Morgan Burnett

[bubba]

Is he in trouble of losing his starting spot? Or worse yet getting cut? Been hurt most of training camp, Packers really think Hyde is an impact player and drafted HAHA in the 1st round. Burnett had a horrible year last year and is making a lot of money. Some say he was below average because he had no one beside him. Richardson has been looking good in camp also. I am interested how these young guys play in pre season and how things shake out at the safety spot. This is not a bash Burnett thread just a legitimate Question on our safety position. Does anyone else feel this might be a possible scenario?

 

[thisisnate]

I think not likely, but definitely possible. I think they have more faith in Burnett than most of us seem to, and I don't see them throwing HaHa into the fire right away.

 

[TJV]

I hope he can lose his spot if someone else outplays him but that is unlikely. And he will not be cut this year: He signed a 5- year, $26M deal about one year ago which included a $8.25M signing bonus.

 

[I_am_smoked_cheddar]

I believe that the competition for all the Safety positions is ongoing. The best players will start regardless of who is making the most money. Let us wait and observe the competition. The Pre-Season games will separate the wheat from the chaff .

 

[Mike peterson]

I believe that the competition for all the Safety positions is ongoing. The best players will start regardless of who is making the most money. Let us wait and observe the competition. The Pre-Season games will separate the wheat from the chaff .

I agree Morgan isn't going anywhere and Haha isn't ready to start just yet. Richardson is looking good I could see him getting some playing time

 

[longtimefan]

Morgan wont be cut...I think last year was a fluke

 

[brandon2348]

They wont cut Burnett as his contract has too much "dead money". I hope Richardson beats him out.

 

[HardRightEdge]

Dead money is right...he won't be cut.

Burnett is to safety what Hawk is to ILB...the signal caller who will be difficult to move off his spot.

I will say this...Burnett has stiffer competition than Hawk has ever seen.

 

[GreenBaySlacker]

Our def play makers were largely neutralized by capers bend but dont break schemes... Capers schemes were dictated by, first, lack of talent. Then the talent got injured... It didnt help our offense was super high powered. Other teams offenses were very aggresive , and our pass rush/ secondary coverage were thin and ineffective. Capers and his defensive brain has no limits. The scheme changed for the people we had and the offenses we faced... So guys like Burnett were lost in center field. Far from the play making days of Butler, Sharper, and Collins mixing in the blitz, and stepping in front of easy picks from pressured QBs...

Thats the long way of saying, that if we can get some pass rush. Burnett will be allowed to roam more freely. And the ints will return. If anything. This situation with the young tackling monsters pushing him. Burnett could take that next step earlier... We will have a pass rush this year. If he stays healthy, Burnett will be great IMO.

Dont get me wrong. You can read my posts from last week when i wrote that Hyde went from shizbird to starter because he goes and gets it! He tackles when he gets there. Haha does the same thing in his alabama clips. Combine the ball hawking skills. Burnett better be on his game..... Which I think he will be.

 

[yooperpackfan]

Burnett does not get cut.
This year.

 

[TJV]

Demovsky has an article today titled, "Packers might have options at safety". http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/134709/packers-might-have-options-at-safety

He writes, "...if there's one starter in danger of losing his job, it might be Burnett." He also notes they've practiced a package with Burnett, HHCD, and Hyde on the field at the same time. Of course Hyde will be playing more than just safety this season, but it says something about how far they may have come from not having one decent safety on the field to going out of their way to have three, kind of. And if Burnett plays like he did last season, Richardson may earn some playing time if he continues to play as he has so far.

 

[HardRightEdge]

In counterpoint, Silverstein opined:

"Clinton-Dix and Richardson aren't competing for a starting job as much as a complementary role in the nickel or dime package. Hyde, Clinton-Dix and Richardson are all built differently and have different athletic talents, so it's conceivable they can be mixed and matched based on the opponent during the regular season."

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/pack...t-a-look-vs-titans-b99326162z1-270423961.html

This is the reasonable default position until we see these guys play some. Hyde's in a new position, Clinton-Dix has never taken an NFL snap and Richardson has been less than impressive in limited game play. Camp is camp, a place where we've seen guys like Bush and House elevate themselves to starter status in past seasons only to disappoint with inconsistent real game play (read: getting burned deep too often). In fact, Bush is having a very good camp again by most reports, matching Richardson's two INTs. I don't think he'll be challenging anybody for a starting job. He may not even make the team if he loses his job in dime.

At this stage, optimism reigns and the players are like the children of Lake Wobegon...they're all above average.

 

[brandon2348]

Yeah. I don't think anything is set in stone right now at either safety position. I could see a combination of any of the four starting on opening day. Can't wait to see how they play tomorrow. With Burnett not playing there will be plenty of snaps to go around.

Dix might be the type of player that is a gamer and does better when the lights come on.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

First of all I have to agree with everone that Burnett won't be cut this season as the move would result in $6.6 million of dead money counting against the cap and an additional $1.8 million cap hit for 2014.

While Hyde has looked pretty natural after moving to safety, Clinton-Dix has provided some support in the run defense and Richardson has intercepted some passes I expect Burnett to be one of the starters and expect him to improve this season as he doesn't play with the doctor or McMillian anymore.

If he doesn't live up to expectations though I hope the coaching staff doesn't hesitate to replace him with someone else.

 

[SoonerPack]

Capers has to know that he is on thin ice and running out of chances. If come pre-seasons end 2 of the safeties have clearly outperformed the others I can't believe that he would not play them. The NFL is about one thing and that is performance. I do expect MB to have a bounce back year but if he is getting outplayed by Richardson or CHHD he needs to sit. End of story. Burnett is going to be making the same on the field as he would be on the bench so it's not as if there is some sort of fiscal incentive to play him. The only true fiscal incentive Dom has is keeping his lucrative job and putting non-starters on the field ahead of playmakers is a quick way to bankruptcy. I sincerely hope the above will also apply to the ILB spot and for that matter every position. I am hearing some good things about this Thomas kid and would love nothing more than seeing some fresh blood manning the middle and providing a much needed spark...at the LOS, not 8 yards past it! I think there is more than enough talent on this roster to be the top dog once the dust settles. Now let's kick this pre-season off and see who wants to be a part of greatness! Who is going to step up and "#@%$ somebody up!" like UDFA Fullback Ina Liaina said?!?! LETS TO THE DAMN THING!!!!!! GPG!!

 

[Purpledomination]

Our def play makers were largely neutralized by capers bend but dont break schemes... Capers schemes were dictated by, first, lack of talent. Then the talent got injured... It didnt help our offense was super high powered. Other teams offenses were very aggresive , and our pass rush/ secondary coverage were thin and ineffective. Capers and his defensive brain has no limits. The scheme changed for the people we had and the offenses we faced... So guys like Burnett were lost in center field. Far from the play making days of Butler, Sharper, and Collins mixing in the blitz, and stepping in front of easy picks from pressured QBs...

Thats the long way of saying, that if we can get some pass rush. Burnett will be allowed to roam more freely. And the ints will return. If anything. This situation with the young tackling monsters pushing him. Burnett could take that next step earlier... We will have a pass rush this year. If he stays healthy, Burnett will be great IMO.

Dont get me wrong. You can read my posts from last week when i wrote that Hyde went from shizbird to starter because he goes and gets it! He tackles when he gets there. Haha does the same thing in his alabama clips. Combine the ball hawking skills. Burnett better be on his game..... Which I think he will be.

You wanna go ahead and learn what you are talking about? Capers scheme is an aggressive attacking 3-4, about the farthest thing from "Bend but dont break". I'm not even a Packer fan but jeez.

 

[profile_removed]

I HOPE he's cut!

 

[TJV]

I HOPE he's cut!

Why? Don't you think he's better than Chris Banjo? Don't you think there's a chance of him playing better with a better safety lined up next to him and (hopefully) a better front 7? I understand hoping the two best of Clinton-Dix, Hyde, Burnett, and Richardson get the most PT, but why hope a player they have so much invested in (including a $1.5M bonus paid to him in March of this year) gets cut?

 

[Sunshinepacker]

With the amount of defensive breakdowns this team has had due to having inexperienced players on the field, I seriously doubt that the team will be comfortable with two first-time starters at safety. I'm not writing Burnett's epitaph yet, he was hurt last year and the entire defense was awful and Burnett was a good safety the couple years prior. I'm hoping last year was a confluence of suck for him and he gets back on track this year.

 

[HardRightEdge]

Don't you think there's a chance of him playing better with a better safety lined up next to him....

I believe this to be an underappreciated factor contributing to Burnett's off year, though it does not account for everything that went wrong last year. Jennings was not assignment-sure.

 

[Pkrjones]

Safety was the weakest position on the field in '13, with ILB right behind them. Why would the Packers risk cutting their best vet safety? If the young guys excel to the point where Burnett is #4 or 5 on the depth chart I will be elated, but that doesn't mean Burnett is garbage. If it's worth the cap hit Burnett would be worth something in trade ... hell, he'd be the best Safety on the Bear's team.

 

[PikeBadger]

Safety was the weakest position on the field in '13, with ILB right behind them. Why would the Packers risk cutting their best vet safety? If the young guys excel to the point where Burnett is #4 or 5 on the depth chart I will be elated, but that doesn't mean Burnett is garbage. If it's worth the cap hit Burnett would be worth something in trade ... hell, he'd be the best Safety on the Bear's team.

With his current contract, you couldn't get a 3 day old ham sandwich in return for Burnett.

 

[Greenbayphil]

I'm hoping that Burnett starts feelin' the pressure and gets his finger out. Hopefully it can be like Crosby last year, had a terrible season, felt like his job was being threatened and then came out and had possibly his best season to date.

 

[Vrill]

I think not likely, but definitely possible. I think they have more faith in Burnett than most of us seem to, and I don't see them throwing HaHa into the fire right away.

HaHa could handle being thrown in the fire. He played in the SEC at Alabama and played in a ton of high intensity games. While I understand that it wasnt the NFL, the experience of "big games" and needing to play big is there.

 

[Pkrjones]

Took my son & his friend to the Bear's training camp, yesterday. Their D-line looks VERY active, LB's (minus Briggs who sat out) looked "OK", their top 4 or 5 CB's looked pretty good, and their Safeties were BAD.

Their #1 safeties were: Ryan Mundy and Danny McCray (Richard Sherman look-alike). 2nd team safeties were: Adrian Wilson and Brock Vereen. MD Jennings was rotated in with the #3's/4's along with just-back-from-injury Conte.

Banjo looks to be better than most of da Bears safeties, so if he stays #5 on the depth chart and gets cut will more than likely end-up on somebody's 53.

Side notes:
1. Jared Allen completely handled Bushrod on one play and on the very next play got thrown to the side and allowed a TD right through his gap.
2. Even at 33 Peanut Tillman is VERY good and 1/2 of the heart of the D (Briggs other half) ~ anticipates EVERYTHING and was staying in every WR's hip pocket. Kyle Fuller looked tentative (possibly as he's learning the system) and Tim Jennings plays aggressively (but is REALLY short).
3. Don't know if the kid has the brains to succeed in the NFL, but Christian Jones (LB) looks VERY imposing... was a bit of my UDFA man-crush after the draft.
4. TE (Bennett and Z. Miller) is a key option for Cutler. With better safety play in '14 I think Marshall & Jeffery can be kept in-check, but the TE's might cause headaches if allowed to run wild.