expense of one of the best players in the league.

It’s just one play on the first day of camp so excitement has to be tempered a bit. In fact, Gunter got a lesson from Rodgers later in practice when he threw a dime past Gunter on a seam route to 3rd year wide receiver Myles White. Head coach Mike McCarthy also noted that it’s only day 1 but likes what he’s seen from Gunter and said “He’s done some good things. I think he’s gone in there and competed well. Like a lot of our young guys, he’s flashed. But we’re in day 1.”

LaDarius Gunter was well thought of for his skills as a corner but many questioned whether or not he would be able to transition to the NFL due to his lack of athleticism. Out of all cornerbacks at the NFL Combine last February, Gunter ran the slowest with a 4.64. He certainly has the size at 6’2″ that a lot of teams are looking for and his ability to play press-man coverage was among the best in last year’s class.

Fellow cornerback and Hurricane alum Sam Shields made the team as an undrafted free agent for Green Bay in 2010. He did so by making plays nearly every day in training camp. It’s very early but the body of work between the off-season and after the first day of training camp are promising for Gunter and he’s going to be hard to keep off the field if he continues his level of play.


(endzonescore.com)