If You Allow A Touchdown To Randy Moss, You Find A Seat On The Bench

At first, it was hard to tell which defensive player was supposed to be covering a wide open Randy Moss when he caught a touchdown last Sunday. S Morgan Burnett was the closest player, but he was jumping up-and-down angry and he seemed to be mad at someone else. LB D.J. Smith didn't drop back in coverage, but that might not have been his responsibility. Finally, S M.D. Jennings came into the screen right after the catch, and I did notice that rookie S Jerron McMillian played during the second half. Jennings has now confirmed it:

Packers S M.D. Jennings on getting pulled in favor of Jerron McMillian: "I blew my opportunity, so they put 'J' in and gave him his chance."
— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) September 11, 2012

I've never been very impressed with M.D. Jennings, but he had never before seemed like an obvious liability. A blown coverage is the type of play that keeps a young defender glued to the bench. Back in 2009, the Packers released one safety, and benched another, after Aaron Rouse (Bengals in week 2) and Derrick Martin (Vikings in week 8) botched assignments in the secondary.

I don't think McMillian is ready, and neither do the coaches if he was a reserve to start the season, but I do like his potential. Maybe the solution is to let Charles Woodson spend more time at safety, but it's not like the situation at cornerback is really solid either. Bears QB Jay Cutler has noticed the Packers' problem.

On a somewhat related note, the Packers have one less player in the defensive backfield with the release of CB Brandian Ross because they needed a roster spot for LB Erik Walden. Ross was a surprising addition to the 53-man roster, and with 11 defensive backs on the roster, I thought one of them would have to go to make room for Walden, once he was reinstated.

I expect the Packers will use Walden on special teams, and maybe even a few plays on defense. He will be good in that role; he's just not an every down starter. I wouldn't be surprised to see M.D. Jennings left inactive so that Walden can play on Thursday night.

The Packers 90-man Roster: Cornerbacks

One of the biggest surprises in last April's draft was that the Green Bay Packers selected a cornerback (Casey Hayward) in the 2nd round. Maybe it shouldn't have been a surprise based on the terrible 2011 season, but I thought the coaches were looking for a bounce back season from Tramon Williams and/or Sam Shields. Instead, they added a shot of competition to the position.

Player	Height	Weight	Age	Experience
Bush, Jarrett	6-0	200	28	7
Hayward, Casey	5-11	192	22	Rookie
House, Davon	6-0	195	22	2
Merrill, Otis	5-11	188	24	Rookie
Ross, Brandian	6-0	191	22	1
Shields, Sam	5-11	184	24	3
Turner, Dion	5-11	194	23	Rookie
Williams, Tramon	5-11	191	29	6
Woodson, Charles	6-1	202	35	15

At first glance this looks like a tough spot for three rookies, and a 2011 practice squad member (Ross) who's had zero regular season experience. Unless Hayward is a complete disaster in training camp, which is very unlikely, he'll move into the spot vacated by former Packer Pat Lee, who's now with the Raiders.

Then it comes down to whether one of the three undrafted free agents (Merrill, Ross, Turner) can move ahead of House. While the most likely result is that they're only competing against each other for a spot on the practice squad, the fact remains that House was given zero opportunities last season while the secondary was imploding. If House struggles during the preseason, he could have reason to worry.

But other than a possible competition for the final spot on the 53-man roster, the depth chart should remain the same. Woodson is back, and Bush was re-signed to back him up. Shields took a big step back in 2011, but he played with the first team defense during the open OTAs. Some concern remains about whether Williams is fully recovered from his shoulder injury, but his injured nerve will heal at some point and he kept his starting job throughout 2011 despite his bad shoulder.

Overall competition level: low. Other than a potential battle between Shields and Hayward/House/Bush for the nickelback, there shouldn't be too many surprises here once the longshot, undrafted undrafted cornerbacks fail to move up the depth chart. The cornerbacks need to play a lot better in 2012, but that doesn't mean that there will be a lot of changes to the roster.