Is Greenway better than Hodge?

[No Mo Moss]

They seem like very similar players. Hodge is the bigger hitter. From everything I've read Hodge was the leader of that defense. He also finished with more tackles than Greenway. I wonder if this pick was a bit forced by the Vikes considering their horrible LB corp. In fact I think Donatarious is still penciled in as a starter for them. I live in the cities and many of my friends that root for the purple are slightly uncomfortable about the pick. Is anyone here an Iowa fan and could post a little info on the two backers.

[Partial]

Greenway is quite good in coverage. Hodge is more of a bruiser.

Hodge will force more fumbles. Greenway will pick off quite a few passes.

I think Hodge will be the better pro since its tough to find a good ILB.

[RashanGary]

I just watched both video clips. I think they were pretty close when it came to toughness. I though Greenway looked a little more versatile. Greenway is a slightly tougher version of Barnett.

If you put Hodge in the middle though it will mask his coverage limitations. In the right situation I think Hodge can be just as good if not better. If I had to choose one before the other I would choose Greenway but where we got Hodge I think it was a much better value. It looked pretty close to me based on the tape.

[motife]

Greenway has incredible quickness and reflexes. He's tremendous at stripping the ball.

[Fritz]

I have no first hand info, but a colleague of mine who is a big Hawkeyes fan (and a Chicago Bears fan) says Hodge is the next Singletary, and he's crushed that da Bears didn't draft the guy.

He also said what everyone else is saying about Greenway - he'll be a fine outside linebacker in the pros. But my colleague likes Hodge a tad better for his disposition.

[Tarlam!]

Hodge has the more difficult road ahead of him. He wasn't a 1st rounder. He has to dislodge an incumbant, who happens to have racked up the most tackles and is heading into his 4th year and who was a 1st rounder.

If Hodge pulls that off, I would say, we got the better of the two, because that will be no easy feat, in fact. If that indeed happened, Barnett is no longer a sure starter outside. I love this environment TT has created!

Out of the two, I am glad we have Hodge. I think the Viking will be a fine player, but for our team, Hodge is the right guy.

[Rastak]

Is Greenway better than Hawk is the real question....and will only be answered this fall...

[HarveyWallbangers]

Vikings forums are rampant with predictions that Greenway will be better than Hawk. I want that Kool-Aid. Most Viking fans were happy with the Greenway pick. It's the later picks that had them upset. I think Greenway will be a solid LB--like a Dan Morgan. I think Hawk has the chance to be special. Watching the video clips on Yahoo, it's pretty clear that Greenway has to improve his strength though. Good athlete. Hodge is a question mark because we don't know if his game (and lack of really good measurables) will translate to the pro game. I know the coaches at Iowa liked both guys about equally. They raved about both guys on the airwaves here, so that's why a lot of Viking fans wanted to see both Iowa LBs selected. To me, Hawk is close to a sure thing. Greenway is not. Anybody making predictions that Greenway will be a better pro needs to take off the purple glasses.

[Rastak]

Vikings forums are rampant with predictions that Greenway will be better than Hawk. I want that Kool-Aid. Most Viking fans were happy with the Greenway pick. It's the later picks that had them upset. I think Greenway will be a solid LB--like a Dan Morgan. I think Hawk has the chance to be special. Watching the video clips on Yahoo, it's pretty clear that Greenway has to improve his strength though. Good athlete. Hodge is a question mark because we don't know if his game (and lack of really good measurables) will translate to the pro game. I know the coaches at Iowa liked both guys about equally. They raved about both guys on the airwaves here, so that's why a lot of Viking fans wanted to see both Iowa LBs selected. To me, Hawk is close to a sure thing. Greenway is not. Anybody making predictions that Greenway will be a better pro needs to take off the purple glasses.

I didn't know Peter King had purple glasses.

[HarveyWallbangers]

So, you found one guy that thinks Greenway will be better (besides, didn't he preface it by saying he "could" be better, but not really predicting that he "will" be better?). Well, I could say the same thing about just about every prospect in the draft. There were draft boards that had Ingle Martin ranked higher than Tarvaris Jackson (see scout.com), but you don't see me predicting Martin will be better. Hawk was rated as the #1 OLB on every trustworthy draft board that I found. Greenway was rated as the #3-4 at OLB. Hodge was rated the #1-2 at ILB. Personally, I think Hodge has a better chance of being better than Greenway than Greenway has of being better than Hawk, but I like Greenway more than Hodge. We'll see though.

[wist43]

I, for the life of me, can't figure out what anybody sees in Greenway... I watched him play twice this past year, and I didn't put him at any better than a mid-round pick... and, yes, I was targetting watching both him and Hodge the whole game.

The Iowa games I watched this year, it was Hodge that jumped off the screen at you, not Greenway.

Greenway was an absolute wimp at the point of attack, he couldn't get off blocks, and he couldn't change direction in the open field... He got juked out of his jock more than once.

Hodge, on the other hand, flew to the ball, got off blocks effectively, hit a ton, and was generally all over the field - he was clearly the best defender Iowa had on the field.

To me, Hodge was clearly the better player in the games that I saw.

[mngolf19]

From what I have seen of this new Vikes management group, they go for players of character and that fit their particular scheme. Hawk and Hodge may be better than Greenway in some aspects, maybe even throughout their careers. But I think the Vikes believe Greenway, and Hawk, would have fit their new D scheme (cover 2) better. That's why I can't complain on some of the players they chose, at least not yet. If they fit their schemes best, then they are the right players.

[Rastak]

So, you found one guy that thinks Greenway will be better (besides, didn't he preface it by saying he "could" be better, but not really predicting that he "will" be better?). Well, I could say the same thing about just about every prospect in the draft. There were draft boards that had Ingle Martin ranked higher than Tarvaris Jackson (see scout.com), but you don't see me predicting Martin will be better. Hawk was rated as the #1 OLB on every trustworthy draft board that I found. Greenway was rated as the #3-4 at OLB. Hodge was rated the #1-2 at ILB. Personally, I think Hodge has a better chance of being better than Greenway than Greenway has of being better than Hawk, but I like Greenway more than Hodge. We'll see though.

Actually King said he spoke with two NFC people who thought that.Greenway may be a better pro..I have no idea who'll be better. Hawk seems much more of a sure thing and had he been on the board I'm sure he would have been the Vikings pick...as other have said, who knows who'll be better.....can't wait for training camp!

[Partial]

The Vikings are switching to a tampa 2? Who's their D-Coordinator?

[mngolf19]

Tomlin, he was with Tampa last year as DB coach I think.