Rookie Safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix Flourishing in Packers Defense
Still rotating in and out as a flex safety, first-round pick Ha Ha Clinton-Dix is showing improvement and promise in the back end of the Green Bay Packers defense.
Coming from Nick Saban's Rip/Liz-heavy scheme at Alabama, Clinton-Dix came from the college program with the most similar defense to Dom Capers' in Green Bay. Thus it's no surprise he's looking good early. He's a rookie and makes rookie mistakes at times, but he has been looking better and better each week.
Pro Football Focus even noted his performance in Sunday's game against the Miami Dolphins in its ReFo piece covering the game.
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"Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, S: +2.8
Breakdown: He's not been the every-week impact player many Packer fans hoped he would be when taken in this year's first round, but the rookie put together what was comfortably his best professional game to date. Splitting time with Micah Hyde, Clinton-Dix outshone Hyde as he racked up a team-leading ten tackles (three stops) among some excellent play in coverage.
Signature Play: Q2, 8:01. Clinton-Dix drove hard on a deep crosser to Mike Wallace, arriving just as the ball did and forcing the incompletion with a strong hit.
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When watching the game on NFL Game Rewind's coaches tape, which is much better than television broadcasts to judge defensive backs on, there were several plays in which Clinton-Dix stood out.
Play 1: Ball pursuit and motor
This was one of the rare instances that Clinton-Dix lined up in the slot. Rotating in and out as a base safety with Micah Hyde, he spent most of his time as a single-high safety with Morgan Burnett rolled down. Instead on this snap, he's at the bottom of the screen while Burnett is playing Cover 1.
In the backfield, the Packers nearly stopped the ball-carrier for a tackle for loss on their initial try. Unfortunately for Green Bay, though, it couldn't wrap up the running back. It did manage to throw the running back deeper into the backfield, forcing him to make a play in space to save perceived lost yardage.
Clinton-Dix was on the 30, not yet giving up on the play. His consistent pursuit of the tackle paid off for the Packers big-time here.
After running downhill for 12 yards, the rookie safety squared up on the running back.
With correct positioning and a nice base to tackle from, the former Crimson Tide defensive back knocked down the running back for loss of nine yards.
Play 2: Play recognition and open field tackling
Here, the Packers were playing with Burnett and Clinton-Dix as split safeties, giving Miami a Cover 2 look.
Quarterback Ryan Tannehill, recognizing the deep zone coverage and no one near the shallow center of the field, threw the ball to his man in open space—move tight end Charles Clay. Clinton-Dix, reading off Tannehill's eyes and then Clay's gestures, was able to break on the target before the ball was able to leave the Miami passer's hands.
For example, the safety was nearly 10 yards ahead of Burnett, who had the same responsibilities on the other section of the field. He was closer to the target set to catch the ball than to his teammate in this instance.
Because of his ability to close on receivers and wrap up, he stopped his man for no yards after the catch. Clay caught the pass then hit a brick wall. In back-to-back plays, Clinton-Dix's tackles resulted in a combined loss of two yards.
Play 3: Pass breakup
After giving slot and split coverage looks, Clinton-Dix lined up as a single-high safety on this play, tipping off to the offense that the Packers were in an odd coverage, either Cover 1 or Cover 3.
Again, Clinton-Dix was able to make an impressive play on the football. Reading Tannehill's eyes, he committed himself to stopping the route crossing the center of the field. Tannehill, if disciplined, would have either looked off the safety or hit another target.
He had one at the bottom of the screen running a vertical route with the cornerback steps behind him and no safety to make a play. Clinton-Dix took advantage of the third-year quarterback's lack of balance here by gambling and winning on a route. He was halfway to the target by the time Tannehill began to throw the football.
In a bang-bang play, the safety was able to meet the football through receiver Mike Wallace and force an incompletion. Some may see this play as overaggressive, which it might be, but against a non-elite quarterback like Tannehill, it's a better risk than, say, a Peyton Manning.
Play 4: Making up for others' mistakes
Clinton-Dix again played this play from a single-high position. In a prevent defense-type situation with less than a minute on the clock in the second quarter, the Packers simply couldn't allow a touchdown for the Dolphins' last drive to be counted as a success for Green Bay.
The underneath coverage didn't do what it needed to do, though. The Cover 3 shell was still sitting on top of the offense, but those defenders were the final ones able to make a play on the football once the receiver made the catch in the middle of the field.
With the two cornerbacks on the numbers, there was a good chance that Clinton-Dix could have been the deciding factor between a touchdown and a tackle here. At midfield, he started to close in on the target.
Sizing him up before the tackle, the Alabama product was able to take down the receiver in the open field. While giving up yardage was fine in that situation late in the half, giving up a score was absolutely not acceptable. The original man in coverage on the route wasn't able to make a play once the ball was out, leaving the high safety to make a play. And when the time called, he did.
Play 5: Play recognition and open field tackle
Clinton-Dix began as a single-high safety in Green Bay's Cover 1 defense.
At the mesh point, the hole in the middle of the Packers defense is already apparent. If the running back hits the grass with speed, he would make it all the way to the deep secondary, the only straight line obstacle in the way of a touchdown.
Recognizing the run early, Clinton-Dix was able to start making his move on the ball as the handoff was taking place.
From there, as the last resort, the safety squared himself in the open field and topped the running back over him just over the 45-yard line. While Miami was able to make a big play due to the play of the front seven, the back end of the defense assured that it wouldn't go for a score.
Final thoughts
Despite proving he's green at times, Clinton-Dix is able to make some plays that the Packers secondary hasn't seen since Nick Collins was roaming the deep secondary. For a team that didn't have a safety interception in over a full year coming into the season, he's a blessing who's showing promise for the future of the franchise.
For example, last season, M.D. Jennings was a starter. Jennings went from being untendered, to signing a short, low-salary deal with the Bears, to not making a 53-man roster in an offseason. To say the least, that doesn't speak well about the personnel that Green Bay had at safety in 2013.
With the potential Clinton-Dix has displayed, there can be no complaints judging the secondary on the curve of the recent past. If he continues his progression, he could be a key piece not only to the Packers secondary or defense, but to the team overall.
With the expectations placed on first-round picks, it's safe to assume that the front office and coaches believe the same.
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