AJ Hawk

[run pMc]

Trade the R1 with Baltimore down for their R1 and R3 and take Ngata.
Trade the R3 from BAL and GB's R2 to HOU for their R2 and take Demeco Ryan.

You have a very good LB and a run stuffing DT.

Of course, that assumes BAL & HOU would be willing trading partners...

Hindsight is 20/20, and so this "what if?" stuff is rather pointless.

[3irty1]

Hawk hasn't exactly been bad. Hasn't lived up to our wildest hopes but in past seasons he's been a consistent and solid player for us. This year he seems to have taken a step back along with all of our other linebackers.

[Fritz]

For that matter as sad as it is to say Ernie Sims looks better than Hawk also.

I disagree. Sims had a wonderful first year - he flew around and made lots of plays. His play has diminished since.

As for Hawk, wasn't there a poster here - that knew someone that knew someone's girlfriend who was a friend of someone's wife who knew Hawk - who wrote that in fact Hawk was hurt far worse this year then he let on. This would explain why he seems worse this year than last year.

I have noticed that he gets washed out of almost every play now. He rarely sheds blocks any more.

[HarveyWallbangers]

For that matter as sad as it is to say Ernie Sims looks better than Hawk also.

Hawk has had a bad year, and there are guys I'd rather have than Hawk on that list, but Ernie Sims is overrated. Dude has 2 sacks, 1 interception, and 4 pass deflections in 3 years. That makes Hawk's 6.5 sacks, 3 interceptions, and 12 pass deflections look stellar. Now, I don't just go off stats. I think they've probably been pretty equal. Both had decent first and second years, but have disappointed in their third year.

[Bretsky]

Re: AJ Hawk

Is he still playing for the Packers?

In all seriousness, what has happened to him? Why are we talking about Desmond Bishop and impact plays he made from Hawk's former position, where Hawk made very few? Many argued that Hawk had been out of position and should be in the middle. Now he has been in the middle for 4 games and has been virtually unseen. He has been in on some tackles, sure, but he has had no impact on the games.

Hawk was described as a very instinctive player. That usually means a guy who senses and disrupts plays, making the big play to stop a first down, force a turnover, etc. I am seeing none of that from Hawk.

I expected more.

I was listening to the Packer Flagship the other day and they made a point about AJ Hawk that I had not considered

Hawk had a pretty decent rookie campaign. And his mojo was speed. He had ok strength but his speed is what made him a special player

After year one and year two the coaches stressed to Hawk how they wanted him to bulk up and get stronger.........stronger

He's been a monster in the weight room and is stronger

But they think he's lost some speed, which is what made him special.

Not sure what I think but it was interesting to hear

[Bretsky]

On the radio I heard a post game show where they were hypothesizing that AJ Hawk has bulked up and lost some of his speed making him a different type of player. Kind of makes sense because it does look like he has gotten bigger.

OOPS

I just posted what you said much better

[retailguy]

Re: AJ Hawk

What bothers me is he was a beast in college and I think our whole defense is soft no one scares anybody, Bigby a little last year but I have to wonder if MM's belief in no contact and very little pad practices and camps have made this team a bunch of pansies.

Kind of makes you wonder, doesn't it? Hawk was not a wildman in college, but certainly was a tough, physical linebacker. The only players with physical reputations on the defense now are Harris and Woodson, who can beat up receivers pretty well.

I suggested last week that the difference in the way the defense played was Nick Barnett. No one seemed to reply or agree...

I agree that Hawk appears lost in the middle, but I wonder, is it just that he can't handle the line calls, and as a result everyone else is confused? There sure seemed to be a lot of "tentative" defenders against Houston. It was almost seeming that I knew what the play was going to be and where they were going before the defense did. And I'm not that fast or perceptive usually.

Hawk has played much, much better at the weak side than he has at middle linebacker. The drop off in the front 4 hasn't helped either, and I believe is the biggest reason Barnett was having a difficult year before he got hurt.

Kind of reminds me of the year Urlacher was having a couple years back when all the talking heads thought he was washed up. Turns out that wasn't accurate, I think that was the year Tank Johnson, and the other guy got hurt....

Makes me wonder at least.

[b bulldog]

Hawk waS a player that had studs around him in college which made him look better than he really was. The same thing happens to a lot of offensive players from USC. Hawk is average in my opinion, nothing more, nothing less. I am terribly disappointed in his lack of physicality. I thought he would be a much more tough player. In the end, I think he was maxed out potential wise before he stepped foot on Lambeau.

[bobblehead]

I actually wanted to trade down to around 15 and pick antonio cromartie. I know, no one believes me, but it is documented in the JSonline archives somewhere. Part of my logic is that half the top picks flop and paying all that money for top picks is often a waste.

I don't see hawk breaking out. Collins always had mad skills, but no head. He finally clicked in his role and is showing the combination of skills and knowledge just now first.

All of our LBs suck. Poppinga I cut slack cuz he was asked to learn coverage in the pros after being a DE in college. He is a beast against the run which is what we want from him. but honestly, how many dump passes to RBs and TEs on third and 11 have to go for a first down before we fix this ineptness at pass coverage from our LBs??

[bobblehead]

Re: AJ Hawk

What bothers me is he was a beast in college and I think our whole defense is soft no one scares anybody, Bigby a little last year but I have to wonder if MM's belief in no contact and very little pad practices and camps have made this team a bunch of pansies.

Kind of makes you wonder, doesn't it? Hawk was not a wildman in college, but certainly was a tough, physical linebacker. The only players with physical reputations on the defense now are Harris and Woodson, who can beat up receivers pretty well.

I third this, I keep saying a team performs like it practices. How many shitty vikings teams started off 4-0 because they played hard in camp, but by midseason when other teams caught up due to game time the vikes would fall off the map. How many bad coldweather games do we have to start poorly because we aren't used to playing in it? If you are not hitting in practice you play softer. If you are hitting in practice you are adjusting to it, aware of how to make contact to avoid injuries. I just am a firm believer in practicing what you want to do on the field. How do you expect a guy to execute a good cut block if you NEVER let him do it in practice??

[b bulldog]

As did I and most in here that were around than would admit to that. We could have traded down and easily picked a player that has performed as well as Hawk has.

[bobblehead]

Re: AJ Hawk

Is he still playing for the Packers?

In all seriousness, what has happened to him? Why are we talking about Desmond Bishop and impact plays he made from Hawk's former position, where Hawk made very few? Many argued that Hawk had been out of position and should be in the middle. Now he has been in the middle for 4 games and has been virtually unseen. He has been in on some tackles, sure, but he has had no impact on the games.

Hawk was described as a very instinctive player. That usually means a guy who senses and disrupts plays, making the big play to stop a first down, force a turnover, etc. I am seeing none of that from Hawk.

I expected more.

I was listening to the Packer Flagship the other day and they made a point about AJ Hawk that I had not considered

Hawk had a pretty decent rookie campaign. And his mojo was speed. He had ok strength but his speed is what made him a special player

After year one and year two the coaches stressed to Hawk how they wanted him to bulk up and get stronger.........stronger

He's been a monster in the weight room and is stronger

But they think he's lost some speed, which is what made him special.

Not sure what I think but it was interesting to hear

Don't really buy this. 25 year olds who are monsters in the weight room don't lose speed unless they put on A LOT of weight. 35 year olds...maybe.

[Noodle]

First, no way the weight work should affect his speed. These guys don't run 1600 meters. They need to explode for 10 to 20 yards, and weight work will help with that not hurt it. And like Patler said, trainers are there to keep you from lifting your way out of speed.

Second, I think the transition to Mike is way harder than people understand. A Will has a sideline to work with and can attack plays at an angle. A Mike has to work in much greater space, with more blocker angles to worry about, and often has a near-head-on responsibility for a tackle. This is in fact harder than an angle tackle because the RB can see you too, so you have to worry about wrapping up instead of going for the kill shot.

Add to that the play calls, and now you've got a guy who has to think instead of read and react.

The one thing I hope is that the guys who ride Barnett's arse, and who have whined over the last 2/3 years that Hawk is a "protogype" Mike, will have a big spoonful of STFU.

[Cheesehead Craig]

The scheme of the defense has much to do with this, IMO. Our LBs are not asked to attack like the Iggles, Bucs, Steelers, Ravens etc. I think if Hawk were in a better defensive scheme he would be doing better. I just don't think he's being put into a position to succeed to start with.

[Patler]

The scheme of the defense has much to do with this, IMO. Our LBs are not asked to attack like the Iggles, Bucs, Steelers, Ravens etc. I think if Hawk were in a better defensive scheme he would be doing better. I just don't think he's being put into a position to succeed to start with.

I look at it just the opposite. The linebackers are expected to be the ones making the plays in this defense. The DTs are there to keep the linebackers clean. Hawk has had opportunities against the run and in coverage, he just hasn't made significant plays. The only thing they aren't asked to do a lot is blitz.