Sam Shields At Nickel

[Fritz]

I liked the quote from Shields...

CB Sam Shields on his INT: "“The route that they ran, they ran it three times in a row. The first time they threw it, it got batted, so he ran it again, and I got my head around me, and the ball was right there.

It shows that he's paying attention to what's going on within the game and that there's more to his game than just his speed. It'll be interesting to see where he gets to with more experience and film study.

What does he mean, exactly? I see visions of Linda Blair.

[pbmax]

What I would like to know is why Lee was third of the backups on the field? Was it because the prefer Underwood in the slot or Shields wide, while Lee is choice number two at each spot? Or is he on the outside looking in?

I was stunned Underwood started in the nickel, only because I thought they would want to take a look at something besides Underdog with the ones. But with Jones, Matthews, Harris and Bigby out, maybe they thought there would be enough backups and changes on the field.

[Fritz]

I am no expert but in my limited viewing my sense is that Underwood has looked awful at times, Shields is as raw as hamburger, and Lee has been kinda okay.

He has the most time in the system, right? Or at least on an NFL roster, even if only studying.

[HarveyWallbangers]

THUMBS UP

If three exhibition games mean anything, and in this case they most assuredly do, TE Jermichael Finley isn't going to be spending much time standing next to coach Mike McCarthy. He's too good. He must be on the field. Unfortunately for one of the NFL's premier corps of wide receivers, that means some of its members will get less playing time than they deserve. Take Jordy Nelson. In 12 snaps of seven-on-seven on Monday, Nelson was the leader of the Big Four with two receptions. The third-year man probably has made more plays down the field than Greg Jennings, Donald Driver or James Jones, although Jones would be close. Nelson has scarcely dropped a pass, seems immune to traffic over the middle and appears to be more precise on his entire route tree. But Jones has played as well if not better. Against the Colts, McCarthy and position coach Jimmy Robinson started Jones rather than Nelson when Jennings' back rendered him unavailable. Finley and the Big Four could use more than one football.
THUMBS DOWN

For the second morning in a row, rookie Sam Shields took every rep at left cornerback with the No. 1 nickel defense. For this week, at least, veterans Pat Lee and Jarrett Bush are out of the picture, and Brandon Underwood is sidelined with a shoulder injury. Joe Whitt, the CB coach, has been "coaching up" Shields since he signed right after the draft. On Monday, Whitt stood in his customary location 45 yards deep in the secondary and watched every move Shields made. Undoubtedly the worst moment of the practice came early on in team when Shields stayed short as Brett Swain raced right past him on a go route. It's hard to say what the coverage was, but by Whitt's reaction it was apparent that Shields was supposed to have gone with him. The bomb to Swain was overthrown; otherwise, it would have been a 60-yard TD. Later, Shields broke on a flat pass to TE Tom Crabtree and arrived a split-second late so Crabtree was able to turn up the sideline for what would have been a 20-yard gain. Whitt applauded the aggressive play by his pupil. And later still, WR Patrick Williams tried to run a 15-yard comeback and Shields was all over him for an incompletion. Can talent trump inexperience? The Packers might be ready to roll the dice and find out.

[pbmax]

Remember the year Barbre was all set to unseat Colledge and then we never heard boo about him til he was moved to a different position? Pat Lee has had that exact same camp.

[get louder at lambeau]

Remember the year Barbre was all set to unseat Colledge and then we never heard boo about him til he was moved to a different position? Pat Lee has had that exact same camp.

Unfortunately, Bulaga kinda did too.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Unfortunately, Bulaga kinda did too.

I don't think so. He was having an excellent camp. He played very well the first two preseason games. Unfortunately, he got the injury. Colledge had a solid camp, and it tells me something that Bulaga was ready to unseat him anyways without the injury.

[Deputy Nutz]

I brought the Vikings up for comparison's sake because I'm very familiar with them. I'd guess that if you took a look around the NFL, most teams have a similar makeup. A few solid veterans and a few unproven young guys. Yes, Woodson and Harris are old, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there. Who knows? Maybe Thompson will spend a first round pick on a corner when they need one, or perhaps he'd even sign a free agent corner like Charles Woodson. Right now, I think the corners are solid, if Harris comes back. Like you said, they'd be better with a better pass rush.

I can't blame them for not drafting a corner in the first 2-3 rounds because OT and DE (with Jolly's impending suspension) was as big of a need as corner. (And our third round pick looks like he was a good one.) I would have liked for them to take a CB or OLB in the middle rounds, but who knows? Perhaps Thompson and our scouts weren't enamored with what was available at the time, so he didn't reach.

I can't really argue with the first three picks that Thompson made, it is all relavant to the big board anyways, but the Packers certainly had a need at corner with Harris being injured and 35 years old. Tramon is an average starter in this league at best and having no proven players behind Tramon and Woodson would lead me to believe there was a need there whether it was addressed by free agency or the draft.

[retailguy]

You only get 7 selections. It is really tough to fill all the needs, especially considering that only half make it.

Choice number 2 perplexed most of us at the time, but in hindsight, they must have known Jolly wouldn't be available. So, you can't really argue with how the draft board went down.

Lee and Underwood have been disappointing, but one of them has to step up. Shields is just not ready. Having him in the dime would be bad enough, but in the nickel? No thanks.

At this point, I'm wondering if Bush doesn't wind up as our nickel back?

[Fritz]

You only get 7 selections. It is really tough to fill all the needs, especially considering that only half make it.

Choice number 2 perplexed most of us at the time, but in hindsight, they must have known Jolly wouldn't be available. So, you can't really argue with how the draft board went down.

Lee and Underwood have been disappointing, but one of them has to step up. Shields is just not ready. Having him in the dime would be bad enough, but in the nickel? No thanks.

At this point, I'm wondering if Bush doesn't wind up as our nickel back?

I completely agree with this statement. If you're TT, you've got to be looking at this as having two young guys - one a second rounder - who ought to be stepping up this year. One's a second year guy, the other a second rounder who has had a chance to study the defensive scheme even though he didn't get a chance to play in it last year.

I can imagine one of them failing to make the grade, but both of them not taking the next step? Damn.

[rbaloha1]

SS appears the best option. The whole situation makes me nervous and could be an early nightmare like the o-line from last season.

Spreading out the Packers works well. The applicable stats from last season's defense are the numbers against the elite qbs.

There is a blue print on how to beat Caper's scheme.

[ThunderDan]

I think if Dom changes his coverage up in the 3-4 you can hide some of the problems.

The Manning int was a good example. PMann knew where his open WR would be but just before the snap the slot CB moved in to blitz, Burnett came up to cover the slot and Collins rolled over to that side of the field. The outside receiver 1-on-1 on the slant was still the throw. Burnett bumped the slot and jumped the outside slant. Collins coming over now had the slot. The open passing lane that PMann expected, and had to release quickly because of the blitz, now had Burnett right in the middle of it.

This is one of the reason I really like the 3-4, it is pretty easy to disguise the coverage with 3 DL and the 1 or 2 LBs who could be coming from any of 4 positions plus zone blitzes and dropping DL off the line.

[rbaloha1]

I think if Dom changes his coverage up in the 3-4 you can hide some of the problems.

The Manning int was a good example. PMann knew where his open WR would be but just before the snap the slot CB moved in to blitz, Burnett came up to cover the slot and Collins rolled over to that side of the field. The outside receiver 1-on-1 on the slant was still the throw. Burnett bumped the slot and jumped the outside slant. Collins coming over now had the slot. The open passing lane that PMann expected, and had to release quickly because of the blitz, now had Burnett right in the middle of it.

This is one of the reason I really like the 3-4 it is pretty easy to disguise the coverage with 3 DL and the 1 or 2 LBs who could be coming from any of 4 positions plus zone blitzes and dropping DL off the line.

Agreed. But for some reason the top tier qbs know who is blitzing when receivers are in 3-4 wr sets.

Still notice confusion in the secondary.

[mission]

The whole situation makes me nervous and could be an early nightmare like the o-line from last season.

Just posted this as a possibility elsewhere and then read your post. It's a little scary, yes. If Capers is who he gets credit for being, I hope he's able to scheme his way out of it. As long as it doesn't involve a halftime adjustment, he's got a chance of coming through for us... or Burnett turns into an INT machine and we never have to worry about it.

[Fritz]

If they could get a giant Harry Potter invisibility cloak none of this would be a problem.