A Long and Very Telling Article by Bob McGinn on our Defense

It is well worth the read. I find myself agreeing with far too much of what he says.

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/pack...nt-get-an-a-for-effort-e976tjn-174061711.html

How this team plays against Houston tonight will say a lot about whether McGinn is right, IMO.

I have to Agree with the article - this defense has not played we any passion since the Super Bowl. I have been watching the NYJ and Indy game - the NYJ are shutting down the colts without their best CB. MAybe it is time for a change at D Cordinator - we can't keep doing the same thing because it is not WORKING! Additionally the Offense has looked pathetic this year - it appears we miss Philbin Just my humble opinion

I too agree with the majority of the article. Our defense hasn't played with a sense of urgency very often in the past two seasons, which is what's killing us. In fact, the whole team seems to lack urgency. It's almost as if they feel last season was too easy for them, and that they'd just roll offensively this season too. Hopefully last week's debacle shapes up as a wake-up call for this team. Otherwise it's destined to be a very long season...

I agree that a lot of the players Thompson has drafted have had questions like "injuries" or in this case "effort" surrounding them. This is not done on accident. With everything that Thompson evaluates in a player, talent is #1. And you can't deny these guys don't have talent.

There is 2 sides of the equation McGinn addresses: Overachievers(he calls them achievers) and Underachievers.

Overachivers- High effort guys, flow to the ball, want it more, never take plays off etc.
GB Examples: Clay Matthews, Ryan Pickett, C.J Wilson, Mike Daniels, A.J Hawk, D.J Smith, Erik Walden


Underachievers- Exceeding talent, questionable effort, minimal energy etc.
GB Examples: B.J Raji, Nick Perry, Jerel Worthy, Charles Woodson, Tramon Williams.

The first thing I take offense to in McGinn's article is he claims the Packers don't have enough high effort guys but then proceeds to name more high effort guys on this defense then low effort. I also think he is confusing effort with nastiness when it suits his article most. He has most of the overachievers and "high effort" in the trenches and linebacker core while he has most of the underachievers and "low effort" guys in the defensive backfield.

He seems to value his college overachievers higher than the college underachievers. This makes no sense to me. Tim Tebow was a college overachiever. Tom Brady was a college underachiver. Tom Brady's talent > Tim Tebow's talent. Now at each of their respective Draft Day's if given the option on their college career's I'm sure you would say that Tim Tebow "wants" it more and is a "winner" and he would do better in the NFL based on McGinn's same reasoning. Obviously Tom Brady has shown over the course of his career that that assumption would be false. Drafting "overachievers" and "high effort" guys is a nearly impossible feat at the college level. McGinn doesn't seem to understand this. That's why you got to value talent (Nick Perry, Jerel Worthy, Charles Woodson) over whatever his form of "wanting it more" is ( Ryan Pickett, C.J Wilson, Mike Daniels) It's can't fathom how he values talent under anything when it comes to drafting.

He kudos to SEA, STL, ARI and HOU all on their drafting of hard-working defensive players. I agree. But they've all also been had many struggling teams in the recent past which gives them alot higher of picks to get these great "hard working" players. Thompson hasn't had the chance to go that route. Because other then when he was first getting settled in, all the Packers have done is win.

Overall I guess the article makes sense. I mean if we had 11 Clay Matthews's on defense we'd be much better off. But in my opinion, Hard Working < Talent

Well, yes and no, IMO. I think McGinn is absolutely correct. He's assessed the team's past performance. The good thing about effort is you can change it. I'm looking for them to change it. The effort of the unit can absolutely be turned around. I think tonight will say a lot about whether we'll actually see that happen this season or not.

I've seen poor effort from this defense for 1 year and 5 games ( they did play hard against Chicago). I agree with McGinn we have too many low effort guys on defense.

I'll take it a step further we have several more on offense.

I think guys like Clay Matthews come out of the womb with the will to excel. Some never put forth the necessary effort and that separates them from the elite. That is true not only in football but in life. You have to have the drive to succeed and some never do. This is the fear I have with this Packer team.

This article is ABSOLUTELY SPOT ON. Many of these players are not giving it their all. And it could lead to their undoing....Dom's head is on the block imo.

I hope. Really, really hope that tonight's game proves the writer wrong.
That the Pack will find their mojo, get it together and win and have this game to inspire them to do great things this season.
It's not too late.
If the Pack lose, then I'll start thinking that will be the trend to the end of their 2012 season.
It's not like I'll give up on them, but I won't have any high hopes either.

Looking much better so far! Now let's see 60 minutes of it. THAT has been the problem.

Edit: aaaaaaaand, as I'm writing this, Perry tears an ACL..... Sh!t

Who told you that?

Gut reaction. No idea if that's the case.