How good can Sam Shields become?

[SnakeLH2006]

Tramon is definitely a blueprint.

Snake has ALWAYS been a Tramon fan and wanted him locked up to a 4 year 8 million dollar deal a year and half ago, when several said, no way....that's too much money for an unproven player. LOL. He got his money and is pretty damn good.

Shields has 3 more years of getting paid crap to prove himself, but I said it here and don't know (no one said it isn't true) if ANY GB rookie DB has EVER had as much impact in their rookie year as Shields.

I was a kid loving FL STATE with Terrell Buckley and it was the first draft I cared about in 1992, and he had an OK career overall with the Dolphins, but NO ROOKIE at CB EVER DOMINATES.....but Shields has played as well as ANY CB ROOKIE this side of Cromartie did a few years ago. He's not been picked on and takes on the TOP speed guys on the OTHER team weekly. He hasn't been beaten yet, and plays well....AKA..tackles, makes INTS, etc. He's amazing as a rookie and hope he keeps doing better and really he's only a young 21 with a rookie contract at the min. God TT just fleeces the league with these min. wage undrafted rooks. Unbelievable, but really, Shields has all the talent (speed, athleticism) but after seeing him shutdown dudes with Caper's D....It's only a matter of time till he takes over Wood's CB spot (Wood will move to safety) and keep on this awesome D.

[3irty1]

Tramon is definitely a blueprint.

Snake has ALWAYS been a Tramon fan and wanted him locked up to a 4 year 8 million dollar deal a year and half ago, when several said, no way....that's too much money for an unproven player. LOL. He got his money and is pretty damn good.

Shields has 3 more years of getting paid crap to prove himself, but I said it here and don't know (no one said it isn't true) if ANY GB rookie DB has EVER had as much impact in their rookie year as Shields.

I was a kid loving FL STATE with Terrell Buckley and it was the first draft I cared about in 1992, and he had an OK career overall with the Dolphins, but NO ROOKIE at CB EVER DOMINATES.....but Shields has played as well as ANY CB ROOKIE this side of Cromartie did a few years ago. He's not been picked on and takes on the TOP speed guys on the OTHER team weekly. He hasn't been beaten yet, and plays well....AKA..tackles, makes INTS, etc. He's amazing as a rookie and hope he keeps doing better and really he's only a young 21 with a rookie contract at the min. God TT just fleeces the league with these min. wage undrafted rooks. Unbelievable, but really, Shields has all the talent (speed, athleticism) but after seeing him shutdown dudes with Caper's D....It's only a matter of time till he takes over Wood's CB spot (Wood will move to safety) and keep on this awesome D.

Devin McCourty says hi.

[Patler]

... and really he's only a young 21 ...

Snake;
You have made this statement several times. I didn't comment about it before because it seemed like a trivial matter. But since you mention it repeatedly, are you trying to make a point about Shields being 21? The reason I ask is because he is not 21, he has already turned 23. Personally, I don't think it matters, but I'm not sure what significance you are attaching to it, if any. The important thing is that he is a rookie, and a more inexperienced one at his position than many are. But he is not "young" relative to other rookies, if that is what you were implying. Not like Jermichael Finley was, who is only 8+ months older than Shields.

[SnakeLH2006]

Snake;
You have made this statement several times. I didn't comment about it before because it seemed like a trivial matter. But since you mention it repeatedly, are you trying to make a point about Shields being 21? The reason I ask is because he is not 21, he has already turned 23. Personally, I don't think it matters, but I'm not sure what significance you are attaching to it, if any. The important thing is that he is a rookie, and a more inexperienced one at his position than many are. But he is not "young" relative to other rookies, if that is what you were implying. Not like Jermichael Finley was, who is only 8+ months older than Shields.

Wow Patler. First off I've always loved your logic and posts.

Secondly, didn't know I've posted enough (I post once a week since coming back...nowhere near what I used to post) about Shield being 21....LOL...Ok...He's 23...and great. My bad. Hope all is good. Didn't know it was a big deal though. Wow. He's 23. Sorry for anyone offended. LOL

[bobblehead]

What scares me is that he is far ahead of the TWill learning curve and that one ended pretty good.

[packerbacker1234]

It is a wonderful story-line. It is hard to believe a kid with only one year of college DB under his belt is starting in the NFL, and playing at a high level to boot.

This is why all the talk of Green Bay being on Asomagoo's short list is amusing rather than tantalizing. He would have to come up with a deal that we would take rather than the other way around.

Getting a great corner like the guy from oakland is more so to replace Woodson eventually. Woodson was still a probowl caliber player this year (closing in on 100 tackles, 3 picks, 5 forced fumbles), but he is also 33. He can most likely keep this play up until he is 35, and at 36 is where we will start seeing a true decline in his ability. Of course, he could be the exception and be able to play well tillhe is 38 - others have done this, but it's more likely that at 36 is when he will be getting to the end of the line. WHo knows, it's freakin' Charles Woodson. Barring an injury maybe he can be this good for 4 more seasons.

I am looking forward to next year already, and not just for SHields but for the team as a whole with all of the returning players.

I think TT will still look for a CB. You absolutely have to have 3 good ones, and I don't think Woodson has many more years left in him at corner, if any. A good fourth corner to replace Woodson in the top three in a year or two would not be a wasted pick at all. Lee and Underwood won't be missed if they are replaced.

It's just a matter of how long you think Woodson can continue to play at this high of a level, and if you are considering moving him to SS. I think a move to SS prolongs his career honestly. It wouldn't really be any different then the role he has now, except he would man up as much and Collin's would usually be the only single high saftey in blitz packages. This is all assumign the packers, and Woodson, would want to make sucha move. That free's upa position in the top 3 next year, and that is where bring in the oakland guy or a high drafted CB comes into play. Otherwise, if we're going back to Burnett (which isn't bad, if he recovers well) it's just matter of how many mor eyears do we think woodson can stay an elite corner. He is still up there. He's no Revis, and he doesn't have the abilit yto shut down a guy man to man like Williams, but Woodson does such much of the dirty work and can cause so much havoc out there that he becomes a top flight DB for other reasons.


Sam Shields is a great story, and he can't get any worse than he is now. That means that, worse case scenario, he stays our nickle back for a long, long time. Best case is he continues to improve and becomes a starter that eventually replaces woodson. I am sure we did use coverages to disguise him some, but several times this year he was man up on the other teams "fastest" wr - which was clearly a ploy to take advantage of his speed. Anyone else remember him frequently lining up on Desean Jackson when we played the eagles? I sure did, and last I checked, he was relatively shut down.

Our defense, however, is made in a way that it's playing together that makes them great, more so then being great individually. I think that is largely why we have been abled to plug so many guys in, becuase the schemes have been just so amazing that it sets everyone up to succeed.

[mraynrand]

Wow Patler. First off I've always loved your logic and posts.

Secondly, didn't know I've posted enough (I post once a week since coming back...nowhere near what I used to post) about Shield being 21....LOL...Ok...He's 23...and great. My bad. Hope all is good. Didn't know it was a big deal though. Wow. He's 23. Sorry for anyone offended. LOL

We'll let your error slide - THIS time. But clean it up, willya?

[Patler]

Snake;
You have made this statement several times. I didn't comment about it before because it seemed like a trivial matter. But since you mention it repeatedly, are you trying to make a point about Shields being 21? The reason I ask is because he is not 21, he has already turned 23. Personally, I don't think it matters, but I'm not sure what significance you are attaching to it, if any. The important thing is that he is a rookie, and a more inexperienced one at his position than many are. But he is not "young" relative to other rookies, if that is what you were implying. Not like Jermichael Finley was, who is only 8+ months older than Shields.

Wow Patler. First off I've always loved your logic and posts.

Secondly, didn't know I've posted enough (I post once a week since coming back...nowhere near what I used to post) about Shield being 21....LOL...Ok...He's 23...and great. My bad. Hope all is good. Didn't know it was a big deal though. Wow. He's 23. Sorry for anyone offended. LOL

Oh, quit being a drama queen!

Seriously now, we are in agreement. As I said, I don't think it matters one bit. I was just confused because you mentioned it several times, so I thought I would bring it up and ask.

[Patler]

..., but I said it here and don't know (no one said it isn't true) if ANY GB rookie DB has EVER had as much impact in their rookie year as Shields.

"EVER" is a petty long time when talking about the Packers! Just off the top of my head, I would have to mention Willie Buchanon, NFL Rookie of the year in 1972 as a cornerback. It only took a few games for teams to realize that you absolutely could not throw at Willie Buchanon. Tim Lewis is another one who came in and was pretty impressive as a rookie corner.

[bobblehead]

"EVER" is a petty long time when talking about the Packers! Just off the top of my head, I would have to mention Willie Buchanon, NFL Rookie of the year in 1972 as a cornerback. It only took a few games for teams to realize that you absolutely could not throw at Willie Buchanon. Tim Lewis is another one who came in and was pretty impressive as a rookie corner.

Craig Newsome started and was adequate as well if i recall.