I've been hearing that out of the abysmal secondary play in the wildcard game, only Woodson and Underwood did good in coverage. Now that's not to be taken wholeheartedly considering the entire defense didn't play as well as expected, but I expect Underwood to be one of those that would learn from that experience and build on it.

Let's hope so! GB is going to need him.

Things you always hear in May and June:

“Most Improved”
“Competing for a starting position”
“Can start in this league”
“Nose for the ball”
“Making some noise”
“He’s really learned the system in the offseason”
“We’re really deep at position ‘X’ this year”

Things you never hear in May and June:

“He needs a perfect camp to make the roster”
“It’s obvious he’s a fan of Dunkin’ Doughnuts”
“Yes, you’re still 5th on our depth chart”
“He couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat”
“He’ll be lucky to make the practice squad”

I so desperately want to believe everything I hear, but I constantly have to remind myself how frequently I'm disappointed with my homeristic enthusiasim come September.

Here's to hoping....

I hope Underwood has a great year.

Having said that, who did McCarthy say was most improved last year? Didn't Jersey Al write something about Lumpkin being the "most improved running back" last year?

Max, i would have to say that player last year was jeremy thompson. Now he is retired, haha. CSS is right, but if it builds some momentum with fans then so be it. McCarthy went on to say that Brad Jones would be another guy that is making a big improvement from last year. Let's hope so because the OLB pass rusher is a big need right now for us

Underwood played pretty well and seemed to steadily improve in his brief playing time last season, in his 46 snaps(according to PFF), he didn't give up a single TD and was never penalized. He was and still is very raw as a CB but his upside is tremendous and Mccarthy feels that he is one of the most improved players on our team this offseason. I love the mentality of Underwood, he seems like a guy who plays with a chip on his shoulder and loves to make the big hit as much as the big INT. I think that Lee and Underwood are both going to step up in a big way for us this year, giving us a deep and stable crop of CBs.

I can't stress how much it helps these young guys having Harris and Woodson to learn from. Those two guys are pros to the highest degree, whether it's in the film room or on the field, the lessons these young guys are learning from those two are absolutely invaluable. Darren Perry helps a ton as well, he's a guy who's very hands on when he coaches and seems to always get the most out of his guys. The talent is absolutely there for Underwood, Lee, and Tramon, the coaching and leadership is there, so it will be absolutely no surprise when these young guys step up and play well for us this season. No offense to Jarrett Bush and Will Blackmon, but these guys have a chance to be twice the players they were ever capable of being and should be immediate upgrades in the secondary. Hopefully the days of getting abused by top-tier QBs are over and we'll be able to thank our fantastic Cornerback depth for the vast improvement.

One thing that I noticed about Underwood that makes me a tad optimistic, was his ability to break on the ball. How many times did we see Bush and others to allow a reciever to catch the ball and be nowhere to even challenge or make the catch more difficult. Now Underwood seemed to be a half step slow in getting there, but it does lead me to believe that he has promise. Whether that promise is a future starter or a dime back remains to be seen

Perry is the secondary/safeties coach, he works with the entire secondary. As for the penalty, guess that had it wrong and he had ONE penalty. That's nitpicking, my point was the guy played pretty good for being as raw as he was/is and he should make a big jump Year 1 to Year 2.

It's also rare for a rookie to be so mistake free, especially a guy who seemed to be getting by on athletic ability alone. I got an idea for your next article too Aaron, maybe a little comparison between this team and the 1996 squad. This is one of the deepest Packers teams i've ever seen, from top to bottom, this team is SO deep and extremely talented.

No doubt that feat is going to be near impossible to beat overall, from top to bottom this team is better than the 1996 team ON PAPER. Now the hard part is going to be going out and proving that.

*typo

No doubt that feat is going to be near impossible to beat, but overall, from top to bottom, I think this team is better than the 1996 team.

We can't be sure how much coaches say is hyperbole, but I believe we can look forward to a much improved team this year. Priority #1 is to beat the Vikes twice...all else follows secondarily.

Most improved just means he sucked last year. But I guess it's better than not improving. Still, Pat Lee is the key here. Underwood is just an added benefit.