Bringing back a feature I used to do at Railbird Central, I'm resurrecting the "Future Packer" series. Since Saturdays are meant for college football, I'll be featuring a player in one of the day's premiere match-ups.

Will these players actually become future Packers? It's a long shot. Think of it as a primer for Saturday's college football action while keeping an eye on the 2011 NFL Draft in the back of our minds.

Today's future Packer?

Clemson safety DeAndre McDaniel

Clemson heads to Auburn today for a key out-of-conference game that will go a long way toward determining how good each team really is.

The Tigers of Clemson are coming off two cupcake wins against North Texas and Presbyterian, so stepping into SEC country is a definite step up in competition.

DeAndre McDaniel will have his hands full trying to contain Auburn quarterback Cam Newton who's been a breath of fresh air for their offense.

Newton–at 6-6, 250 pounds–has been every bit of a threat running the ball as throwing it becoming Auburn's leading rusher through two games despite a pretty good stable of running backs behind him.

According to ESPN's ACC blogger Heather Dinich, McDaniel will be part of the defensive game plan put in place to stop Newton:

McDaniel is going to have to help in the run support, and he’s also got to be wary of Newton’s arm. Newton is the team’s leading rusher, and at 250 pounds, he’s not easy to wrap up. Expect McDaniel to line up all over the field to help contain.

So how will Auburn counter? If John Ryan of Sportsbook Review is correct, Auburn will look to take advantage of one of McDaniel's perceived weaknesses:

McDaniel is a very physical and intelligent football player. He has a tendency to react to a quarterback's eyes too much so Newton will show him different looks so he cannot lock in on an area to defend. This also protects Auburn receivers with routes over the middle. Newton will look one way and throw in another and that will keep McDaniel off balance. It will be fun to watch what happens though when these two meet in the open field.

McDaniel is one of the best safeties in all of college football, is a legitimate All-American candidate, but at this point is probably only considered a fringe first-round draft candidate.

There's every possibility that can be had in the second round or beyond, which could be good news for a team like the Packers in need of depth at safety.

The Packers seem to be in good hands with Nick Collins and Morgan Burnett in the starting lineup, but if either of them get hurt, the backups don't exactly instill confidence in Packer Nation.

It makes sense that the Packers could very well add a rookie safety a year from now, the type of player they can develop while he sits behind Collins and Burnett.