Paul Bretl | 6/11/2025
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Bo Melton going through cornerback drills and then playing some cornerback during the team portion of Tuesday’s minicamp practice was a surprise to just about everyone, including his own family.
Melton’s parents had no idea, and neither did his brother Max, a cornerback, who was a second-round pick in the 2024 NFL draft by the Arizona Cardinals.
“He kind of was shocked,” Melton said of Max’s reaction after Wednesday’s practice. “I didn’t tell him. So when he saw it, he called me and was like, ‘What the hell are you doing?’ I didn’t tell him, just because I’ve been playing wideout. It’s just something that came up. I want to give it a shot.”
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Even within the building, very few knew that the plan on Tuesday was for Melton to go through cornerback drills and take some cornerback snaps during the team portion of practice. As Carrington Valentine recalled, he first learned about Melton taking cornerback snaps when he was on the practice field, and Melton joined the cornerbacks for the one-line drill and was backpedaling.
The decision to have Melton play some cornerback during minicamp happened last Thursday when OTAs were wrapping up and Matt LaFleur approached Melton with this idea. However, while this is the first time that we are seeing Melton on the practice field at cornerback, the conversation between him and LaFleur last week wasn’t the first one they’ve had about playing the cornerback position.
Melton joined the Packers late in the 2022 season after being signed to the 53-man roster after being on the Seattle practice squad originally during his rookie year. In 2023, Melton began the season on the Packers’ practice squad, and it was at that time that LaFleur originally approached Melton about playing some cornerback, although nothing ever came from those conversations.
This idea that LaFleur had wasn’t sparked by what Melton had showcased while playing the receiver position, but rather how he looked and performed on special teams.
“It’s something that Matt was talking about,” said Melton, “something that off special teams, he’d seen me on – we call it CAT, punt return – he saw me at corner and how I move and said, ‘Let’s try you out.’”
Melton played both wide receiver and cornerback in high school and originally was set to play cornerback when he arrived at Rutgers before switching to receiver very early on in his career.
So, Melton does have a foundation to pull from at the cornerback position. He also brings a unique perspective to the defensive side of the ball with his experience as a wide receiver and his understanding of routes and offensive tendencies.
“I like it because I know concepts. I know routes,” Melton said. “When I see certain stems and certain things, the nature of jumping routes. It was kind of fun the last couple of days, I’m going to joke with my brother today and be like, ‘Yeah, I’m doing a little something.’ That’s the part I do like about playing corner. Tackling and stuff like that, I do play gunner, so tackling in the open field and stuff like that, I’ve been doing it for a little bit.”
With that said, and as Melton acknowledged, playing cornerback at the NFL level is very different than any past experiences that he has had. In addition to making sure that he’s playing with the proper fundamentals and technique, he’s also learning a second playbook and the terminology on that side of the ball as well.
Melton has spent additional time meeting with defensive backs coach Derrick Ansley to help facilitate the transition, but also part of this equation is trial by fire and simply going out to the practice field to go through the drills and get as many reps as he can.
“I feel like it was pretty good,” Melton said of his performance at cornerback. “It just felt natural, not to say anything, going on the defensive side of the ball, the movement, the skill of playing a skill position just felt natural. That’s the most I can say about it. Going out there, it felt good to do that.”
While this is an unusual situation, to see a player taking reps with the first team offense, throw a penny on, and then take reps with the first team defense, Melton made it clear multiple times that he is still a wide receiver.
As Melton put it, he is a “team-first guy” and will do whatever he can to help the Packers win. But, when it comes to playing cornerback at this point, nothing is set in stone. When the team breaks following minicamp, Melton will continue to work out at wide receiver on his own, and see what comes of it at the cornerback position when training camp arrives.
“So right now it’s just a feel thing right now,” said Melton. “I still don’t know if it’s going to be true or not. Coach Matt, we’ll figure that out. When I meet with Coach, we’ll see what’s going on. Right now I’m just going to go train for wideout. I feel like that’s where I thrive at, that’s where I make plays at. And defense, if it comes, it comes. And we’ll see.”