Your Thoughts On The Roster: Secondary Edition

[wgbeethree]

A place for us to give our thoughts on the players, the position as a whole, where they/it stand now, where you see them going in the future etc. etc.

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Morgan Burnett- Good size-speed combo. Playmaker. Think he will step up big time this year and show his potential. Future Pro Bowler IMO.

Jarrett Bush- Versatile tweener. Hard worker who excels on teams. Good with the ball in front of him and actually solid in coverage but very poor ball skills. Almost always in position to make the play just NEVER does. Would benefit from a switch to S, IMO, but that doesn't seem to be in the cards.

Casey Hayward- Very smart player. Doesn't have elite measurables but
uses his smarts to be in good position and get a good jump on the ball. Very solid tackler. Could be used in a variety of ways. Best in zone coverage.

Davon House- Tons of potential. Ideal size speed combo. Very good in press man. Good ball skills. Willing and sound tackler.

M.D. Jennings- Good but undersized athlete. Shows range in both the run and pass game. Shows potential.

Anthony Levine- Really liked this guy. Always seemed to show well but couldn't stay healthy. Think there's some upside there but probably not enough to keep him around.

Jerron McMillian- Fast, aggressive, physical player with quite a bit of upside. Excels in run support but struggles when asked to turn and cover. If Perry can smooth out his transition he could be a steal. He'll be better than Harrison Smith (I'm gonna stick with my evaluation that he SUX!!!). Mark. It. Down.

Otis Merrill- Camp body.

Pellerin- Good size and technique. Raw but has upside. Reminds me a bit of Bush coming out but with better ball skills. Hope we can stash him on the PS as I think he could really blossom with good coaching.

Charlie Peprah- I don't have much positive to say about the guy. "Safest" would probably be the highest/only compliment I could pay the guy. Nothing special about his game. No upside. Might not absolutely KILL you playing him but will slowly bleed you out at best.

Sean Richardson- Great size speed combo. Mediocre football player. LB in a S body. Just not very good with coverage or angles. If he can improve his coverage A LOT on the PS for a year he might find a role as a "TE coverage specialist".

Brandian Ross- Versatile but I don't see a bunch of upside. Defensive version of Chastian West last season as the guy who despite having little to no upside fans fell in love with for making one splash play.

Shields- Unlimited potential but still beyond RAW. Played very tentative (and poorly) last year. If he can show as much fight to be great as he showed to make the team his rookie year I like his chances. Seems from the outside that he got lazy because he thought he "made it" last year and it showed.

Dion Turner- Decent size good speed. Know nothing more about him. Camp body?

Williams- If he can get healthy I have little doubt that he will get back to his Pro Bowl level play.

Woodson- I'll leave my opinion of his play out since it's not very popular and would probably dominate the thread and just say.......I wonder how he is going to be used going forward.

My prediction on who makes the roster.....

Woodson
Williams
Shields
Bush
Howard
House
Burnett
Peprah
McMillian
Jennings

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Lots of talent but lots of question marks in the secondary this year mostly around the safety position and whether or not people are going to play back at their '10 level or continue to regress. I love what Burnett, Hayward, and House bring to the table moving forward. Add Shields' nearly unlimited upside with McMillian's potential and the secondary has a chance to be scary good in a couple years.


Let me hear what you guys think about the Secondary.
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Adopt-A-Packer Randall Cobb

[GBPackers79]

I still like MD Jennings' shot at FS. I said that when the news about Collins first broke, believe it even more after I've heard some good things from OTAs.
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packerbacker87 on the sig

[Pack4life7]

We need Shields and Burnett to both get significantly better at their respective positions or else we are in some real trouble. Granted if Perry and Worthy both turn out to be studs which in turn will make Matthews and Raji look great again our secondary could play at the exact same crappy level as last season and we'd probably still be a Top 10 Defense.

Woodson is on the decline but still a capable player in zone and there is really no reason to believe that Tramon Williams will ever be that bad again.

I don't feel good about whoever we're going to have starting next to Burnett and Davon House is my sleeper pick for being awesome.
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Ted brought us Clay

[Polaris]

Look at the secondary that we ran through the playoffs and into the Super Bowl with only 18 months ago.

A great FS having another Pro-Bowl year in Nick Collins.
Charles Woodson, just a year or two away from being DPOY.
Tramon Williams, who had just finished what might be the best season of his career.
Exciting rookie Sam Shields who played really well all year.
Charlie Peprah, a backup who helped us win the Super Bowl.
Pat Lee.....some still holding out hope for him.
Jarrett Bush, mostly for special teams.

We also had Morgan Burnett, who'd looked good early but then ended the season on IR.

And a cast of forgotten nobodies. Look how much has changed since then.
Collins gone and Woodson older and close to the end. Tramon having injury issues. Shields regressed his second season. Lee is gone. Bush has improved to a degree. House, MDJennings and Hayward are the young legs. Burnett looks like a keeper if he can ever stay healthy for a season.

I don't think it's possible to lose a guy like Collins and not have it weaken the unit, but I do think that we've got some clear strong points in this group, a good blend of youth and experience, and some promising young players.

I'd suspect this is Woodson's last year and if these guys like McMillian and MD Jennings and House and Hayward improve I like the chances of our secondary being pretty good this year. If everybody stays healthy, and we get the pass rush we're looking for.....I think this group will do just fine.

[Sandybaby716]

I think we'll keep ten. Mike and Dom both seem to like going heavy here.

We likely keep 5 CB, 4 S and a tweener.

Bush is likely the lock to be the tweener. His defensive versatility and quality play on teams makes him extremely valuable to us. Great re-signing.

Wood, Tramon, Shields, and Hayward are locks at corner. There is nothing any of them can do in the preseason barring injury to not make the initial 53.

As for the final corner spot, I think it's Houses' job to lose. He and Heyward will be given opportunities to supplant Shields as the Nickel corner this season. The rest of the camp bodies will have to go through House to make the roster. I think the spot is his.

At safety, Burnett is the obvious lock. He'll be starting for sure. Peprah has the inside track to get the SS spot. Others will be given the opportunity to take it from him, but they will need to vastly out play him for the coaches to trust them over his experience.

As for the backup spots, McMillian will have to be simply dreadful to miss the roster. 4th round picks are seldom released, especially when they are considered to be projects. Dr. Jennings and Levine will be in a dead battle for the other spot. Someone like Richardson could impress and be given a niche roster spot as the TE guy. It's more likely he is released.

Levine still has a year of PS eligibility, and he may end up taking it if he doesn't beat Jennings head on. Richardson is a logical choice too. I also think we may see one of the young corners take a spot, especially if they stand out early.

My final prediction is Wood, Tramon, Shields, Heyward, House, Bush, Burnett, Peprah, McMillian, and Jennings with Richardson and Pellerin getting PS spots.
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[kgthekid]

After an off-year from Tramon, I'm sure he'll come back strong now that he (hopefully) won't have the shoulder issue nagging him as it was last year. Woodson is still serviceable, but his days at corner (and in general) are numbered. I expect Hayward to soak it all in during his rookie year, only getting significant playing time in the case of major injuries to the top corners. House is going to work himself into the rotation, supplanting Shields, though he'll still be on the roster.

I expect Burnett to continue to progress and have the free safety position on lockdown. I don't know much about the other safeties on the roster other than Peprah, though we know what we'll be getting from him. Everyone seems high on Jennings, but I've never seen him in action to say. McMillan and Bush round out the secondary spots on the roster.
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"There is a reason the IRS doesn't punish murderers who pay their taxes." -- Andy Staples

[Bizzle]

Woodson
Tramon
Burnett
Hayward
Shields
House
Peprah
Bush
McMillian
Jennings

This is how I see this thing shaping out in order of importance to the team. This puts the battle on Bush, McMillian, Jennings, we should throw Levine in there too, as he could be a dark horse for the last spot, or in case of injury. Peprah has to sweat a little bit as well, but is the most tech. sound of them all at the bottom. Just wish Nicky C was still in this mix as well. Hard to see Bush not making it due to his versatility and S. Teams ability.

McMillian, Jennings, and Levine battling for two spot in my eyes. Then again maybe Peprah is on the block more then we think. If the staff were to believe that McMillian, Jennings or Levine posses more upside they swing that way. Peprah, although decent, has had his shot to prove his worth.
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[wiscsports28]

I really think that this group definitely has potential. Excited for what's ahead.
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http://s137.photobucket.com/albums/q239/imaqban/?action=view&current=bloc.png

[.flash]

This is a very good group. Underrated as of now because of the entire defense's pathetic performance last year. I see a lot of studs and future studs in this group. Burnett is going to be very good. I don't think our long term FS is on this roster ATM, but I am definitely on the MD Jennings bandwagon. Hopefully Tramon's shoulder heals up fast. I think Sammy is going to bounce back strong. After Wood, Williams, and Shields I think our depth is great. I like that rookie a lot and I'm very excited to see how House progresses from year one to year two. Bush is a known commodity, and his versatility is useful.

Ball hawking and suffocating. Those are the two adjectives I want to see used to describe our secondary by the end of next season.
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[Sandybaby716]

[byzr]

my roster predictions:
Woodson
Williams
Shields
House/Heyward - i'd be willing to be one of these 2 end on IR before the 2nd week.
Bush

Burnett
Peprah
McMillan
M.D. Jennings/Anthony Levine?

i like our CBs alot. depth is good and talent is better. Heyward may not be able to see much time this, since all of Teds drafted CB end up on IR their rookie season(Shields was an undrafted FA), but he has a great upside.

Safety took a huge hit losing Collins, wishing him the best though, hopefully Burnett will step in and take on a big leadership role. Peprah is a serviceable starter but finding a replacement for him should be a high priority if McMillian doesn't step up. i think the investment in our front seven will make up for this short coming.
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[TedThompson]

IMO, this position (safety) is by far our biggest concern on the roster.

Who's the upgrade from Peprah at S2?
And what happens when Burnett gets hurt, as is quite possible.
Now you need 2 different guys starting back there.

Has Levine learned enough yet to be counted on back there? He's had that jewel #34 jersey for 2 or 3 years now... is he worthy of it?

Can MD Jennings do the job?
It's pretty rare for a rookie S to play and play well.
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"It's the same old Jay," Woodson told ESPN afterward. "We just need to be in position. Jay will throw us the ball."

[Blount_truth]

[Polaris]

If somebody gets hurt we'll put in the next best guy available and hope the team can get it done. That's football. Every team in the league has the same problem, the difference is that we do have guys on the roster who are backups but are still pretty good players. NFL caliber players.

After the first few practices, I have read stories which suggests how our secondary might shape up:

Woodson is moving around a lot. Safety, slot corner, blitzer, etc. He's not a youngster anymore but his greatest value to the team on the field is that he can generate takeaways. The Packers victory plan has winning the turnover battle as one of their top priorities. By design, this defense swings for the fences and is willing to surrender yards in exchange for getting a couple of takeaways each game.

Tramon Williams appears to be much better physically this year. One report said "he's back". Time will tell, I know that football beats your body up and the older you get, the harder it is to rehab stuff. I am hoping for the best, of course, but it is possible that we've already seen Tramon's best year (2010). Can he stay healthy enough to play well all year? That is a big question for this team. But 'Tramon' is 'No Mart' ("No, you can't get nothing here") spelled backwards and if he can return to his 2010 level it'll really help this team.

Morgan Burnett will be back at safety, of course. I don't think he was the worst part of the defense last year by any means and you'd have to think that with an offseason (remember, none last year) to work and prepare, and if he can stay healthy (remember his club hand last year?), then this should be a solid spot for us.

The Packers have also used second year man MD (Doctor) Jennings (let's just go with Dr. J.) at a safety spot in the 4-1 dime. Jennings was impressive enough that the Packers kept him on the roster last year...I thought he'd looked OK in the pre-season)....and if he could contribute at safety it'd be a real boost.

Also, the Packers have McMillian, Levine, and Richardson in the mix for that last safety spot.



At the corner spot, they gave Bush the first shot even though the general hope/feeling is that somebody beats him out. That's not a knock on Bush, who is probably going to be on the field for us a lot this year, I think. He has certainly shown his critics that he's a tough competitor and by all accounts he's a good teammate. And he's probably no more than a sprained ankle away from starting. He's a vet, he studies film, and he has steadily improved.

Hayward is getting raves. Let's hope for the best but remember it's July and not December. If he could play outside corner in the 4-1 dime then I think that'll be the Packers defense of choice on 3rd down.

House, apparently, has looked good. Shields realizes he has to play a lot better than he did last year or he's going to be on thin ice. At this point in time, all of these guys should be favored to make the team this year but injuries and/or standout camps might change things.

The operating assumption all off-season ...on a lot of message boards at least.......was that better pressure would improve the secondary even without changes in cover personnel. And we've done a lot of things to try to improve our pressure, but we've also added a 2nd round pick to replace Pat Lee and a 4th round pick to replace Peprah. And the coaching staff has stepped right up and said "the bad tackling is going to be fixed". Look at the draft analyses on Hayward and McMillian and see what it says about their tackling.

So best guess as to the secondary is that in the 4 man base secondary it'll be Woody, Tramon, and Burnett. Somebody else will have to be in that group and that's what training camp will find out. IMO, best bet is Hayward.

In the nickel, I think you'll see Woodson defending the slot and Dr. J playing safety with Burnett. Williams will be at one corner and Hayward at the other.

House, Shields, Bush, McMillian, and one other player will round out the 10 DBs we keep on the 53 man squad. This is all dependent, of course, on staying off the IR.

Anyway, that's how I'd see this secondary shaping up.

[Polaris]