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South Carolina S D.J. Swearinger

Green Bay Packers NFL Draft prospect profile: S D.J. Swearinger

Player Information:

D.J. Swearinger
5-10, 208 pounds
Hometown: Greenwood, SC

STATS

NFL Combine:

Vertical: 37 inches
40 time: 4.67
225-pound bench: 17 reps
Broad jump: 124 inches
3-cone drill: 6.7 seconds
20-yard shuttle: 4.11 seconds

News and Notes:

Hard-hitting three-year starter and captain of the South Carolina defense. … Played every position in the secondary while at South Carolina. … Totaled 80 tackles, two interceptions and seven pass breakups his senior season. … Blitzes off the edge. … Suspended for one game in 2012 after drilling a defenseless receiver. … Says he models his game after Ed Reed and Ray Lewis. … Gets a lot of praise for being a team leader. … Reputation as one of the hardest-hitting players in college football.

What they’re saying about him:  Read more... (587 words + 1 image, estimated 2:21 mins reading time)

• National Football Post: ”The game is not too big for him and he should be able to translate immediately at the NFL level. Worst case scenario is he is a solid special teamer and adds quality depth to a defensive backfield. He could work his way to being a starter but don’t expect him to be a difference maker but more a strong piece to the puzzle that doesn’t make the big error. Overall Swearinger is a great pick up in the 4th round and should have a long NFL career for some team.”

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Pollard could provide a big boost to Green Bay’s secondary both in his play and leadership

The Baltimore Ravens continued their house cleaning today by releasing veteran safety Bernard Pollard.  He had spent the last two seasons with the Ravens and was a vital part of the team’s success during each playoff run.

Pollard was a second round pick of the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2006 draft.  In fact, he was chosen just two spots after the Green Bay Packers selected receiver Greg Jennings.  Pollard played three seasons with the Chiefs before joining the Houston Texans for two years and then on to Baltimore.

In his seven seasons, Pollard has seen a lot of quality football and has shown no signs of diminishing skills yet.  He was a veteran of the Ravens defense and played alongside of some of the better defenders in the NFL in that of Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and Terrell Suggs.  He knows how to win and he’s a proven leader.

Pollard is a player the Packers should take a look at.  With Green Bay picking 26^th in the first round, it’s unlikely that they will find a starting caliber safety in this year’s draft.  The incumbents opposite Morgan Burnett are M.D. Jennings and Jerron McMillian and neither are without some doubts that they can be effective in a starting role.  When Charles Woodson was hurt last season, both M.D. and McMillian had to platoon at safety as neither stepped up and took hold of the starting position.  Replacing Woodson is tough.  Replacing him with either of these two  young players is asking the impossible.  Pollard, at a reasonable price tag, could be a solution and a very effective one for the Packers.  Read more... (794 words + 3 images, estimated 3:11 mins reading time)

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Burnett returns as a leader of both the safety group as well as the Packers team as a whole in 2013

Packers Safeties:  One of the youngest groups on the current Green Bay Packers roster, this is a position that is expected to take a big step forward in 2013.  The team will be without long-time veteran Charles Woodson and will rely on Morgan Burnett to assume that leadership role.  Third-year player M.D. Jennings joins second-year player Jerron McMillian opposite Burnett with Sean Richardson likely in the fold as well.

For expanded coverage of this topic, listen to the podcast using the player below or download the podcast from the Packers Talk Radio Network on Itunes.

Where are we now:

Here are the current suspects:

Morgan Burnett (3rd round)

M.D. Jennings (UDFA)

Jerron McMillian (4th round)

Sean Richardson (UDFA)

Burnett was a steady rock for the Packers in 2012, playing in all 16 regular season games and both playoff games.  After missing most of his rookie season of 2010 and being hampered by a hand injury in 2011, Burnett showed that he can be counted on and durable enough to play a full season.  His play improved both in coverage and run support.  The assumption is that he will continue that trend in 2013 and become one of the defensive leaders on this team.  Read more... (1625 words + 3 images, estimated 6:30 mins reading time)

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Pickett is currently the oldest player on the Packers roster at 33

Since the Green Bay Packers’ 2012 season ended, the team has lost three of their oldest veterans in that of Donald Driver (37, retired), Jeff Saturday (37, retired) and Charles Woodson (36, released).  That makes defensive lineman Ryan Pickett their oldest player at 33 and the only veteran on the current roster with 10 or more years of experience.

It’s impossible to say what the team’s average age will be come the end of this year’s training camp, but it is clear that the team is headed for a youth movement for the next year or two.

The Packers being one of the league’s youngest teams is nothing new to most of us who will recall that from 2006 – 2009, they were the NFL’s youngest.  In 2011, the Packers were third youngest and in 2012 they were fifth youngest roster in the league.  In 2013, the Packers will be strong contenders for the “youngest” label once again.

Here is a list of players , courtesy of ESPN, that were on the roster during the 2012 season.  I don’t expect the team to bring running backs Cedric Benson nor Ryan Grant back in 2013.  That leaves John Kuhn as the only player currently 30 years old or more.  Several players are set to turn 30 this year; AJ Hawk, Aaron Rodgers, Tramon Williams and Greg Jennings.  Read more... (910 words + 3 images, estimated 3:38 mins reading time)

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Jerron McMillian

1) Introduction:  Packers safety Jerron McMillian was the second of Green Bay’s two fourth round draft picks in 2012 (133rd overall).  When the team lost safety Nick Collins in 2011, it quickly became a position of need for the Packers.  Charles Woodson would move back to safety, but the team needed some young talent to infuse for the future.  Enter McMillian who, much like Collins, was a Packers draft pick from a small school and a guy the team was hoping was a diamond in the rough.  McMillian was drafted for his football smarts and ability to be equally as effective against the pass and in run support.

2) Profile:

Jerron McMillian

• Age: 23
• Born: 4/2/1989 in Newark, NJ
• Height: 5’11″
• Weight: 203
• College: Maine
• Rookie Year: 2012
• NFL Experience: 1 year

Career Stats and more

3) Expectations coming into the season:  The team knew they had both Woodson and Morgan Burnett as starters at safety so McMillian was not immediately expected to start.  Heading into training camp, the team likely wasn’t sure what they had in the rookie from Maine.  He proved a quick study and was sharing reps with M.D. Jennings on second team defense during the offseason.  By the end of training camp, the team had already inserted McMillian into the defensive game planning for the upcoming regular season.  Read more... (547 words + 3 images, estimated 2:11 mins reading time)

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Packers CB Tramon Williams found himself in the falling category. Safety Morgan Burnett was steady.

The Packers end of season, full roster stock report is upon us. Below are over 2,300 words of insight, analysis, opinions and nonsense about every player currently on the Packers roster.

Read closely and enjoy, because many of these players likely won’t be around in 2013.

I incorporated each player’s performance from this season, and their future outlook while categorizing. Please agree or disagree in the comments.

As always, thanks for reading the weekly stock reports. Onto the last one:

Rising

Aaron Rodgers
It wasn’t as great as his MVP campaign, but it was still damn good. With chaos and injuries swirling all around, Rodgers kept the Packers offense moving forward and limited mistakes. A fine all-around performance and no reason to think it won’t continue in 2013.

Randall Cobb
With Greg Jennings and Jordy Nelson hobbled most of the season, Cobb broke out and turned into the Packers most dangerous weapon. I worry a little about his durability, but his production when healthy was great. Oh, and he needs to drop fewer passes.

DuJuan Harris
Is this too much praise for the 5-foot-7, 210-pound rolling ball of butcher knives? Maybe. But if I’m buying Harris stock, I want in right now. I think he’s going to stick with the Packers and get a chance to make some noise.  Read more... (2396 words + 1 image, estimated 9:35 mins reading time)

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Packers GM Ted Thompson has plenty of directions he could go in the 2013 NFL draft.

The Packers lost to the 49ers in the NFL playoffs. Badly. Embarrasingly. Frustratingly. Think of some other negative adverbs and they would probably also apply.

But in the fast-paced world of the NFL, that loss is already ancient history. We’ve dissected it to death on this site and other media outlets and blogs have done the same. It’s time to move on.

In the coming weeks, the ALLGBP.com staff will have complete reviews and grades of everyone on the Packers roster for the 2012-13 season. We will also begin breaking down prospects in the the April NFL draft that may fit the Packers needs.

This post is meant to start the discussion on what the Packers needs in the draft may be.

If everything was equal, what position group should the Packers focus on when they pick 26th in the upcoming draft? If there was at least one player from each position group on the board when Ted Thompson’s turn came up, and they were all equally talented, which position group should Thompson bolster?

I realize this is a very general and broad question, but remember, we’re just starting the conversation. There will plenty of specific prospect breakdowns and more focused discussion in the coming months. For now, let’s focus on the big picture and moving on from the 49ers loss.

Here’s how I see things.  Read more... (670 words + 1 image, estimated 2:41 mins reading time)

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