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'Hard-nosed hitter' Rouse to make run for starting safety
Virginia Tech player was Packers' third-round draft pick
By Pete Dougherty
pdougher@greenbaypressgazette.com
Going into the 2006 season, Aaron Rouse was considered perhaps the best NFL safety prospect in college football.
He was coming off a strong junior season at Virginia Tech, where he had 77 tackles and four interceptions, and he was as impressive a physical specimen as that position can produce at 6-feet-4 and 223 pounds, with a reputation for being a big hitter.
But then his play slipped in ’06 (57 tackles, one interception) and for part of the season he even split time at strong safety with fellow senior Cary Wade. That, in turn, hurt his draft status, where play on film still is the most important part of a prospect’s resume, and dropped him from a possible late first-round prospect to a third- or fourth-round prospect.
That’s where the Packers drafted him, late in the third round, pick No. 89 overall, as a possible starter at strong safety this year.
“There’s so much media coverage and hype that goes into it,” said John Schneider, the Packers’ personnel analyst to the general manager, about Rouse’s drop-off in production last year. “We thought he played well. They went through a streak where they didn’t play well as a team, that may have affected him a little bit. But we thought he played well.”
General Manager Ted Thompson targeted Rouse with a valuable first-day draft pick because the Packers have a major need at starting safety, where free-agent signee Marquand Manuel was a disappointment last year. The Packers are looking for Rouse to make a strong run at that strong-safety spot along with Manuel and third-year pro Marviel Underwood, who’s coming back from knee-reconstruction surgery last August.
Rouse was available as a mid-round prospect because his decline in play last year left some teams questioning how good a safety he’ll be in the NFL — even strong safety is now much more a pass coverage-oriented position than it was in the past, and in the Packers’ defense the two safety positions have become almost interchangeable. Rouse’s unusual size left many scouts concerned he’ll be a liability in coverage against smaller, quicker players in the open field.
Rouse has shown he runs well for a big man (4.53 seconds in the 40 at his campus workout) and he plays the ball well in the air. The Packers came away from film study convinced he’s a decent cover man who’s especially suited to play tight ends down the middle of the field.
“He’s going to stand out at times because he’s so long and rangy when he’s out in space,” Schneider said. “Guys (that tall) are naturally going to look a little awkward at times. But we thought for a guy that size he did a good job in that regard.”
When NFL teams asked Rouse about his ’06 play in interviews this spring, he told them that the death of his maternal grandfather last fall affected him profoundly, as did a temporary benching and admonition to dial back his aggressiveness from the Virginia Tech coaching staff early in the season. The coaches were upset with him because he’d been penalized several times for late hits.
But this week at the Packers’ rookie-orientation camp, he even disputed the notion he didn’t play as well in ’06 as he did in ’05. And he also disputed that he’s a one-dimensional big hitter who’s not a good cover safety.
“A lot of misconceptions,” he said. “When people look at me, they say, ‘He’s really huge,’ but once you see me out there playing, taking away throwing lanes, interceptions, turn around and run, you’d be surprised.”
Rouse will get as good a shot as anyone at winning the starting safety job opposite Nick Collins this summer.
Manuel, a sixth-year pro, is the returning starter in name only after a sub-par first season with the Packers in which he blew more coverages than expected. Manuel was a sound and aggressive tackler near the line of scrimmage but struggled in that area in the open field.
Underwood, the other top candidate for the job, is a wild card in that battle. He was off to a good start in training camp last year before tearing up his knee in the first exhibition game. Had he remained healthy and continued to play at that level, there’s a good chance he would have replaced Manuel in the starting lineup sometime during the regular season.
But it’s hard to predict how well Underwood will perform in his first training camp after reconstruction surgery. He’s nearly nine months removed from the procedure, so he’s close to being ready to play.
“Ideally, you'd like to have (Underwood) for the (June) OTAs,” coach Mike McCarthy said Sunday. “But realistically we're probably better off if we wait until training camp.”
Rouse will be well behind the other two in his knowledge of coordinator Bob Sanders’ defense, but the Packers drafted him thinking he has the talent to possibly win that job even as a rookie.
“I’m a hard-nosed hitter and playmaker,” Rouse said. “Be all over the field.”
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