Still missing Nick Collins......

[Patler]

Man, I wish that guy was still in GB's defensive backfield. He wasn't without fault, but his speed, aggressiveness and physical toughness are missed. He would make up for several shortcomings of the present lineup.

The last time I missed a player this much was when Tim Lewis' career was cut short. Sort of felt that way when Sharp was done, but not as much because there were other WRs that stepped up to better fill the void. The safeties trying to replace Collins are OK, sort of; nothing more.

[KYPack]

You got it, P.

Nick was such a horse. He was a real slow developer. His first seasons were a little rough, but once he got in the swing of things, he was double tough.

The Super Bowl was Nick's coming out party. He was well on his way to a HOF career when boom, it was all gone in a play.

For such a jacked up guy, he was both quick and fast. Top safeties like him don't come around often, it was a major loss.

[Pugger]

Yes, it is hard to replace a player of Collins caliber. I think we didn't know how good he truly was until we lost him. :-(

[Patler]

You got it, P.

Nick was such a horse. He was a real slow developer. His first seasons were a little rough, but once he got in the swing of things, he was double tough.

The Super Bowl was Nick's coming out party. He was well on his way to a HOF career when boom, it was all gone in a play.

For such a jacked up guy, he was both quick and fast. Top safeties like him don't come around often, it was a major loss.

Remember those first three years, when he couldn't seem to catch a ball to save his soul? Each year you could look back and say he could/should have had at least 6 or 7 interceptions. He was there, just couldn't catch it! Starting in his 4th season, suddenly catching was no problem.

Early on, he would run himself out of some plays, then fail to react on others, but then often times using his impressive speed to get back into it. Those things started resolving themselves about year #3 for Nick.

I have to believe that against a runner like Peterson, some of those 15-25 yard runs would have been stopped by Collins at 5-10 yards; and some of the even longer ones could have been run down by Collins a little earlier than they were. Not just then, though; he was missed every game.

[Patler]

Yes, it is hard to replace a player of Collins caliber. I think we didn't know how good he truly was until we lost him. :-(

I think we were all just coming to realize it. After his struggles with consistency the first few years, it takes a few good years to realize he has matured.

KYP hit it right, the SB was his coming out party for the world to see, and unfortunately his career ended on a fluke just a few games after that.

[Pugger]

Maybe our young safeties can still develop like Collins did seeing it took him a couple of years to become the player he was.

[Patler]

Maybe our young safeties can still develop like Collins did seeing it took him a couple of years to become the player he was.

Maybe. I hope so, but I'm not sure any of them have the combination of physical skills that Collins had. As KYP wrote, guys like him don't come around that often. of course, franchise QBs don't exactly grow on trees either, and the Packers have done pretty well filling in there!

[woodbuck27]

Man, I wish that guy was still in GB's defensive backfield. He wasn't without fault, but his speed, aggressiveness and physical toughness are missed. He would make up for several shortcomings of the present lineup.

The last time I missed a player this much was when Tim Lewis' career was cut short. Sort of felt that way when Sharp was done, but not as much because there were other WRs that stepped up to better fill the void. The safeties trying to replace Collins are OK, sort of; nothing more.

Two huge loss's are (S) Nick Collins and LB Desmond Bishop off our last Super Bowl winning team.

but this:

" Sort of felt that way when Sharp was done, but not as much because there were other WRs that stepped up to better fill the void. " Patler

Your referring I take it to Sterling Sharpe. If so:

I'm interested in learning from you just who these 'other WRs that stepped up to better fill the void' were Patler.

I'll lead you with this:

When Sterling Sharpe went down that season and the injury ended his career.

It was my feeling that our real playoff chances were done ! He and Favre were formidable together. I'm not sure I've seen many QB's >>>WR's better. Certainly not on the Green Bay Packers. Sterling Sharpe was a steller WR for our franchise and in the opinion of some. Potentially, the greatest WR of all time.

PACKERS !

[Bretsky]

nice call P; I had actually blacked his play out of my memory. He was just a notch below Ed Reed IMO. Reed is elite and Collins was pretty close to that.

[RashanGary]

Still missing Nick Collins......



Yes.

[MadtownPacker]

It was nice knowing that he was the last line and that line wasnt getting crossed.

[Pugger]

Two huge loss's are (S) Nick Collins and LB Desmond Bishop off our last Super Bowl winning team.

but this:

" Sort of felt that way when Sharp was done, but not as much because there were other WRs that stepped up to better fill the void. " Patler

Your referring I take it to Sterling Sharpe. If so:

I'm interested in learning from you just who these 'other WRs that stepped up to better fill the void' were Patler.

I'll lead you with this:

When Sterling Sharpe went down that season and the injury ended his career.

It was my feeling that our real playoff chances were done ! He and Favre were formidable together. I'm not sure I've seen many QB's >>>WR's better. Certainly not on the Green Bay Packers. Sterling Sharpe was a steller WR for our franchise and in the opinion of some. Potentially, the greatest WR of all time.

PACKERS !

I submit we wouldn't be letting Peterson run wild if Bishop was in there.

[Fritz]

I agree Patler, the memory of Collins is hard to let go of. Man, he was good. And I don't think he'd have whiffed on AP quite so much as Burnett and Co. seem to.

However, watching the Vikes game, I also thought that this was an instance in which they missed Desmond Bishop's tackling ability.

[mraynrand]

The loss of a competent starter, if not a HOF caliber player can have repercussions across the lineup. Eerily similar was the loss of Craig Newsome - one moment he's coming into his own as a dominant corner and Superbowl winner, the next he's pulling up with the ACL in the opener. Leroy Butler was at the end of his career when he blew out his shoulder at home against ATL in 2001, and the secondary was destroyed by the Rams to end the season. It took until Collins to effectively replace him. Burnett is still a young guy; I don't think we've seen his best.

[denverYooper]

The loss of a competent starter, if not a HOF caliber player can have repercussions across the lineup. Eerily similar was the loss of Craig Newsome - one moment he's coming into his own as a dominant corner and Superbowl winner, the next he's pulling up with the ACL in the opener. Leroy Butler was at the end of his career when he blew out his shoulder at home against ATL in 2001, and the secondary was destroyed by the Rams to end the season. It took until Collins to effectively replace him. Burnett is still a young guy; I don't think we've seen his best.

Agree 100%. We can go back and watch some of the games last year to see proof of that.

Safety in the game today is a complex deal and seems to be the position most negatively affected by rules changes and offensive evolution. This year, the Packers are putting a lot on Burnett's plate with Woodson out and the other 2 being only role players right now. I have some hope that McMillan will grow and Burnett/McMillan will be a nice combo in a year or 2.

It didn't help that he missed a season due to injury and then had to cover for whoever they put next to him last year.

[Fritz]

Does Burnett have much more upside? Hard to tell. But McMillian seems to.

[mraynrand]

Does Burnett have much more upside? Hard to tell. But McMillian seems to.

McMillian sure has learned to grab like Woodson - or like a boss grabbing his secretary in the 60s :lol:

[Cheesehead Craig]

McMillian sure has learned to grab like Woodson - or like a boss grabbing his secretary in the 60s :lol:

I'd rather grab a secretary in her 20s. But to each their own.

Amazing how seldom an elite S comes along, it's as big of a loss as a franchise QB. An elite S can take your defense to another level much like a QB can.

[mraynrand]

I'd rather grab a secretary in her 20s. But to each their own.

60 is the new 40. And when you're my age, you take what you can get.

[denverYooper]

Good writeup in the Word of Muth column this week on Seattle's safety play and what that means to their run defense:

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/word-muth/2013/word-muth

A couple Tramon mentions in there too.