Manuel???? WTF

[Tony Oday]

Manuel had just one interception and knocked down four passes. Nagged by early injuries, he missed 15 tackles, the most on the team. However, he did lead all Green Bay defensive backs with a career-high 103 tackles.


How, when, where did all these happen? I mean if he doesnt have the nagging injuries does that mean that he could be the guy with Collins.

[BallHawk]

Tackles aren't an "official" NFL statistic, thus the amount of tackles a player has varies. ESPN will count their own stats and then the actual team will count their own stats. It causes for a lot of confusion. I remember a year back Nick Barnett's tackle total varied between 25-35 tackles, depending on where you looked.

In regard to Manuel, I could care less if he got 200 tackles. If he still can't cover WR then he's useless. I would rather see him get 50 tackles and improve on his coverage.

[Tony Oday]

what I am saying is that he can tackle do you think the nagging injuries where just to the point were he couldnt athletically get to where he knew he needed to be?

[HarveyWallbangers]

Personally, I was shocked at how poor he looked last year, and I can't believe it was injuries all year. I thought he looked a lot better in Seattle--when he was a key part of their Super Bowl team. His injury in the Bowl really hurt the Hawks. He just seems a very poor fit for the scheme. I really didn't have a lot of problems with him in the box, but his coverage is poor. That doesn't bode well for a player in this scheme.

[The Leaper]

I'm still convinced that Collins should be the safety that plays closer to the line of scrimmage and covers the TE. Unfortunately, the Packer system likes that player to also be a leader and "quarterback" of the defense. Collins doesn't seem to have the brains for that, which is why I think they hesitate moving him into that role even though his skills seem to point to putting him there.

So, we get a supposedly smart guy like Manual...but he can't play deep coverage (or short coverage for that matter) worth a damn. It isn't a good fit. We play tight coverage on the LOS with our CBs...we need some safeties with coverage skills, but I don't really see either Collins or Manual being very capable of making plays against the pass 15+ yards downfield. We are trying to put square pegs into round holes.

[Tarlam!]

Frankly, I don't give a snot about Manual's performance last year.

He came in much ballihooed, was injured and had trouble finding his rythm.

Last year is over. I am interested if he can provide leadership this year. He is NOT injured, the defensive system is NOT new.

If he cannot, then, he should be a backup.

I am more interested in Rouse anyways. And I havenÄt forgotten about Marviel in the least.

I wanna know: will our Safeties be a liability again?

[RashanGary]

what I am saying is that he can tackle do you think the nagging injuries where just to the point were he couldnt athletically get to where he knew he needed to be?

I agree. Let's see how he fares this year and if he flops he's done. If he soars he's in. I'm not going to chalk an entire career up to failure after an injury plagued season. Let's see how he plays healthy. I'd say there is a good chance he's better thsi year. How much better? That I don't know but if its enough to stop the long pass plays, it might be enough to bring this defense to another plateau. A plateau that includes the playoffs if we're really fortunate.

[pittstang5]

Sometimes, watching Manuel made me wish that they still had Roman - Now, that's saying something!

I want the best Safety tandem on the field, period. Whether that's Collins and Manuel, Manuel and Underwood, Collins and Underwood, Rouse and Collins.....whatever. The Pack Safeties need to strike the fear of God into anyone that goes over the middle.

[rpiotr01]

If he still can't cover WR then he's useless.

At this point I'd be happy just to see him cover a TE, never mind a WR...

[Packnut]

Manuel

Manuel was resonsible for more td's than ANY saftey in recent Packer history. The injury is just an excuse. He's slow and that's the bottom line. Even more important, he is not a cover saftey. Now the jury is still out on Nick but I still think he's better playing close to the line.

Manuel just does'nt fit our scheme. We have to have at least one saftey who can cover or else we'll see more broken coverages and guys running free in our secondary. Some of you guys need to wake up when it comes to player evaluation. Believe what your eyes show you, not what you wanna believe. Losing teams are built on holding out hope that a player is gonna turn it around............

[BallHawk]

Sometimes, watching Manuel made me wish that they still had Roman - Now, that's saying something!

The sad part about that is, it's not an exaggeration. He really is that bad at times.

Supposedly, Underwood is ahead of schedule in rehab. I would love to see him get the starting gig.

[Packnut]

Bigby

Sometimes, watching Manuel made me wish that they still had Roman - Now, that's saying something!

The sad part about that is, it's not an exaggeration. He really is that bad at times.

Supposedly, Underwood is ahead of schedule in rehab. I would love to see him get the starting gig.

Bigby is my dark horse pick to win the starting job. I remember seeing him in one of the televised Europe games a while back and he kinda stood out.

[BallHawk]

I think he should make the team just because his name is "Atari."

Don't count out Rouse. The guy definitely has the measureables, but he needs to use them better.

Anybody know how Culver is doing?

[RashanGary]

Atari is big and strong. Apparently he's caught on pretty well on the defnese.

We have

1 - Collins
2 - Manuel, Underwood, Bigby, Culver


We have 4 guys at safety and 3 of them are unproven. We need one person to step up and our defense will have covered it's only GLARING weakness. I'm really hoping we get a player from that group.

[packers11]

The competition will be really good going into training camp...

All going for the SS role -

Underwood
Manuel
Atari
Culver
Rouse

Let the best man win!