Noble vs Hawk

El Guapo

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I was up in the middle of the night and saw the NFL network replaying Favre's first game against the Bengals. Watching Brian Noble play reminded me quite a bit of Hawk. Have at it. Whom do you think was a better ILB for the Packers?
 

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I was up in the middle of the night and saw the NFL network replaying Favre's first game against the Bengals. Watching Brian Noble play reminded me quite a bit of Hawk. Have at it. Whom do you think was a better ILB for the Packers?
Noble always a beast against the Bears. Noble a 5th round draft choice--Hawk a top 5 pick. Both very durable. Both respected in the locker room. Flip a coin outside expectations.
 

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My gut initial reaction is Noble. I just don't remember him getting blown up nearly as much as Hawk does and he made more big plays.
 

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I can't find tackle stats for Noble but in 9 seasons he had 14 sacks and 3 INTs (according to nfl.com) while Hawk in 8 seasons has 18.5 sacks and 9 INTs. My recollection is Noble was better vs. the run but Hawk is more athletic and (believe it or not) better vs. the pass. That's not enough of a difference considering where they were drafted.
 

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Yep. I think Hawk is better.

I remember what Noble once said on a tv interview. He said that when Ron Wolf became the GM he had a meeting with all the players. Brian thought, as the starter, he would be respected by Wolf and the meeting was to get his insight on the defense. Instead Wolf flat out told him something like: 'you are a good player, but not good enough. We will keep you till we find a better player.'
 

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Man !! I remember Noble, the League was different then too, but Brian Noble was hard nosed ILB.... I don't know , i think is a toss up...but Brian Nobles's pads were freaking huge....lol... I remember him taking on Okoye.


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El Guapo

El Guapo

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This thread was meant to ignore the draft positions and just judge the players on their play.

Looking through the 2013 Packers Media Guide (http://www.packers.com/history/record-book.html) I found:

- Both have led the team in tackles for four seasons
- Hawk holds the record for 7th most tackles in a season - 155 tackles in 2006 (his rookie year)
- Noble had 104 tackles in his 1985 rookie season

I found this article from the J/S that said (http://www3.jsonline.com/packer/news/jul02/59565.asp?format=print):
- Noble started 108 of the 115 games he played in and finished his career with 535 unassisted tackles, 307 assisted tackles and 14 sacks.
- Hawk has 580 unassisted tackles, 257 assisted, and 18.5 sacks.


Some interesting things from the end of the article above:
Although Green Bay general manager Ron Wolf tried replacing Noble with second-round draft pick Mark D'Onofrio, that plan failed when D'Onofrio suffered a career-ending injury and never saw the field.

Noble was still near the top of his game in 1993, and optimism surrounded the Packers after the free-agent acquisition of Reggie White.

But in the second game of the year against Philadelphia, things came to a sudden halt for Noble. He had been terrorizing the Eagles all afternoon, shutting down running back Heath Sherman in the hole on a pair of occasions and nearly taking off wideout Calvin Williams' head on a downfield route.

But on the second play of the fourth quarter, Eagles guard Mike Schad met Noble head-on during a sweep play. Noble's right knee got caught underneath Schad and buckled, resulting in total dislocation of the knee that would eventually end his career.

"My timing was brutal," Noble said. "It was like taking a chicken wing and snapping it. It really sucked."

and most importantly:
"But I never had to listen to somebody tell me that I'm not good enough to play. So I look back very fondly on my career and what I accomplished as a guy that really wasn't expected to be much."
 
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El Guapo

El Guapo

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Another interesting stat from Pro Football is that Hawk has 4 forced fumbles and 5 fumble recoveries. Noble had zero forced fumbles but 11 recoveries. It's a bit shocking that Hawk, lambasted for his lack of play-making abilities has more forced fumbles than Noble, a run-stopper. Most of us certainly want to see more turnovers from our ILB position, but this one is more than a little surprising.
 

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