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
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.
4) Player’s highlights/low-lights: McMillian’s highlights came early in the 2012 season. He put together his two best weeks back-to-back in weeks two and three. He scored well in both, according to Pro Football Focus. He showed great run support ability in the week two win over the Chicago Bears. In week three at Seattle, McMillian had what would have been a likely “dagger” interception late in the game, but the play was nullified due to a penalty. Despite how that game ended, McMillian put together another strong performance and was already paying dividends for the Packers having taken him earlier than most teams would have. McMillian trailed off a bit, however and put up his two worst games against the Minnesota Vikings. Having been solid in run support, McMillian struggled along with the rest of the defense in containing Adrian Peterson. Peterson is a special back and can make the best of them look foolish trying to tackle him. Hopefully McMillian learns from the experience and the film during the offseason.
5) Player’s contribution to the overall team success: McMillian was a role player for the Packers in 2012 and did a solid job, considering the circumstances when Woodson went down and how much a team can realistically expect from a fourth round pick. The team won the games in which Jerron played his best (except Seattle, but I digress) so it’s safe to say that he was certainly a strong supporter of the team’s better efforts this season.
6) Player’s contributions in the playoffs: McMillian played just five total snaps in the postseason and was a non factor in either game.
Season Report Card:
(B+) Level of expectations met during the season
(B+) Contributions to team’s overall success.
(N/A) Contributions to team during the playoffs
Overall Grade: B+
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Jason Perone is an independent sports blogger writing about the Packers on AllGreenBayPackers.com
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Jerron McMilian was also our dime back for the majority of the season, although I believe he was relieved of those duties when Wood came back, could be wrong.
He seemed to lose favor with the coaching staff around mid season due to committing to many mental lapses.
I’ll tell you what, though… This kid has an exceptional combination of speed and stopping ability, kind of a physical freak of nature for a safety, from a small school… I’m not drawing comparisons by any means, but sounds like a similar story to a former Packers safety.
Hope he develops, McMillian was most likely a risk-reward pick.
IIRC the knock on McMillan is that he isn’t very good in coverage and lacks good ball skills, something Burnett and Collins were both noted for. McMillan does run well and tests as a quality athlete and is also a good tackler. He is pretty physical and could add that to a secondary that is a little soft. So he could be just whats needed at Safety. The biggest problem is his ball skills and coverage, since he was used mostly as a box defender. Certainly has potential but is far from a finished prospect. I think we need a quality Safety sooner than later, so I’m inclined to use a 1st or 2nd on a Safety. Vaccaro, Ried might be good choices at 25 and and Phillip Thomas in the 2nd. All would be good counterparts to Burnett and provide versatility and a physical presense in the secondary.
McMilan and Jennings are young, raw players that should be better next year. Both are locks to make the team. Richardson was the final safety on the roster, had tremendous size at 6’3″, and the coaching staff liked him enough to give him a chance before he got hurt. If Richardson is healthy for next season, I see no way TT spends a draft pick on a safety, much less a high pick on one. Remember, Bush is also an emergency safety. We have no roster spot to draft a safety. 1st and 2nd round picks have to be either WR or MLB. I see OLB OL and CB being drafted over a Safety.