Entering the 2010 season, I was really concerned about the Green Bay Packers depth at safety. Back in 2009, when SS Atari Bigby missed a couple games due to injury, they had some decidedly awful results with a brief experimental start by SS Derrick Martin. This time last year, one of the players I looked at was S Anthony Levine.
While the Packers decided to go with SS Morgan Burnett in the 3rd round, and got a shockingly good season from SS Charlie Peprah (I had expected nothing from him and he ended giving them 15 quality starts), they still signed Levine to the practice squad. And he was one of the few players who stayed on the practice squad all season.
In an interview with the Winston-Salem Journal, Levine called this season his "redshirt year." His role with the team last season was to play the part of the opponent's top receiver on the scout team. Sometimes those versatile players can become valuable contributors, such as RB Ryan Grant, who used to be the opponent's top running back on the scout team when he was on the Giants practice squad. The Packers recently signed Levine for next season, and he'll enter 2011 with a valuable year of experience under his belt, and a Super Bowl ring.