Is Hawk who you thunk he'd be?

[b bulldog]

accurate sorry

[The Leaper]

Good point but Hawk is no where near the player that Brian is. Hawk is solid but not much more.

Urlacher has far more experience than Hawk. That is the only way that he is ahead of Hawk IMO...outside of the fact he is a MLB and has more of a chance to make plays because of it.

As a player, there is little that Urlacher is doing right now to suggest to me he is light years ahead of Hawk in terms of ability. In fact, I think Urlacher is weaker at the point of attack than Hawk most of the time. Teams run AT Urlacher...but they don't make a point of running at Hawk.

Urlacher is overrated. He is a very good LB, but he's not the dominating beast people make him out to be. Barnett is playing better than Urlacher right now.

[4and12to12and4]

What I have seen is teams are running away from him. That is the problem of and OLB, teams can run away from one side forcing A.J to have to play the cut back lanes instead of being aggressive at the line. Which is his strength. If you where a coach who would you run at A.J or Poppinga. Because of Poppinga lack of coverage skills it is also forcing A.J. to have to cover TE more like others have stated. Thats why I think A.J would be better fitted for the MLB spot like what the Bears did with 54 he started out as a OLB then they moved him to the MLB spot for this reason. The problem with this is Barnett is having a back to back good season at the MLB spot. The move can't be made. Forcing the Pack to upgrade the other OLB position to correct the problem I stated above.

Good post Brian. Makes sense to me. I just wonder if Hawk played MLB if he would be as good or better than Barnett. Personally, I think that Barnett is better at blitzing. He's so fast, he can find and get through small cracks in the line better. He just has to continue getting better at his open field tackling, although he did blow up Portis behind the line with an open field tackle after either Woodson or Harris missed him. That was impressive, he ran a good 25 yards to get to him. BTW, if you compare Hawks numbers against Urlachers last year, they are almost identical. One fumble recovery, one interception, and around 150 tackles. And he's not an MLB. I think that's pretty impressive for a rookie. But, as far as Barnett goes, I think he is playing his best football this year, and should earn a probowl spot. He has made some very key plays for us at crucial times. Poppinga is about as good as Hillenmeyer. He's very replaceable. Is Hodge healthy enough to put him in there and see what he can do? Actually, that kinda defeats the purpose, cuz he can't cover anyone either.

[HarveyWallbangers]

I think Barnett and Hawk are similar players actually. I just think Hawk came into the league as a more tenacious player and a better tackler, but Barnett has become tenacious and a good tackler over the years.

[Tarlam!]

I think Barnett and Hawk are similar players actually. I just think Hawk came into the league as a more tenacious player and a better tackler, but Barnett has become tenacious and a good tackler over the years.

Harv! Barnett came in as an OLB and was thrown into the middle. He was OK. A player but no more. He was no Urlacher, that's for sure.

Hawk came in as Will, which is his natural position. He has relly flashed at times. It won't take the duration of his rookie contract, IMO, for him to fulfill his potential.

Kudos to Barnett; I wasn't a fan after year 3 and Wisty's whispers. After his payday, he has made good on his potential.

Hawk won't wait that long.

[The Leaper]

I just wonder if Hawk played MLB if he would be as good or better than Barnett.

Probably not at this point...I think Barnett's experience makes him a better choice in the middle.

Hawk has everything a good LB needs...I'm hardly worried about him.

[RashanGary]

Urlacher is overrated. He is a very good LB, but he's not the dominating beast people make him out to be. Barnett is playing better than Urlacher right now.

I agree. Urlacher gets the big city overhype. I watch Urlacher get toasted 3 times for every big play he makes.

[RashanGary]

I think Barnett and Hawk are similar players actually. I just think Hawk came into the league as a more tenacious player and a better tackler, but Barnett has become tenacious and a good tackler over the years.

I'll second this too.

[Noodle]

What I have seen is teams are running away from him. That is the problem of and OLB, teams can run away from one side forcing A.J to have to play the cut back lanes instead of being aggressive at the line. Which is his strength. If you where a coach who would you run at A.J or Poppinga. Because of Poppinga lack of coverage skills it is also forcing A.J. to have to cover TE more like others have stated. Thats why I think A.J would be better fitted for the MLB spot like what the Bears did with 54 he started out as a OLB then they moved him to the MLB spot for this reason. The problem with this is Barnett is having a back to back good season at the MLB spot. The move can't be made. Forcing the Pack to upgrade the other OLB position to correct the problem I stated above.

Um, he's a weak side LB. Don't teams run to the strong side (TE) far more often than the weak side? That's how it goes. Yet Will LBs are expected to get lots of production because they don't need to deal with the TE, they can just flow and go, using inside shoulder techinique.

I have to say my hope was that he'd be more of a game changer than he's been. Sort of a Master of Disaster, causing all sorts of mayhem and disruption. But I don't watch a ton of game film, so I can't appreciate what he may be doing to mess things up before they ever get a chance to get going.

I just want to see him obliterate a guy. Flat out obliterate a guy. Stupid, I know, but that's what I expected.

[b bulldog]

I agree with the comparisons between the two and that was one of my reasons for not wanting to draft hawk in the first place.

[Guiness]

Um, he's a weak side LB. Don't teams run to the strong side (TE) far more often than the weak side? That's how it goes. Yet Will LBs are expected to get lots of production because they don't need to deal with the TE, they can just flow and go, using inside shoulder techinique.

I have to say my hope was that he'd be more of a game changer than he's been. Sort of a Master of Disaster, causing all sorts of mayhem and disruption. But I don't watch a ton of game film, so I can't appreciate what he may be doing to mess things up before they ever get a chance to get going.

I just want to see him obliterate a guy. Flat out obliterate a guy. Stupid, I know, but that's what I expected.

As a general rule, teams do run to the strong side a lot more - unless they're game planning away from the strong side. I'm not saying that's what they're doing, but it would be a reason the weak side sees more action.

Thinking about it though, that doesn't really make sense to me either, because by all accounts, Poppinga is very good against the run, so I don't think teams would choose to run at him instead of Hawk.

If, as stated, he's having to deal with the TE more than he should, I would think that would affect production.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Hawk has been a gun run defender. Hawk is WLB and Poppinga is SLB, but really they are RLB and LLB. Green Bay doesn't switch up their defense much depending on the TE formation. Their OLBs are kind of interchangeable. I'm sure most teams run TE on the rightside to match up with Poppinga though. Then again, in passing situations Poppinga isn't on the field much. Not sure I understand bulldog's point. You need more than one good LB. If Hawk and Barnett are similar, why would that make you not want Hawk? Makes no sense. Both stay on the field pretty much at all times--since our defense goes to the dime so infrequently.

[ND72]

I only read a few replies, and anyone and everyone that was around draft time 2 years ago knows how much I love AJ Hawk. Am I happy with the way he's played? No...I think he could be a lot more dominate...but at the same time, I think HE thinks the same ways. If you ever listen to his interviews he says straight out he hasn't played to his ability yet...and yet, he's been playing pretty solid. The guy is fast as heck, and is very instinctful. I think he's still learning a lot, which is GREAT for us.

I think AJ has been given a bad rap because Brady POOPinga can't cover anyone, yet we continue to put POOP on the TE's, so AJ litterally is running across the field to tackle the TE's that are catching the ball.

Couple things to realize also...He plays behind Aaron Kampmann 90% of the time. NO team will run AT Aaron Kampman, so essentially no team will run at Hawk. Am I saying no team does run at Hawk? No, cause teams have, and yes he's had some struggles, but he's also stepped up and stopped quite a few plays also.

I also think that AJ Hawk, along with a solid DL, has helped make Nick Barnett a heck of a lot better, as he is finally fulfilling and reaching his potential. This is Hawk's sophomore season, which, depending on who talks about it, is sometimes the toughest season for a defensive player, because teams know about them now and scheme against them.

I still love the guy, and am still a bit giddy he's on my team. But he does have a lot to learn still, but still has a mountain of potential to fulfill. And I'm pumped to see where he takes it.

[RashanGary]

ND,

The right side of most offenses is the side of the TE (typically). That would coincide with the left side of the DL, which is Kampmans side. In short, Kamp and the SLB are usually on the same side of the field.

The only reason Hawk is on that side of the field during some games is because Poop can't cover so Hawk is stuck playing SLB. SLB's are support players that are not in position to make many plays (hence Barnetts refusal to play there and Hawks slow start)


YOu said Hawk is on the weakside but you also said he was on Kamps side when Kamp is usually on the strong side. Just pointing out that contridiction.

[ND72]

ND,

The right side of most offenses is the side of the TE (typically). That would coincide with the left side of the DL, which is Kampmans side. In short, Kamp and the SLB are usually on the same side of the field.

The only reason Hawk is on that side of the field during some games is because Poop can't cover so Hawk is stuck playing SLB. SLB's are support players that are not in position to make many plays (hence Barnetts refusal to play there and Hawks slow start)


YOu said Hawk is on the weakside but you also said he was on Kamps side when Kamp is usually on the strong side. Just pointing out that contridiction.

Except both Chicago and Washington went predominately offensive strong left, or Defensive strong Right. Lovie Smith, "we did put our TE on the left side about 98% of the game, as which we planned."