Underwood had a pick-6 also.
Article posted on the GB Press Gazette:
Green Bay Packers' undrafted Sam Shields may be a steal | greenbaypressgazette.com | Green Bay Press-Gazette
Excerpt:
What makes Shields rare, though, is he already has the Packers thinking they might have found a real player on the undrafted scrap heap. In fact, less than two weeks into training camp the receiver-turned-cornerback from the University of Miami has the organization as excited as it’s been about an undrafted rookie in the last 20 years.
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I totally agree with this. I've only been able to read about him and watched him in the scrimmage. I thought they were after a potential return man when they signed him, but he quickly showed he could not be trusted fielding kicks.
However, his cover skills are RARE ... his pick 6 in Saturday night's scrimmage reminded me of Deion Sanders - Deion would get beat only to outrun the receiver after the ball was thrown to get the pick. I believe Shields has a similar skill (but I'm not going to put him in Sanders category). He has only been playing CB for one year and is raw. I do think, though, he has the skills to be a Pro Bowl CB at some point in his career.
We may have two starting free agent corners after Woodson retires.
It's true that they like him a lot.“If the kid played four years of corner he would have been a first-round draft pick,” Whitt said. “He has more talent than all the other corners in the draft, he just only played one year, and all he did was play man, so he had no clue what he was doing. All they asked him to do was, ‘You go man up on this guy.’ His skill set is higher than the rest. We got lucky getting him.”
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Based on this comment from his position coach, I believe the Packer staff views Shields much more highly than Underwood. It will be real interesting to see how they bring him along. Maybe he plays as the nickel or dime back sometime this year.
He definitely turned my head in the family night scrimmage with the pick 6.
“If the kid played four years of corner he would have been a first-round draft pick,” Whitt said. “He has more talent than all the other corners in the draft, he just only played one year, and all he did was play man, so he had no clue what he was doing. All they asked him to do was, ‘You go man up on this guy.’ His skill set is higher than the rest. We got lucky getting him.”
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Based on this comment from his position coach, I believe the Packer staff views Shields much more highly than Underwood. It will be real interesting to see how they bring him along. Maybe he plays as the nickel or dime back sometime this year.
He definitely turned my head in the family night scrimmage with the pick 6.
I was disappointed to hear he's struggling with catching punts. He is extremely talented and seems to have a knack for making the right cuts in open space. Maybe that speed can pay off on coverage and kickoff returns.
"Based on this comment from his position coach, I believe the Packer staff views Shields much more highly than Underwood."
I didn't come to the same conclusion after reading that. At this point, Underwood is more of a lock to make the roster than Shields. In the short term, I don't think the coaches think Shields could contribute better this year. In the long term, I wouldn't doubt the coaches believe he has a higher ceiling. Talent only gets you so far. Underwood has seemed to have made a jump in the off-season and he has the defense down (while sheilds doesn't).
It's true that they like him a lot.
But Underwood (and Lee) was the reason the Packers didn't draft a CB. They're really, really high on Underwood, and everyone that has seen him practice and seen him on Family Night has said he looked amazing.
Shields looked very good in the family night scrimmage, but that performance isn't enough in my books to warrant him a roster spot. Not to be nitpicking or anything but there was one play where he clearly got beat, he simply looked like he didn't know what he was doing. He made it up later on though, which I give him a lot of credit for. Everyone likes to talk about Shields' speed, however I have yet to see it. Sure he made a fantastic break on the ball when he caught that INT and took it to the house, but it's nothing like the 4.3 speed that he's been praised for. I look forward to seeing it in reality come preseason.
Let's get real ... he already has a roster spot. The position coach doesn't go on record saying we have a first round talent in camp and then not put him on the roster (unless he desperately wants someone else to grab him off waivers or the practice squad ... which would happen, of course).
And yes, there will be plays where he doesn't know what he is doing since he has only played CB in 10 collegiate games and is a rookie in the NFL. I'm sure they said similar things about Antonio Gates when he was starting out at TE in a new sport for him with the Chargers.
Feel free to nitpick this play or that play, but this guy has a chance to be really special (Pro Bowl) at some point in his career. Corners don't often jump out for me, but Shields did. He reminds me of Deion Sanders with his closing speed.
-----------Nobody (including the Packers) knew how good he was on draft day because there was very little tape on the guy.
Duno why they had him returning that many kicks and punts, especially after concerns about him catching in practice. Silver Lining for Shields is Porter also looked timid and hesitant.
That's kinda the whole point of preseason.