Picture: OspreyDawn.com
Green Bay, WIS– The performance from the safety position last season for the Packers was nothing short of atrocious. MD Jennings became a laughing stock amongst Packers fans due to some flat out embarrassing mistakes and Jerron McMillan ended up being released just weeks into the season (currently with the Chiefs).
Going into May’s draft the likelihood of the Packers drafting a safety was high, and I among many others was hoping that would happen. My top three safeties were Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Calvin Pryor, and Jimmie Ward and I would have been happy with any of the three.
The Packers ultimately drafted Ha Ha Clinton-Dix from Alabama, and now we wait on what he can bring to a struggling defense. One thing is for certain, Clinton-Dix will bring physicality to the position and that is desperately needed on the Packers defense, but at the same time Clinton-Dix will have to show he should be in the starting lineup week one in Seattle.
Going into training camp, which is less than 48 hours away we are about to see what the first round pick from powerhouse Alabama can do. However, don’t expect the job of starting safety alongside Morgan Burnett (I’m assuming he has his job) to just be a given.
The depth at safety isn’t great, and this is ultimately how if the job is for some reason is simply handed to Clinton-Dix would happen, but I truly do like what I’ve seen in very limited reps from Sean Richardson, and Chris Banjo has shown that he can play at times. The wildcard here is Micah Hyde.
Mike McCarthy has said that Hyde is a potentially a four down player, and that Hyde is far too talented not to be on the field. Micah Hyde in my opinion should definitely be in consideration to be a starting safety.
The way I see it is that the Packers will make Ha Ha Clinton-Dix show some things on the field before he is named the starter, and I totally agree with this. I’ve always been a believer of making rookies show what they can do before you hand them a starting job no matter how high they may have been drafted. Clinton-Dix will have to earn his job just as anyone else will, that’s just the way the Packers operate.
The Packers are a organization in which every player has a fair shot at the final 53 and a chance at some playing time going into camp and this always makes for a real exciting summer at Ray Nitschke Field
Entering training camp here’s my depth chart at safety for the Packers:
1. Morgan Burnett
2. Ha Ha Clinton-Dix
3. Micah Hyde
4. Sean Richardson
5. Chris Banjo
6. Charles Clay
~Arrick Upton (@ArrickUpton)
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