Morgan Burnett Puts Together Career Day vs. Tampa Bay
When Morgan Burnett was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the 2010 NFL draft, the Georgia Tech product was the sixth safety off the board.
Picked ahead of him were Eric Berry, Earl Thomas, Nate Allen, T.J. Ward and Taylor Mays. While Berry, Thomas and Ward have Pro Bowls under their belts, Mays spent only a season in San Francisco before being traded by the 49ers to the Cincinnati Bengals for a seventh-round pick.
On the relative scale of safety selections early in that draft class, Burnett would rank in the eyes of most as the fourth- or fifth-best of the six options—interchangeable with Allen, who also has been a full-time starter since coming into the league.
TOP NEWS
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Colts Release Kenny Moore
Projecting Every NFL Team's Starting Lineup 🔮
Rookie WRs Who Will Outplay Their Draft Value 📈
Who is Burnett, though? About midway through his second deal, questions still come up regarding the identity of the 25-year-old defensive back. With Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network breaking the news in the summer of 2013, Burnett added four years to his rookie deal at a cost of $24.75 million.
Was he worth it?
Looking back, it's murky. His rookie year, he missed 12 games due to a knee injury. With an anterior cruciate ligament surgery, known by most as an ACL, already on his resume, some wouldn't have taken the risk at projecting him in the long-term scheme of their franchise.
According to Dr. James Andrews, who has previously performed ACL operations on Robert Griffin III and Adrian Peterson, per Newsday, 55 percent of players are out of professional football two years after the surgery.
Essentially, it was a coin flip if Burnett would even be in Green and Gold in 2013. Instead, he got an extension. One could have viewed him as someone who was playing on borrowed time—but not general manager Ted Thompson.
Burnett's game has always been one that was best suited to play lower than higher. He's not a single-high safety like Thomas is for Seattle. He's not exactly Kam Chancellor, either, but he's not Thomas.
The way Green Bay uses its safeties isn't too different from how Nick Saban and Alabama do. Usually, both safeties start high, then, depending on the look the offense gives, the defense "matches." Saban calls this Rip/Liz, and it's a fundamental way to play Cover 3.
Out of the two-high look, the team could easily run Cover 2 or Cover 4, using the cornerbacks on the boundaries, or Cover 1 if it chose to send a blitz by "matching" similar to its Cover 3.
Luckily for Burnett, he's been paired with a nice match himself. Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, trained collegiately under Saban, was Thompson's first selection for Green Bay in 2014. As a better single-high safety than box safety but again one who could play both spots, he was as good of a personnel and scheme fit as one could ask for.
One season after the backend of the defense contributed zero interceptions to the team total, the Packers seemingly had their unit for the coming future. At first splitting time with hybrid slotback and safety Micah Hyde, a second year player out of Iowa, Clinton-Dix eventually earned the starting job next to Burnett.
Since then, there have been times when the former Yellow Jacket has flashed incredible talent in 2014. Last week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was the game to point to if someone inquired for an example.
Burnett was all over the field on Sunday, but his first impact play of the game was unique. Playing the low safety, Burnett draped over the tight end pre-snap. Instead of dropping into coverage, though, the defensive back was designed to take his chances against the right tackle in pass protection.
In what must have been a startling move for the offensive lineman, Burnett was able to get an inside lane to the quarterback while only having to push through an arm's worth of contact. Bouncing too far outside, the tackle was unable to make a play on the blitzer when he countered inside.
When he finally did get a hand on his man, Burnett was able to swat his single hand away with both gloves.
Along with defensive end Mike Daniels, Burnett netted half a sack on the play.
This play is dissimilar to the first highlighted snap. Tampa Bay came out on this set with three receivers but none on the boundary. So, in reaction, Green Bay sent out nickel personnel but had nine defenders near the line of scrimmage.
The two players not featured in this view are the safeties Clinton-Dix and Burnett.
Electing to call a run on 1st-and-20 on their own 10-yard line, the Packers defense beat the Tampa Bay offensive line from the jump. Reestablishing the line on the left side while not budging on the right, the only place for the running back to go was a lone gap between the hashes.
Sprinting downhill was Burnett, who recognized run responsibilities and was on a mission to stop anything that moved. He was there so quickly that linebackers Clay Matthews and Sam Barrington were actually behind him at that point.
Nailing the ball-carrier in the backfield after blazing through the running lane, Burnett notched his second large contribution of the first half.
On this rep, the Buccaneers motioned their H-back from the left to the right side of the formation. Following the man was Burnett.
Again in a nickel set, the Packers managed to put seven in the box with the addition of the safety. With a pass-rusher taking control of the outside, Burnett's assignment in the run game was to fill, while the edge player had outside containment.
With Julius Peppers setting the edge outside, Burnett crashed into the right guard to fill the right B-gap.
At the line of scrimmage, Green Bay was winning. With no push, linebackers Matthews and Barrington were waiting to the left of the play, while nothing was available in the middle, leaving the running back with one option: attempt to beat Burnett one-on-one to the right.
With a steady wrap, Burnett initiated contact behind the line of scrimmage, stalling the run before it could really get started.
On a similar play, Burnett again lined up near the ball, this time on 3rd-and-short. Tampa Bay brought in some extra weight, as it loaded the right side of the line with an extra offensive lineman to go along with a tight end.
Again, the Packers did a good job at the line of scrimmage, giving the running back no running lane in the center of the field. Forced to bounce out, the running back was headed straight toward either Matthews or Burnett.
Matthews, with his head on the inside shoulder of the tight end on a would-be outside run, took on the block instead of attempting to be the hero. This meant the play was on Burnett to fill.
Again hitting his man behind the line of scrimmage, the running back's momentum carried him for a gain of one yard but not enough to convert a first down.
The final high-impact play of Burnett's morning came on a quick hitter from quarterback Josh McCown to his tight end. Six yards off the ball, Burnett was in a position to limit the yardage the H-back would gain.
After dropping into his coverage responsibility, Burnett was breaking on the ball as McCown was letting go. With good recognition and closing speed, there was potential not to give up a first down on the play.
Peppers, leaping over the running back, crashed in on the passing lane, creating even more time for Burnett to close in.
After only three yards, the big bodied pass-catcher was brought down. Sent flying on tackle, Burnett cleaned up and did his part on the play.
Overall, the safety's performance was one of the best he had ever notched. Brian Carriveau of Cheesehead TV noted him as one of two "blue chips" in his weekly "Chips Report" on Sunday.
"Safety Morgan Burnett—Perhaps inspired by being voted a postseason captain by his teammates, Burnett made a living around the line of scrimmage on Sunday. A team-leading 10 tackles only begins to tell the story of the impact Burnett had against the Buccaneers. He combined with defensive lineman Mike Daniels on a sack, blitzing off the edge, while also finishing the game with one tackle for a loss and a quarterback hit. The amount of tackles Burnett made short of the first-down marker was incredibly impressive.
"
Pro Football Focus also gave Morgan Burnett the game ball for his effort against the Buccaneers.
"Morgan Burnett, SS: +5.7
Breakdown: In what was by far his best performance of the year, Burnett seemed to make a play every time he approached the line of scrimmage. He had eight defensive stops (four more than anyone else on the team) as well as a quarterback hurry. He was the biggest reason Tampa had to abandon the run in this game, making the Bucs one-dimensional and forcing McCown into 2nd/3rd-and-longs all afternoon.
Signature Plays: Q2, 1:58 and 1:21 remaining. With Tampa facing a 2nd-and-short, he stuffs Doug Martin on back-to-back plays, forcing the Bucs into a fourth down.
"
The site's plus-5.7 grade of the defensive back was his highest ever, with his second-highest mark coming from a 2012 matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars, netting a plus-4.3 on the day (subscription required).
Donning a captain's patch, Burnett looked ready for the playoffs last weekend. Not only that, but he might just be prepared to silence his critics completely with his postseason play. If Sunday's performance was any indication, the next few weeks will swing the public's judgement of the fifth-year player.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.png?w=480)
