Green Bay Packers' 2015 Impact Meter: S Sean Richardson

When the Green Bay Packers matched the Oakland Raiders' one-year, $2.55 million offer to restricted free agent safety Sean Richardson this offseason in order to keep him, it signified that the team has bigger plans in store for Richardson this season.

Richardson, who has been with the Packers since 2012, played 135 snaps in 2014, per Pro Football Focus; not as many as the 174 he had in 2013 while replacing an ineffective M.D. Jennings, but far more than the 16 he played in 2012. 

Richardson also played a career-high 16 games last season, indicating that the Packers and defensive coordinator Dom Capers are continuing to find more ways to use the versatile safety. 

How exactly did they do that in 2014, and how might his usage change in 2015? Let's take a look. 

2014 Season in Review

Games	Starts	COMB T	TOT T	Sacks	PD	Catch % Allowed	MT
16	0	25	23	0	0	50%	1

While at first glance Richardson's 2014 numbers—zero sacks, zero interceptions—may indicate a lack of production, it's important to remember how the Packers use him, and why he's valuable. 

Don't think of Richardson as a rangy, ball-hawking safety who is best used in coverage, because Capers certainly doesn't. Instead, Richardson is best utilized in run defense, almost like an extra linebacker near the line of scrimmage. 

The Packers have a name for this defensive package: Big Okie. Per Weston Hodkiewicz of Press-Gazette Media, Capers used that package specifically to get Richardson on the field at the end of the 2013 season and in 2014. 

That's how, with Morgan Burnett and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix solidifed as the starting safeties heading into 2015, Richardson can continue to get snaps: in rushing situations. 

Per Pro Football Focus, Richardson was the 35th-best safety in the league in 2014 in terms of defending the run. While that may not sound overly impressive, consider this: That ranking includes 181 total players, and Richardson played less than 200 defensive snaps. Most of the players in positions No. 1 through No. 34 were starters, and they played upwards of 500 or even 1,000 snaps. 

Richardson also had zero missed tackles on run snaps, per Pro Football Focus. 

However, it's not his situational run defense that likely earned Richardson a matched offer by the Packers during free agency, even though that's certainly a valuable skill he brings to the table.

Richardson is also a core special teams player for Green Bay. With that unit finishing last in the league in 2014 per the Dallas Morning News, one of head coach Mike McCarthy's areas of greatest focus this offseason, Richardson fits into the equation to improve. 

Per Hodkiewicz, Richardson played in 70.2 percent of the Packers' overall special teams snaps, more than any other player on the roster. The players the Packers otherwise let walk in free agency or cut played fewer than 50 percent of special teams snaps, save for Brad Jones. 

The value of Richardson to Green Bay's special teams unit was expressed by McCarthy in early in the 2014 season. 

"If I was to pick an MVP of our special teams today, I'd pick Sean Richardson," McCarthy said in October 2014, per Paul Imig of Fox Sports Wisconsin.

"I think Sean has clearly been our best player from a production, attitude, and you just talk about a young guy taking a big step from year one to two or two to three, and Sean is definitely one of those guys."

2015 Preview

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

The Packers made a fairly large investment in Richardson when they matched Oakland's $2.55 million offer, but it's only for one year.

Thus, it's up to Richardson to prove that he can earn a longer contract with Green Bay, and that will all come down to what he leaves on the field in 2015. 

If Micah Hyde moves over to become the Packers' primary slot corner in 2015, that should free up some safety snaps for Richardson. McCarthy said during camp that the team hopes to get Richardson more involved defensively this season, in addition to his special teams duties. 

"He's coming into his own," McCarthy said on August 1, per Hodkiewicz.

"I thought he had an excellent year last year with the opportunities he had. We're looking for ways to have him more involved defensively. He was our top one or two special teams players."

Richardson has been getting reps in camp practices in the nickel package. That could be one of the defensive scenarios in which the Packers get him more involved come the regular season. 

Projected 2015 Impact Meter: Medium