The case for keeping Paris Lenon starts with the case for keeping Roy Manning & Brady Poppinga...
Roy Manning has played like a guy with a future and the attitude that you love to see LB possess. His only downside is he is still raw - a one season starter Michigan - and despite delivering big hits and potential for big plays he is out of position far too often. This is all correctable by coaching and I believe the kid has earned a spot.
Brady Poppinga was drafted on potential and everyone knew he would take time in developing in his conversion to LB. Sadly he did not help his cause by being injured, but he showed pop and range last night and probably has too much potential to let go of.
Keeping the two rookies intensifies the need to have Veteran depth, which brings us to Paris
Paris Lenon is a LB who hangs on every year despite being written off each season. At 6-2 245 lbs he makes the most of what God has given him. He is a warrior who out works the competition. He is the last to leave the workout room and the last to leave film studies. Because of his dedication, he can play all three LB positions, which adds to his value. And to list him only as a MLB is a misrepresentation of his spot on the depth charts where he is a first line back up. He is also a premium special teams player -- among the team leaders each season and posting the 4th best total in Packer history. When he was called upon to start against Detroit for example, he responded with 10 tackles. I know we want all of our backups to be potential All Pros, but realistically Paris Lenon is the kind of Veteran leader who pays back way more than the value of his contract every day.
You have to respect what Paris has to say -- "What motivates me is going out there and playing football," Lenon explained. "I just love playing football."
A dark horse to steal the vet backup spot is Corey Jenkins -- upside is he is fast and a player; downside is he is 6-0 222 lbs. The bio I have on him has him listed as 29 yrs old, which means he has limited upside despite only having 3 yrs of NFL playing experience.
This is how I read it, what about others.
Roy Manning has played like a guy with a future and the attitude that you love to see LB possess. His only downside is he is still raw - a one season starter Michigan - and despite delivering big hits and potential for big plays he is out of position far too often. This is all correctable by coaching and I believe the kid has earned a spot.
Brady Poppinga was drafted on potential and everyone knew he would take time in developing in his conversion to LB. Sadly he did not help his cause by being injured, but he showed pop and range last night and probably has too much potential to let go of.
Keeping the two rookies intensifies the need to have Veteran depth, which brings us to Paris
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Paris Lenon is a LB who hangs on every year despite being written off each season. At 6-2 245 lbs he makes the most of what God has given him. He is a warrior who out works the competition. He is the last to leave the workout room and the last to leave film studies. Because of his dedication, he can play all three LB positions, which adds to his value. And to list him only as a MLB is a misrepresentation of his spot on the depth charts where he is a first line back up. He is also a premium special teams player -- among the team leaders each season and posting the 4th best total in Packer history. When he was called upon to start against Detroit for example, he responded with 10 tackles. I know we want all of our backups to be potential All Pros, but realistically Paris Lenon is the kind of Veteran leader who pays back way more than the value of his contract every day.
You have to respect what Paris has to say -- "What motivates me is going out there and playing football," Lenon explained. "I just love playing football."
A dark horse to steal the vet backup spot is Corey Jenkins -- upside is he is fast and a player; downside is he is 6-0 222 lbs. The bio I have on him has him listed as 29 yrs old, which means he has limited upside despite only having 3 yrs of NFL playing experience.
This is how I read it, what about others.