Packers Huddle

YoHoChecko wrote: ↑

01 May 2021 18:57

Apparently this guy was a favorite of several individual scouts on the team and they pushed to move him further up the final board in the final days (and he was moved up) and the room was very anxiously excited to see him still there for them.

I know there's some GMspeak in all this, but I really like stories like that, where scouts are human and have favorites, too and get nervous and excited in the war room

Shemar Jean-Charles handled any 'stress' put on him
Difficult defensive duty was the norm at Appalachian State for Packers’ fifth-round pick
May 07, 2021 at 10:30 AM
Mike Spofford
packers.com senior writer

GREEN BAY – Defensive coaches will always talk about the stress points in their scheme.

Depending on certain rush or coverage calls, the stress will be placed somewhere – or more accurately, on somebody – to hold up. A double-team here means single coverage over there, or a blitz vacates an area where help or leverage might normally reside.

In Charlie Harbison's one year as the associate head coach and cornerbacks coach at Appalachian State in 2019, there was one place he never hesitated to direct the stress – on Shemar Jean-Charles.

"We put a lot of stress on him, so that way we could help other people," said Harbison, now the cornerbacks coach at Missouri, in an interview with packers.com. "He got left alone quite a bit."

Opposing offenses challenged Jean-Charles in that situation plenty, too. That's how he tallied 10 passes defended (including one interception) as a first-time starter under Harbison two years ago, and followed it up with an NCAA-leading 17 (including one INT) last season, which earned him Sun Belt Conference player of the year honors from Pro Football Focus.

In that regard, Harbison likened Jean-Charles, whom he refers to by his nickname "Sherm," to a cornerback he coached at Clemson a decade ago, Coty Sensabaugh. At 5-11 and 190 pounds, similar dimensions to Jean-Charles, Sensabaugh parlayed a high number of pass breakups into getting drafted in the fourth round by the Tennessee Titans in 2012, the first of his eight years in the NFL with six different teams.

The Packers drafted Jean-Charles in the fifth round of the 2021 draft and were surprised he was still available. General Manager Brian Gutekunst said several of the team's scouts were high on Jean-Charles and kept reminding their boss the longer he stayed on the board.

What stood out to Harbison during their one year together was how Jean-Charles was always mining for "nuggets" to improve. He'd drill down on his footwork to get it just right and study the game to be as prepared as possible for every opponent.

"He wanted to know exactly what you need from him, and he wanted to know the game plan," Harbison said. "One thing we always talked about was to study the splits of your receiver. In the first five yards of the down, it'll let you know the receiver's (route) tree. He was a student of the game."

Harbison, whose college coaching career dates back nearly 40 years at numerous big-time programs, noted he had the option of playing Jean-Charles at boundary (short side) or field (wide side) corner. He most often chose boundary, because that's where the quick throws or fades to bigger receivers would occur.

From that spot, Jean-Charles could best use his strength – he bench-pressed 225 pounds 19 times at his pro day, a very impressive number for a sub-200 pound defender – to come up and make tackles on short throws or contest fades over the top.

"He welcomed that," Harbison said of the singular duty. "Sherm is a guy that would do whatever the team needs him to do. We're on our feet, have to make plays in space and have to tackle in space, plus he has some good top end in his speed."

Jean-Charles' skills in the open field made him a regular on special teams in college, too, playing on the return and coverage units all four years after his 2016 redshirt season. Those abilities brought to mind for Harbison another of his former players, Auburn's Brandon King, who has been a core special-teamer for the Patriots since joining them as an undrafted safety in 2015.

The Packers almost certainly will look for Jean-Charles to contribute to new coordinator Maurice Drayton's special teams right away while he competes for a role on defense amidst a stable of cornerbacks that has two regulars – Kevin King and Chandon Sullivan – on one-year contracts as of now.

So opportunity will knock early and perhaps even louder down the road for Jean-Charles as he makes the transition from the Sun Belt to the NFL.

"He's not selfish. He's a team guy. He doesn't mind being in the fire," said Harbison, who called Jean-Charles to congratulate him after being drafted.

"I love this young man. I'm proud of him. He'll give his all, I know that."

YoHoChecko wrote: ↑

11 May 2021 11:38

I feel like Shemar really understands WHAT to study and how to use his film time and practice time to improve.

I'd love to see Stokes and Jean-Charles be roommates in camp and enhance each other's learning with two very hard working, willing guys both reinforcing each other's habits. Stokes seems to have been incredibly focused on understanding the bigger picture of the defense and how all the parts worked together and what everyone's role is on a given play. Jean-Charles seems to focus on minute things, footwork, specific habits of his opponents, etc.

Together, I think they will really be able to point out to each other the things they need to be focusing on based on coaching and feedback as they learn the defense. I'm really excited about the prospect of them having each other--not to mention that Stokes and Amari Rodgers have already worked out together.

No. 1 I really like his smarts. He's a smart football player, very crafty. He understands what we're trying to get him to do. We've put him out at corner, we put him also at the star. That's going to give us a lot more chances to put guys in different positions. You could be from a small school but I really love the way he competed. When you watched the film, he's always somewhere around the ball. He was getting after it. He's only a small-school (guy) until he got to Green Bay. Now he's just like everybody like else.

I tell you, this draft class, I'm really excited about it. In no particular order, I really love Shemar Jean-Charles out of Appalachian State. He has an attitude about teams that I really like. Excuse my phrase, but he has this dog mentality that's kind of infectious, so we like him a lot. Of course, Amari, looking forward to big things out of him, very smooth athlete, very smart, heady. Eric Stokes, if called upon, he will be ready to play, as well as Kylin Hill. Just pleased with that group.