Sometimes, you just need to wait for your opportunity to be in the right place at the right time. Packers cornerback Rasul Douglas, selected by the Eagles in the third round of the 2017 draft out of West Virginia, was waived by his first NFL team in 2020, and spent time with the Panthers, Raiders, Texans, and Cardinals before the Packers signed him off Arizona’s practice squad on October 6. Green Bay was dealing with a lot of injuries in its secondary, and Douglas was probably thought to be little more than a fill-in.
Douglas has been much more than that. The same guy who allowed 10 touchdown passes to just five interceptions in three seasons with the Eagles, and allowed four touchdowns to no interceptions with the Panthers in 2020. has become one of the NFL’s more opportunistic defensive backs in the league with his new team. Douglas had a pick-six of Matthew Stafford to seal Green Bay’s 36-28 win over the Rams before their Week 13 bye…
Rasul Douglas intercepts Matthew Stafford for a pick-6 and his FIRST career touchdown!
What a signing Douglas has been for GB. Now on his 6th team, Douglas appears to have found a permanent home with the Packers. pic.twitter.com/p4bIhSpWxk
— packers clips (@packers_clips) November 28, 2021
…and with 4:59 left in the first half against the Bears on Sunday night, he took this Justin Fields pass 55 yards the other way.
RASUL DOUGLAS PICKS OFF JUSTIN FIELDS FOR SIX 🙌
(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/A5QJiyzL2p
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 13, 2021
How rare was this? The last Packers player to perform pick-sixes in back-to-back games was Hall of Famer Herb Adderley… in 1965.
And why is Douglas succeeding all of a sudden, when he hadn’t before? The Week 12 NFC Defensive Player of the Week recently attributed the ability of his new coaches and teammates to teach him how to watch film and discern opponent tendencies as he never had before.
Full quote pic.twitter.com/Pw3IejK4tY
— Benjamin Solak (@BenjaminSolak) December 13, 2021
However it worked, it’s clearly working for Douglas and for the Packers. And Douglas, who will be a free agent in 2022, is set to make quite a bit of money.
