woodbuck27
04-26-2007, 03:00 PM
http://www.packersnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070426/PKR01/704260528/1989
Posted April 26, 2007
NFL draft preview: LB Willis turns scouts into believers
By Pete Dougherty
pdougher@greenbaypressgazette.com
Going into last season, NFL scouts liked Patrick Willis as a football player but had major reservations about his speed.
Mike Archer, a former Pittsburgh Steelers linebackers coach and defensive coordinator at the University of Kentucky last season, heard it from scouts over and over as they came through campus and asked for his opinion on players around the Southeastern Conference.
The scouts told him Willis ran the 40 in 4.65 seconds, which is OK for the position but not of first-round material.
"I said, 'Well, then he plays a lot faster than he times,' " Archer says he told them. "I said, 'You guys get hung up on all that timing,' I said he plays at 4.4."
Turns out, Archer was right. By early in the offseason, some scouts projected Willis would run well and was probably the highest-rated linebacker in this draft, and he proved it by running the 40 in 4.37 seconds in a campus workout.
"I watched him play (Kentucky) two years ago with a broken thumb and his hand in a cast, and I watched him make every tackle up in Oxford (Miss.)," Archer said. "This year, we played them at our place, we beat 'em, and he made every tackle. The guy's a tackling machine."
Willis almost surely will be the first linebacker off the board in this weekend's draft, and probably can play any of the three linebacker spots in a 4-3 defense, as well as either of the two inside linebackers in a 3-4.
Willis probably will be selected shortly after the 10th pick overall, though there's an outside chance he'll be available when the Packers select at No. 16 overall.
His addition would give the Packers outstanding talent at linebacker along with Nick Barnett and A.J. Hawk, but considering the Packers just extended Barnett's contract and picked Hawk No. 5 overall in last year's draft, it would be a risky move to take Willis with their first-rounder this year.
NFL defenses play about half the game with at least one linebacker on the bench on nickel and dime downs, so it's hard to see General Manager Ted Thompson putting that many premium resources into his linebackers when one of the three probably would be sitting half the game. If they played a 3-4 defense, it might make more sense, but there's no indication the Packers are planning or equipped on their coaching staff for such a change.
Willis, who made 137 tackles last season, including 11½ for losses and three sacks, probably will be a top-12 to -14 pick, doesn't rate quite as highly as Hawk did when the Packers drafted him last year.
"I'd say No. 1 with Hawk, there were no holes in the guy at all. He was as solid a pick as you could get," said the college scouting director for one NFL team. 'He had good size, he could run, all the measurables, all that stuff. Willis, I think the injuries have been a little bit of a question, and in comparison to A.J, he might not play as consistently as productive. His flashes might be bigger, and the guy makes a lot of plays, don't get me wrong. But on a consistent down-in, down-out basis, A.J. is probably a little more steady."
Posted April 26, 2007
NFL draft preview: LB Willis turns scouts into believers
By Pete Dougherty
pdougher@greenbaypressgazette.com
Going into last season, NFL scouts liked Patrick Willis as a football player but had major reservations about his speed.
Mike Archer, a former Pittsburgh Steelers linebackers coach and defensive coordinator at the University of Kentucky last season, heard it from scouts over and over as they came through campus and asked for his opinion on players around the Southeastern Conference.
The scouts told him Willis ran the 40 in 4.65 seconds, which is OK for the position but not of first-round material.
"I said, 'Well, then he plays a lot faster than he times,' " Archer says he told them. "I said, 'You guys get hung up on all that timing,' I said he plays at 4.4."
Turns out, Archer was right. By early in the offseason, some scouts projected Willis would run well and was probably the highest-rated linebacker in this draft, and he proved it by running the 40 in 4.37 seconds in a campus workout.
"I watched him play (Kentucky) two years ago with a broken thumb and his hand in a cast, and I watched him make every tackle up in Oxford (Miss.)," Archer said. "This year, we played them at our place, we beat 'em, and he made every tackle. The guy's a tackling machine."
Willis almost surely will be the first linebacker off the board in this weekend's draft, and probably can play any of the three linebacker spots in a 4-3 defense, as well as either of the two inside linebackers in a 3-4.
Willis probably will be selected shortly after the 10th pick overall, though there's an outside chance he'll be available when the Packers select at No. 16 overall.
His addition would give the Packers outstanding talent at linebacker along with Nick Barnett and A.J. Hawk, but considering the Packers just extended Barnett's contract and picked Hawk No. 5 overall in last year's draft, it would be a risky move to take Willis with their first-rounder this year.
NFL defenses play about half the game with at least one linebacker on the bench on nickel and dime downs, so it's hard to see General Manager Ted Thompson putting that many premium resources into his linebackers when one of the three probably would be sitting half the game. If they played a 3-4 defense, it might make more sense, but there's no indication the Packers are planning or equipped on their coaching staff for such a change.
Willis, who made 137 tackles last season, including 11½ for losses and three sacks, probably will be a top-12 to -14 pick, doesn't rate quite as highly as Hawk did when the Packers drafted him last year.
"I'd say No. 1 with Hawk, there were no holes in the guy at all. He was as solid a pick as you could get," said the college scouting director for one NFL team. 'He had good size, he could run, all the measurables, all that stuff. Willis, I think the injuries have been a little bit of a question, and in comparison to A.J, he might not play as consistently as productive. His flashes might be bigger, and the guy makes a lot of plays, don't get me wrong. But on a consistent down-in, down-out basis, A.J. is probably a little more steady."