Well, that question has been answered. Are the Green Bay Packers going to try to convert cornerback Micah Hyde to safety? Hyde has been working at safety during OTAs.
Is a permanent move? Not even Hyde can say, but the coaching staff has told him they want him to compete to be a three-down player. With the logjam at cornerback — Sam Shields, Tramon Williams, Casey Hayward and others — Hyde’s best chance of becoming an every-down guy is at safety.
“The coaches let me know: ‘You’re going to go out there and compete to be a three-down player,” said Hyde Thursday after practice. “For me working at the safety position, honestly, there’s a lot of stuff I didn’t know. There’s a lot more learning that has to be done.”
Hyde played safety briefly in college, but coming out a lot of scouts said he was better suited for that position in the pros.
Now the question becomes, if Hyde is good enough to start at safety, who sits? He’d be taking the place of either Morgan Burnett or first-round pick Ha Ha Clinton-Dix in the starting lineup.
The way Burnett played last year after getting a big contract extension, we’d be fine with seeing less of him on the field. Of course, maybe he plays better if he’s not playing alongside M.D. Jennings.
As for Clinton-Dix, well, you don’t draft a guy in the first round expecting him to be a backup.
However it plays out, it will be a good thing to have some competition at what was the Packers’ biggest weakness in 2013.
7 Comments
Everyone wants big time free agents every off season but look at what the Pack did here. Didn’t spend any big money and created a lot of competition where we needed it most. Last years best player at the position (MB) has to compete for his job.
Let’s give this guy a shot at the safety position. Just keep in mind next time pole smoker kaepernick throws a pass right to your mitts, hang on to that damn pig skin and we can finally end this fuckin’ losing streak to the whiners of fairy town. Go Pack!!
Wether he starts at safety or just plays the extra safety in the dime defense all three of them will play allot.
MM and Capers have said they want to reduce and/or simplify defensive schemes and focus more on creating multiple personnel packages (or something like that). My guess at what that means is that coaches are focusing less on pegging players into single, fixed positions, and more on getting the best players on the field for different situations, and playing multiple positions. Peppers might line up as a left or right OLB, DE, or DT, for example, depending on the defensive situation. Likewise, Hyde might be a CB or FS on any given play. If that idea works, offenses won’t be able to assume where specific defensive players are going to be on every play. But again, that’s all based on my guess at what coaches mean by that “less scheme, more personnel packages” thing. I haven’t seen that idea explained in significant detail anywhere.
I wouldn’t count out Burnett being benched this year. He was THAT bad!
“As for Clinton-Dix, well, you don’t draft a guy in the first round expecting him to be a backup”.
Well, i don’t saw Datone Jones many times on field last year….
agree completely…..the packers are more concerned with making sure the players know their responsibilities than they are making sure the draft choices and big names start just because (AJ Hawk not withstanding).