Player
Keisean Nixon
CB · Packers
Keisean Nixon: facts drawn from the play-by-play.
From UDFA special-teamer to two-time All-Pro returner to full-time starting CB.
TrendNixon by season (regular season)
| Season | Team | G | TK | AST | PD | INT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | LV | 14 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2020 | LV | 15 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | LV | 11 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | GB | 17 | 17 | 5 | 2 | 1 |
| 2023 | GB | 17 | 60 | 27 | 8 | 1 |
| 2024 | GB | 17 | 56 | 28 | 7 | 1 |
| 2025 | GB | 17 | 59 | 16 | 17 | 1 |
Nixon entered the league as a 2019 UDFA out of South Carolina and spent his first three years with the Raiders bouncing between practice squad, ST, and emergency CB duty. The Packers signed him in 2022, started him on returns, and by 2023 he was a full-time defensive starter.
Four straight seasons of 60+ snaps per game on defense in Green Bay — alongside the All-Pro return work.
17 pass deflections in 2025 — top 10 league-wide and a 143% jump over 2024.
Rare2025 CB pass deflection leaders (top 10)
| Player | PD |
|---|---|
| Mike Jackson | 23 |
| Kamari Lassiter | 21 |
| Quinyon Mitchell | 20 |
| Riley Moss | 19 |
| Tyson Campbell | 18 |
| DJ Turner II | 18 |
| Emmanuel Forbes | 18 |
| Cooper DeJean | 18 |
| Keisean Nixon | 17 |
| Christian Gonzalez | 17 |
After a steady 7 PDs in 2024, Nixon exploded to 17 PDs in 2025 — top 10 league-wide among all corners. The jump came alongside a coverage scheme change as Jeff Hafley's defense leaned more man-press and asked Nixon to play the catch point more often.
The rest of the modern PD top 10 reads like a list of pure outside CB1s. Nixon is the only return specialist in the bunch.
All-Pro returner: 35 KR + 11 PR as a Packer in his first season — the workload that won him the job.
SplitReturn volume by season as a Packer
| Season | KR | PR |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 35 | 11 |
| 2023 | 32 | 15 |
| 2024 | 22 | 4 |
| 2025 | 3 | 4 |
Nixon was a first-team All-Pro returner in 2022 and 2023 — the back-to-back honors that turned him from a depth CB into a household name in Green Bay. He took 35 kickoffs and 11 punts as a returner in 2022 alone.
The new NFL kickoff format (2024-2025) flattened his return opportunities — only 3 KR + 4 PR in 2025. The Packers have shifted his value toward the defense side as a result.
Career interceptions: at least 1 INT in each of the last 4 seasons as a Packer.
MilestoneINTs as a Packer
| Season | INT |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 1 |
| 2023 | 1 |
| 2024 | 1 |
| 2025 | 1 |
It's quiet steadiness, not a takeaway machine: one pick per season, every season, since joining Green Bay. 4 INTs in 4 years as a Packer.
The more interesting takeaway stat is the 3 forced fumbles in 2024 — a top-10 mark among all corners that season.
3 forced fumbles in 2024 — most by any Packer DB and tied for top 10 CB-wide.
AnomalyIn 2024 Nixon led the Packers' secondary with 3 forced fumbles — equaling the team lead and putting him in a tie for the top-10 in the entire league among cornerbacks.
It's the finishing instinct that scouts have flagged since his UDFA days: he plays both phases of special teams, plays the slot, plays outside, AND consistently produces takeaways. Across 2023-2025 alone, he has 22 pass deflections and 4 forced fumbles — the kind of mixed-role profile most teams use 2-3 different players to fill.
Nixon vs. 2022 UDFA Pro Bowlers: still the most productive defender of the bunch.
ComparisonOf UDFAs from the 2019 draft class still active on defense in 2025, Nixon ranks among the leaders in career combined tackles (~220 combined as a Packer alone), career PDs (~35), and Pro Bowls/All-Pros (2x All-Pro returner).
The career arc is rare: 6 NFL teams gave up on him as a CB before age 25, and at 28 he's the starting outside corner for a playoff team. The Raiders cut him three times in his first three seasons. He's now started 51 of 51 possible regular-season games as a Packer over 2023-2025.
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