FOX Sports Wisconsin's Paul Imig provides complete coverage of the Packers and the 2015 NFL Draft in his 14-part preview. You can find the entire series here.
TODAY'S POSITION: Safeties
Importance (1-to-10 scale): 3
On the roster
The first round of the 2014 NFL Draft could not have gone any better for the Packers. With the selection of Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Green Bay added the best player available while also addressing its biggest positional need.
Clinton-Dix had a bit of an up-and-down rookie season, but he started the final 12 games (including both in the playoffs) and finished on a high note with two interceptions in Seattle. For an ascending player who's still just 22 years old, Clinton-Dix represents the present and the future for the Packers at safety.
Morgan Burnett bounced back from a disastrous 2013 season with a very productive year in 2014. Of course, it helped Burnett that he was playing next to Clinton-Dix and not the duo of M.D. Jennings and Jerron McMillian. Having the more centerfield-oriented Clinton-Dix on the field allowed Burnett to play to his strengths near the line of scrimmage. Burnett has three years remaining on the $24.75 million deal he signed in 2013.
Green Bay decided to match the one-year, $2.55 million restricted free-agent offer given to Sean Richardson by Oakland. Richardson is a big-body safety who can pack a punch, and the pros of bringing him back outweighed the cons of a somewhat sizable contract.
Chris Banjo is undersized at 5-foot-10, but he's a reliable player who the Packers continue to keep around. Jean Fanor was added to the practice squad in December 2014. Micah Hyde has proven he can play safety, but there will now be more of a need for him at cornerback than at safety.
Last five safeties drafted
2014 -- Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Alabama: first round (21st overall) -- still with Packers
2012 -- Jerron McMillian, Maine: fourth round (133rd overall) -- released Dec. 2013, now with Kansas City
2010 -- Morgan Burnett, Georgia Tech: third round (71st overall) -- still with Packers
2009 -- Brandon Underwood, Cincinnati: sixth round (187th overall) -- released in 2011, now in the CFL
2007 -- Aaron Rouse, Virginia Tech: third round (89th overall) -- released in 2009; now out of football
Philosophy at the position
It's a good thing Green Bay found its safety in the 2014 draft, because this year's class is not very strong. Whereas there were four safeties selected in the first round last year, there might not be any safeties worthy of being among the first 32 picks in 2015.
It took Ted Thompson three years -- and one major mistake with McMillian -- to address the premature retirement of Nick Collins. A duo of Collins and Burnett would likely still be a force in the Packers' secondary, but the neck injury to the now-31-year-old disrupted that.
Day 1 name to remember (Round 1)
Landon Collins, third-year junior, Alabama (6-0, 228 pounds; age 21)
Thompson insists that drafting for need is not the way to successfully run a team. Yet, need will likely make Collins a first-round pick by some NFL team. If Collins was part of the 2014 class, he likely would've been the fifth safety off the board. He's a young, versatile player, though, and he should start for some team on Day 1 of his professional career. Between former Alabama safeties, Green Bay got the far better fit of Clinton-Dix next to Burnett, because Collins will likely need to play more of a strong safety role to be successful.
Day 2 name to remember (Rounds 2-3)
Jaquiski Tartt, fifth-year senior, Samford (6-1, 221 pounds; age 23)
There is very little consensus as to which safeties will go off the board after Collins. Tartt is the sixth-ranked safety by Joel Klatt of FOX Sports, and he has a fourth-round grade from NFLDraftScout.com. Tartt had a total of two interceptions over the past two seasons while playing against low-level competition. If Thompson disregards need and goes with the best player available when the Packers are up late in the third round, Tartt would represent fairly good value at that spot.
Day 3 name to remember (Rounds 4-7)
Gerod Holliman, third-year sophomore, Louisville (5-11, 218 pounds; age 20)
Holliman is the third-ranked safety by Klatt, but he's ranked eighth by NFLDraftScout.com and has a fifth-round grade. Not turning 21 until a week after the draft, Holliman offers a high ceiling in the middle rounds of the draft. Holliman is thought of as an extreme liability as a tackler and had one of the worst 40-yard dash times (4.65 seconds) among safeties in this year's draft. Perhaps Thompson sees Holliman as a good nickel corner and would consider him at No. 129 or No. 166.
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