A Couple Young Players Comin' Up Big

Nick Collins must by now be making even the most ardent Darren Sharper supporter see the light...as in lights out. He appears to be faster than every corner on the roster except Hawkins, knocks the **** outta anything in his range (nice forced fumble yesterday) and is always around the ball...whether the first or fifth guy. Bottom line, if he keeps it up, we have a great safety in the making, and he is already an upgrade over Darren "Too Sharp" Sharper. Geez...don't you just cringe at guys who give THEMSELVES nicknames. Any guy knows, nicknames are given to you, good or bad, by your peers. Not self-appointed. Yes, Darren, you sure look good in purple!

Colin Cole....guy is huge, smothering, cat-quick and, like Collins, always around the ball. I think he will also develop intop a fine, player for the Pack. What is it about those Iowa players? Maybe not the most skilled, but they sure get everything out of their ability.

I love Collins. You have to have two stud safeties in the NFL. It makes everything you do on defense so much easier. I hate the eagles but I really believe their defense works the way it does because of Dawkins and Michael Lewis. They intimidate people and can cover. If we can find that second safety we could have a tough defense for the next few years.

I think Marviel Underwood will develop nicely as well, just needs more seasoning. He is a 4 down kinda guy and, in fact, has stole some nickle and dime work as of late. Look for #25 in the future. He also packs a punch.

There you have it! I think Bates is afraid right now to put in 2 young safeties. If Underwood could win his confidence, it could spell the end for Little and Roman.

I nominate Colin Cole as the next Nose Tackle for the Green Bay Packers!
Sorry, Gravy ---- suck to be ya! j/k... on that one.

Seriously, we're hurting at NT and if Grady goes down, Colin "will" get the call.
There's only about 25 pounds difference between the two guys...
TT has certainly given the Packers some options for next year.

One thing about #36 - he'd have ta have a great game, every time... or else a certain LeRoy Butler will kick his gonads off the 3rd Rock!

Now we just gotta teach him how to Lambeau Leap!

Collins is not as good as he will become. As his education continues so will his improvement.

If you remember the play where Little was "dragged" 29 yards from the Monday Night game, Nick Collins missed a tackle that allowed that to happen.

Safety is the Packer's strongest position at this point.

During the offseason replacements will have to be found for:

Grady (it is not Washington)

Nall who will find a team that values him

RB an upgrade is in order as not all will return.

TE depth has been lacking for years.

OT depth is needed (Ruegamer will find a franchise that will like him) or it could be Klemm if an upgrade is found. I still maintain Ruegamer/Wells is better than Klemm/Flanagan(who is hurting). Klemm should not be in starting line up.


So with those 5 areas that could/should be the Packer draft next year. By the way Steve Morely is still on the Jets active roster making the conditional draft choice more likely to occur(7th?). It will help make up for the loss of next year's 6th round spent on Brad Bedell.

Safety is the Packers strongest position? Who is the 2nd starting safety?

The Saints didn't block Grady at all yesterday so he still has some gas in the tank, but Cole is a player and is only going to get better. I can't wait to see how good Collins is going to be with a couple of years of experience in Bates' defense.

We have a lot of promising young players on defense. We have a chance to be pretty good on defense if the following guys develop and if we can maybe draft another stud at DT to replace Grady Jackson down the road.

Kind of odd though that Poppinga is a rookie listed at 26, while "veterans" like Barnett and Carroll are 24 and 22.

The Packers' defense is young at almost every position. DL: Colin Cole (25), Cullen Jenkins (24), Corey Williams (25); LB: Nick Barnett (24), Roy Manning (23), Robert Thomas (25), Brady Poppinga (26); DB: Ahmad Carroll (22), Nick Collins (22), Joey Thomas (25), Marviel Underwood (23), Mike Hawkins (21), Jason Horton (25).

David Martin has really been stepping up as of late. Been catching some nice passes from Favre.

David Martin aka Tyrone Davis Jr. has learned to put together a couple of games to stay on the roster. I still am convinced that signing him to a 2 year contract this last offseason was Ted Thompson's greatest mistake to date (Klemm was a gamble but Sherman is the one playing him).

Martin again has an easy year staying on the roster. Respect is earned and I would grant him some if he had an adequate season. Until then the whole of his many years in Green Bay must be judged.

Those years of unrealized "potential" become never was. The patience with him if not yet worn out is very thin.

He learned from Tyrone how to earn NFL money with minimum performance.

You know, it's really funny you should type this. When I initially wrote my last post in this thread I had put the name Tyrone Davis then had to come back a few minutes later and edit it to David Martin. lol - they are one in the same I guess!

Things that make you go hmmmm.... :?:

There's a big difference between David Martin and Tyrone Davis. Martin has been injured a lot more than Davis was. If he can stay healthy, he will be a decent player, as he's proving right now. Also, Martin has not become overweight, as Tyrone Davis did after a few years.

I think our TE's are really coming along! Who would have thought this Donald Lee character would come in off the streets and perform the way he has? He looks every bit as good as an L.J. Smith right now...I think he will continue to develop into a really good player if he is given the opportunity. Much like a lot of the younger players on the Packer roster, opportunity is the best "talent developer" IMHO.