WHY ISN'T THE HAWK SOARING? SHOULD WE START TO WORRY?

[RIPackerFan]

Hawk was considered the safest pick in the draft by most analysts - a player that did not have some of the "freak" skills that Reggie Bush, Mario Williams, Vince Young. However, he is a tough, hard-working football player, who will make your team better. That is why he was safe.

Thus, I never expected miracles from the guy, since I don't think that what he ever was. I expect him to do exactly what he is doing this early in camp - playing hard and learning. He seems to have caught on to what he needs to do - and is in the right place most of the time. He is still thinking too much, but that will go away in a few more weeks (really, he learned a whole new defense in one week).

I think he will be a strong starter for the entire year - maybe even better. Heck, who else were we going to pick in the first round - Davis?. It looks like he can't even crack the starting lineup.

"The 49ers are in no rush to make top round draft choice Vernon Davis a starter. The brilliantly-fast tight end has yet to stand out in practice, and that might be because he hasn't learned the offense."

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/indexn?blogid=10

[HarveyWallbangers]

Has Chad Greenway broken into the starting lineup yet or is E.J. Henderson still outplaying him?

[gbpackfan]

Man, I just want Sat. to be here already!

[Patler]

Half-way through his first training camp, Brian Urlacher was declared "not ready for the NFL" was ripped by one of the assistant coaches, and was demoted to second team. As I recall, the coach said he was doing "nothing out there" or something to that effect. Some in the Chicago press quickly jumped on the "wasted pick" story. Urlacher did not start the first two regular season games. The third game he was moved back into the starting lineup.

Give Hawk a chance to adjust before you panic.

Hodge may be playing with more intensity right now, but none of us knows which is playing better, ie with fewer mistakes.

[cheesner]

He should be cut. Lets not waste more time on him. He has not won a superbowl for us, and he has been signed now for over TWO weeks! Get rid of this bum.

[GrnBay007]

He should be cut. Lets not waste more time on him. He has not won a superbowl for us, and he has been signed now for over TWO weeks! Get rid of this bum.

Wow.....I just had a flashback to the JSO forum where if you did not post that someone needed to be fired or dumped you were a worthless poster and freak of nature.

Oh yeah, welcome to Packer Rats cheesner!

[Packers4Glory]

I'm sure others have said it, but w/o reading the entire thread...

I'm an impatient person by nature, but worrying about a rookie LB before a single preseason game has been played is completely retarded. Hell w/ rookies I won't worry much at all the first season unless they just tank like a Jamal Reynolds. But crap he hasn't even played his first preseason game. so if you are freaking out because the press isn't going ga-ga over his "practice" performance, then I'd suggest paxil or some other form of anti-depressant.

[Terry]

Well, there is another perspective than that of those guys who figure a special player or great player should show some flashes of that specialness/greatness every time they come to a practice or preseason game. I mean, it could be seen as a good sign.

Some genius is confident enough in itself that it doesn't feel the need or accept the pressure to be constantly showing their worth. Sure, some do, and they do show the things people are looking for, but they also tend to show a lot of bloopers. Others, however, are more methodical in approaching their task. Maybe Hawk is one of those types of players. Maybe, just maybe, he knows he'll be around for a long time and he wants to be sure that his grounding is rock solid before he lets fly or gets creative. Such a person can be just careful early on.

As has been mentioned, Hawk missed most of the summer to date because of school rules. Right now, maybe he's just trying to catch up and truly assimilate all there is to learn. He wouldn't be able to really shine anyway until he had all those intricacies set in his bones, so to speak, so that he never has to think. When you learn things well enough so that your reactions and instincts are pre-cognitive, THEN you can forget about everything but the moment and THEN you can really let go. In the meantime, flashing one's talent might not be foremost on the mind (though I'm sure he feels the pressure).

Is Hawk one of those guys? Who knows? Time will tell. But certainly, we cannot say anything at all at this point. Patler's example of Brian Urlacher was a case in point. Whatever the result, I think we'll know what we have in Hawk later in the season. Hell, we didn't know what we had in Walker for a year and a half. My suspicion is that Hawk will be rock solid, if not better.

[test]

isn't it a wee bit early to be calling him a bust?

[Bretsky]

WAY too early; Hawk is just finding this a lot to digest. He'll be fine as a starter.

[gbpackfan]

These posts are like the telephone game we used to play as kids. It went from a simple question, should we be concerned, to calling him a BUST. HA HA HA. Whatever.

[woodbuck27]

Well, there is another perspective than that of those guys who figure a special player or great player should show some flashes of that specialness/greatness every time they come to a practice or preseason game. I mean, it could be seen as a good sign.

Some genius is confident enough in itself that it doesn't feel the need or accept the pressure to be constantly showing their worth. Sure, some do, and they do show the things people are looking for, but they also tend to show a lot of bloopers. Others, however, are more methodical in approaching their task. Maybe Hawk is one of those types of players. Maybe, just maybe, he knows he'll be around for a long time and he wants to be sure that his grounding is rock solid before he lets fly or gets creative. Such a person can be just careful early on.

As has been mentioned, Hawk missed most of the summer to date because of school rules. Right now, maybe he's just trying to catch up and truly assimilate all there is to learn. He wouldn't be able to really shine anyway until he had all those intricacies set in his bones, so to speak, so that he never has to think. When you learn things well enough so that your reactions and instincts are pre-cognitive, THEN you can forget about everything but the moment and THEN you can really let go. In the meantime, flashing one's talent might not be foremost on the mind (though I'm sure he feels the pressure).

Is Hawk one of those guys? Who knows? Time will tell. But certainly, we cannot say anything at all at this point. Patler's example of Brian Urlacher was a case in point. Whatever the result, I think we'll know what we have in Hawk later in the season. Hell, we didn't know what we had in Walker for a year and a half. My suspicion is that Hawk will be rock solid, if not better.

Good post Terry.

Where I come from simply, " he's just geting his feet wet " instead of diving right in. It's personality related.

Not to worry.

GO HAWK ! GO PACKERS !!

[RashanGary]

gbp,

Nobody is calling him a bust. Everyone is saying it's too early to make judgement and are accutally patient enough to let him play a few games or even a season before we start to pass our long term judgement on him. You are the only one who keeps bringing up that him not shining in trainging camp means he's never going to shine. Well one other guy was obviously sarcastic but maybe you believed him. Cheezner I believe was the sarcastic one. Other than that we've all been saying relax and you keep bringing up how the top pick should be showing greatness early.

[Green Bud Packer]

when i start to hear other players or the coaches talking down hawk i'll be concerned. i consider the source,cliff christl. i remember noble ripping mandarich the first day he reported,and i remember mark lee praising leroy his first couple of weeks of camp. the players know who's who and i haven't heard any remarks about hawk except for barnett saying hawk was a starter based on his draft po.cliff christl can bite my ass.

[KYPack]

isn't it a wee bit early to be calling him a bust?

OK Matt.

Welcome aboard & all.

I thought your screen name meant "Test ban", like nuclear test ban.

IOW, I didn't get it.

Welcome aboard & all that stuff.