My new favorite Packer

[3irty1]

If you can't tell my favorite Packer since he's been with the team was Al Harris. Now that he's gone I must select a new favorite but don't worry, I'm not going to change my kick ass avatar.

First I'm going to throw out anyone who's future with the team I deem uncertain.

One of the reasons that I loved Al so much was that he was was a former 6th round pick. I really dig the guys who are success stories like that and rose to greatness by out working the rest of the league. Cinderella stories are always the best in sports. This narrowed the field down quite a bit to the following players:

Atari Bigby, UFA
Desmond Bishop, 6th round pick
Nick Collins, 2nd round pick but small school guy
Tom Crabtree, UFA
Mason Crosby, 6th rounder and kicker
Donald Driver, Greatest Cinderella story there is
Matt Flynn, 7th Rounder
Korey Hall, 6th Rounder, converted linebacker
Spencer Havner, UFA, converted linebacker
Cullen Jenkins, UFA
Greg Jennings, 2nd round but I won't rule him out because of his small college story
Quinn Johnson, 5th rounder
James Jones, 3rd rounder
John Kuhn, UFA
TJ Lang, 4th rounder
Donald Lee, 5th rounder
Clay Matthews, walk on at USC
Nick McDonald, great story that rivals that of Mike Oher
Dimitri Nance, UFA
Marshall Newhouse, 5th rounder
Charlie Peprah, 5th rounder
Andrew Quarless, 5th rounder
Aaron Rodgers, I'll keep him because of his draft plummet
Sam Shields, UFA
Josh Sitton, 4th Rounder
Jason Spitz, 3rd rounder
James Starks, 6th rounder, longshot
Brett Swain, 7th round
Scott Wells, 7th rounder
Tramon Williams, UFA
CJ Wilson, 7th rounder
Jarius Wynn, 6th rounder, cut
Frank Zombo, UFA
Josh Bell, UFA
Morgan Burnett, 3rd rounder
Jermichael Finley, 3rd rounder
Ryan Grant, UFA
Brad Jones, 7th rounder
Mike Neal, 2nd but in the same boat as collins kind of
Brady Poppinga, round 4
Mark Tauscher, round 7

Another great thing about Al was that he was in the media and made available to the fans. He has a website, has been a guest on a bunch of TV and radio shows, and even did the documentary on his injury. I've gotten a chance to talk to Al before which is great but I'll accept any guy who isn't a stranger to the fans. Remaining players:

Atari Bigby, seen interviews
Desmond Bishop, Active on twitter
Nick Collins
Tom Crabtree, Twitter
Donald Driver
Korey Hall, met in person
Cullen Jenkins, Pretty outspoken
Greg Jennings, lots of interviews
James Jones, some interviews
Clay Matthews, pretty active with media
Nick McDonald, has made private issue public
Aaron Rodgers, obviously active with media
Sam Shields
Josh Sitton
Tramon Williams, quiet player but says memorable things
CJ Wilson, makes a great interview so far
Jermichael Finley, YOTTO
Ryan Grant, Twitter
Brad Jones, great in the media
Mike Neal, Twitter

Al was a little controversial among Packer fans. Most respected him as a hard worker and a team leader but many were never won over due to some bad games of his or just his lack of sexy stats. I'm not going to get the same jersey as everyone else even though I love a guy like Al who is the definition of underrated. For that reason cross off Driver, Jennings, Finley, Matthews, Sitton and Rodgers.

Atari Bigby
Desmond Bishop
Nick Collins
Tom Crabtree
Korey Hall
Cullen Jenkins
James Jones
Nick McDonald
Sam Shields
Tramon Williams
CJ Wilson
Ryan Grant
Brad Jones
Mike Neal

The best thing to do now is to weed out the guys that have uncertain futures with the team. I'm not going to be a fan for only the rest of the year. Guys who are role players and facing intense competition at their spots could be off the team as early as next year. If Jenkins and James Jones are resigned, I'll have to put them back into the conversation. Those guys are tough cuts.

Desmond Bishop, stays because of resigning rumors
Nick Collins
Korey Hall, somehow I just don't think he'll be the odd man out
Sam Shields
Tramon Williams
CJ Wilson
Ryan Grant
Brad Jones
Mike Neal

I can weed a few out of this list right now. Mike Neal is gone for his injuries, Al was an iron man. I'll also boot CJ Wilson just because he's buried on the depth chart. I need a guy who's on the field a little more than that.

Some of Al's qualities can't be matched by guys on this list. He had the hair, the game winning pick-6 against Hasselbeck in the playoffs, the tattooed up arms, and the quotes from Roy Williams. The golf outings. And the fact that he was the best at something, that something being bump-and-run coverage. This didn't even seem to be subject to debate. The guy was the king of it. A couple of guys stand out in these remaining areas.

Bishop: Memorable big hits including a big one in his rookie year at a preseason game that I attended against the Jaguars. I thought he killed the guy. He forced a fumble on Peterson once. He most recently had a pick-6 against Favre. Big plays against Vikings is a plus.

Collins: is proven. Has got a look while not half as cool as Als, one can look at Collins and tell that he is a specimen. One of the only guys on this list that could have a legitimate highlight tape with all the pick-6's. As far as being the best at something, he might just be the fastest safety in the league.

Williams: Very solid all around corner. Bad at nothing. Fun to watch. Has ball skills and even has memorable big plays in the return game on special teams.

Grant: Had that huge playoff game which (just like Al) was also against Seattle. Rarely fumbles. In terms of his look he could be the opposite of Harris. He's got no ink, no dreadlocks, in fact his lack of flashiness is just as defining. His middle name is "brett" for belt sakes.

And the winner is Ryan Grant. The is my new favorite Packer. I'm getting my jersey right now. Did I make the right choice?

[HarveyWallbangers]

You should pick Nick Collins.

[pbmax]

You couldn't lose with Williams either. He will be there a while.

[BZnDallas]

i was hoping to see you pick Sam Shields... UFA playing well as a rookie... that one handed INT agains roy williams was a thing of beauty... i can't wait to see what this kid can do...

[Noodle]

You can't go from D to O unless you're going with a lineman/TE/FB. Otherwise you're showboating.

That means it HAS to be Shields or Williams. Shields is the bigger risk, but he is better than anybody else in this: 4.2. I think Williams is more in the Harris bad-ass mold, but Shields is plenty tough.

If you have a nutsack, you will embrace Shields.

[MJZiggy]

Grant is too fragile. I thought you wanted an iron man. You should go with Pickett. The Packers will never let him go and he's absolutely thrilled to be here; chose us over other teams, has a family here, has given some good interviews and was humble in them (even made a crack at a stupid question once). Yup. Pickett is your new favorite player!

[swede]

You can't go from D to O unless you're going with a lineman/TE/FB. Otherwise you're showboating.

That means it HAS to be Shields or Williams. Shields is the bigger risk, but he is better than anybody else in this: 4.2. I think Williams is more in the Harris bad-ass mold, but Shields is plenty tough.

If you have a nutsack, you will embrace Shields.

Noodle, along with the other Shielders, is correct.

[Scott Campbell]

I'd have picked somebody not on IR. But that's just me.

It's your decision. And if it's Grant you want, there's nothing wrong with that.

[vince]

Tramon is the MAN. Same career path as Al, just with one team. He's Al Harris with speed.

[mmmdk]

Tramon but Shields could get a look-see too.

[3irty1]

Oh man you guys are confirming the controversial part of my choice. Let me re explore a few players.

Shields is lightning quick and but also raw has hell. Shields simply needs more time to win me over. A bunch of success as a returner would do a lot for that. The guy has no ceiling but I'm waiting on him to make a judgment. Honestly with all the love he gets he's definitely not underrated either. He gets extra points for his long TD run against the Badgers in college, I'm a Marquette fan and thus can't bring myself to like anything Badgers.

Collins is impossible not to love at this point but the real thing holding him back was how much I wanted to kill him for his first couple of years in the league. Collins was as raw as you get and also was (and still might be) the king of dropping interceptions. True that Al Harris was guilty of the same thing to an extent but Collins seems much worse. Collins is also in position to make way way more than Al which is a good thing. Of all the remaining guys Collins may be the least open to the fans and media, and least underrated. As a fan of Al it was a lot of fun rooting for him to go to the pro bowl because he was a constant snub after a streak of great seasons. Nick Collins has already been.

Tramon was a close second to Grant. Tramon much like Collins can only be the victim of being too much of a stud. Who's not going to love Tramon after this year where he is arguably having the best season in the league? On the other hand he gets extra points for being named Tramon. Its not quite as good as Alshinard but its the best on this list. My favorite thing about Tramon might be how little money has changed him. He still lives in Louisiana. When he got married last year his wife Shantrell and he registered for a bunch of cheap domestic crap like everybody else. Here are his listings for Dillard's and Bed Bath and Beyond:

http://www.dillards.com/registry/RegistryNames.do

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/regGiftRegistry.asp?wrn=-1354554436&

Now they are expecting a baby boy and she registered at JC Penny!

http://www2.jcpenney.com/jcp/GR2_RegistryList_View.aspx?storeRegNo=00623801&CmCatId=70677

For what its worth Tramon could also beat everyone on this list one on one in basketball. I saw him play in Madison and he and James Jones put on a show with the Green Machines.

Grant gets major points for being criminally underrated. His speed (4.43) and size (225) are among the best combinations in the NFL. People will find any reason to dislike Grant. IMO, it has more to do with the high exceptions and the hold out after his disgustingly good 2007 campaign. Ziggy even called him fragile above... Other than the Hammy that he played through this goofy ankle stuff is his first real injury. He hadn't missed a game before this. One thing that makes me appreciate Grant even more is the same reason that many fans look for an upgrade in the first place: Adrian Peterson. Peterson and Grant have similar size/speed but Peterson creates his own yards in a way that few others do. That comes with fumbles, and a guy who could possibly be the most worthless running back on 3rd down in the league. Ryan Grant does the little things well and that is something that I can respect. Off the field he is active on Twitter and has responded to every message I've ever sent him (maybe because he's on IR). The guy gets what it should mean to be a Packer. Coming from Notre Dame he respects history and tradition. Guy has become a Brewers and a Bucks fan, I don't think he ever wants to leave Green Bay.

This is impossible. I can't choose between Ryan and Tramon. I love whoever I'm talking about at the time.

[channtheman]

I was thinking Williams at first thought, but thinking about it now, it would take some real balls to put your trust in a UFA Rookie like Shields.