Your Thoughts On The Roster: Linebacker Edition

[wgbeethree]

The defensive lineman edition went over ok so this week let's try the same thing with the LBs. A place for us to give our thoughts on the players, the position as a whole, where they/it stand now, where you see them going in the future etc. etc.

Desmond Bishop- Solid player. Much better against the run than in coverage but improving in that area (hard not to as bad as he was early in his career).
Heavy hitter and good blitzer.

Robert Francios- Aggressive and quick but that sometimes comes back to bite him in over pursuit. Not great in coverage but still really learning the ropes.

AJ Hawk- Everybody's favorite new whipping boy. Good in the run game. Attacks and fills gaps aggressively. Hustles. Decent in coverage. Doesn't blitz well and can be quite inconsistent. Seems to be held in much higher regard by coaches and teammates than fans.

Brad Jones- Athletic and versatile. Played well when he was on the field but durability is an issue. Still somewhat raw but finds a way to get the job done. Needs to step up this year and stay healthy to warrant a roster spot.

Jamari Lattimore- Quick and explosive but raw and undersized. Good teams player and tackler. Has upside but may have a hard time finding a spot on the roster.

Terrell Manning- Good first step and hips so he should be able to rush the passer and cover TEs. Inconsistent tackler and not overly physical but should be a solid teams guy day one. He'll likely be an ILB for us to start but could possibly bulk up and play some OLB as well IMO.

Clay Matthews- He's like pretty good and stuff. Despite his sack numbers not being very good last year I think he had his best year all around and is really coming into his own as a player who can do anything you ask him to. Looking for a big year with his move back to the right side and more help around him.

Dezman Moses- Know very little about him. Likely just a camp body. Athletic but struggles with pad level and lacks natural instincts.

Nick Perry- Tons of potential. Big, strong, and fast. Power pig body but speed rusher mentality. Do we get the best of both worlds or a guy who plays away from his strengths? Can he cover when asked? See him being used very similarly to how AK74 was used in his short time in the 34 until those questions are answered.

DJ Smith- First and most importantly.....does NOT play the same position as Hawk. Consistent tackler and almost always around the ball. Decent in coverage. Does look completely lost from time to time and still has a lot to learn. Small and slow so he's very unlikely to ever be great but finds a way to make it work for the most part.

Vic So'Oto- Athletic but very raw. Always seems to make a splash play whenever he sees the field. Really hope the light comes on quickly for this kid as he just seems to have that "it" quality about him. Probably a couple years away still but I hope we can find a way to keep him around until then.

Erik Walden- SUCKS. Bad at everything. From blitzing to holding the point to not being a D bag. Terrible at all of them. I'd rather make passionate love to an active hornets' nest than see him play another snap.

Frank Zombo- Smart, tough, hustle player. Finds a way to get the job done when healthy. Doesn't do anything exceptionally well but does everything good enough.

My prediction on who makes the roster...
Matthews
Bishop
Hawk
Perry
Smith
Manning
Zombo
Jones
So'Oto

What the future holds at OLB is really up in the air. Matthews will be a stud. Perry could be. Maybe So'oto as well. ILB has talent but still has a couple question marks. Seems like Hawk is the only "thumper" in the bunch which concerns me.

Let me hear what you guys think about the Linebackers.
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Adopt-A-Packer Randall Cobb

[pops408]

I like the hornets nest thing. Sounds appealing.
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Die-hard fan of the GREEN BAY PACKERS, SAN JOSE SHARKS, HOUSTON ROCKETS & the OAKLAND A'S

[ajhawk5047]

i have really high hopes for terrell manning. i watched video on him and it seems like he's a smart player. he's quick and can cover. i'd like to see him bulk up a bit and his tackling can definitely use some coaching, but i think in the future he will be a solid starter for us, probably replacing hawk. i don't think he'll see the field much this year other than on special teams, but possibly as early as next year. who knows? we haven't seen how does at the nfl level yet. what do you guys think of him?
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Go Packers!

[DavidatMIZZOU]

Aside from Matthews, the group is a lot of question marks. Some of them are unknowns and others are pretty average. On their best day these guys have shown to be very good, but on their bad days you get last season. Even with the new additions, this is probably tied with RB for weakest position on the team, in my estimation. I'll actually be content if we can just get competence from the 3 LBs not named Clay Matthews.
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GO PACK GO!

I won an award on the Packers forum, most grumpiest or something.

[Scuba St3ve]

still dont understand why everyone is so adamant on the fact that dj smith doesnt play the same position as hawk.

do you bring up the fact that woodson doesnt play safety when people say he could potentially play safety?

clay has switched and gone back and forth between left and right

manning played outside linebacker and is now starting to play inside linebacker and no one says manning doesnt play hawks position

dumb argument to me to think that simply because smith is bishops back up that he is automatically incapable of taking hawks spot

[MM]

[spilltray]

[wgbeethree]

[ajhawk5047]

[Packer70]

[spilltray]

[MM]

the biggest misconception I've seen on this forum is that people seem to believe, as can be seen in this thread, that AJ Hawk has this unique ability to play the thumper well, and that no one else can. Look, if you're tough and willing, you can play the position. The size differences are overstated too. AJ Hawk is 6-1 247, DJ Smith is 5-11 240. Smith seems to be, by all accounts, tough, willing, smart, fast, and extremely instinctive. If I'm the coaches, I experiment with Smith and Bishop at either of the ILB positions and see what works best. I think both can play either, both are far more instictive than Hawk, both seem (we already know Bishop is) more than willing, and both are tough.

Hawk lacks instincts, toughness, speed, strength, explosiveness, aggressiveness. Basically everything except his smarts are below-average for an NFL starter IMO.

He will undoubtedly have heat on him this camp.

[CallMeBarrett]

Hawk suffers from inconsistency, which player didn't last year?

Oh, that's right, none of them.

[MM]

[MNPackfan32]

To me the LBer positions key word is hope. We hope Perry is the answer across from Clay. We hope AJ gets back to 2010 form we hope Brad Jones can stay healthy and be a good role player.