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Click the link for the full article it is longer so didn't want to copy it all
Yahoo! Sports
On a day when Mike McCarthy shot down recent offseason speculation that the Green Bay Packers' underachieving defense would be getting lighter up front, the head coach let on to some significant changes potentially in the works.
One of those could be turning to Micah Hyde, a budding young cornerback, at safety next season with the position in need of an upgrade.
"Micah's, to me, a multiple-position player," McCarthy said at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis on Friday. "I'd like to see Micah compete to play all three downs on defense. So, if there's a personnel group that he has to play safety, yeah, that's an option.
"He's also played nickel, he's played dime, he's played corner. He's definitely someone that I think has earned the opportunity to compete to be on the field all three downs."
Hyde, a fifth-round draft pick last year, has been compared to Charles Woodson, the former Packers playmaker who made the conversion from cornerback to safety later in his career. Hyde primarily worked in the slot as Green Bay's third cornerback and started three games as a rookie, finishing with 54 tackles, four pass breakups, a sack and a forced fumble.
By comparison, M.D. Jennings, who started the majority of games alongside top safety Morgan Burnett, produced 79 tackles, two pass breakups, a sack and a fumble recovery.
None of Green Bay's safeties had an interception.
"Morgan was very productive as far as tackles (106, ranking second on the team), but, yeah, we want more plays made by our safeties. I think that's important," McCarthy said. "We need to go back, which we have, and look at exactly how we're utilizing everybody."
McCarthy made a strong statement Friday about what's in store for the defense, which ranked 25th overall in the league last season but still will have Dom Capers as its coordinator.
Injuries certainly were a culprit, especially losing All-Pro outside linebacker Clay Matthews to a thumb injury at two different points in the season. Yet, McCarthy, in retrospect, believes the Packers didn't get the most out of the players they had available.
Yahoo! Sports
On a day when Mike McCarthy shot down recent offseason speculation that the Green Bay Packers' underachieving defense would be getting lighter up front, the head coach let on to some significant changes potentially in the works.
One of those could be turning to Micah Hyde, a budding young cornerback, at safety next season with the position in need of an upgrade.
"Micah's, to me, a multiple-position player," McCarthy said at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis on Friday. "I'd like to see Micah compete to play all three downs on defense. So, if there's a personnel group that he has to play safety, yeah, that's an option.
"He's also played nickel, he's played dime, he's played corner. He's definitely someone that I think has earned the opportunity to compete to be on the field all three downs."
Hyde, a fifth-round draft pick last year, has been compared to Charles Woodson, the former Packers playmaker who made the conversion from cornerback to safety later in his career. Hyde primarily worked in the slot as Green Bay's third cornerback and started three games as a rookie, finishing with 54 tackles, four pass breakups, a sack and a forced fumble.
By comparison, M.D. Jennings, who started the majority of games alongside top safety Morgan Burnett, produced 79 tackles, two pass breakups, a sack and a fumble recovery.
None of Green Bay's safeties had an interception.
"Morgan was very productive as far as tackles (106, ranking second on the team), but, yeah, we want more plays made by our safeties. I think that's important," McCarthy said. "We need to go back, which we have, and look at exactly how we're utilizing everybody."
McCarthy made a strong statement Friday about what's in store for the defense, which ranked 25th overall in the league last season but still will have Dom Capers as its coordinator.
Injuries certainly were a culprit, especially losing All-Pro outside linebacker Clay Matthews to a thumb injury at two different points in the season. Yet, McCarthy, in retrospect, believes the Packers didn't get the most out of the players they had available.
