The CornerBacks

I recently read that Capers played nickel almost 80% of the time last season. Even if that’s a bit of an exaggeration, we all know if “base D” meant the scheme played most instead of that usually played on first down, the Packers’ base D has been 2-4-5 over the past couple of seasons. And the way McCarthy and Capers are talking lately, their dime D is going to be a much bigger factor this season. The less the Packers play with just four DBs, the less important the Woodson-to-safety talk becomes: With 5 or 6 DBs on the field, Woodson will play his “rover” role, neither outside CB nor safety and that’s great because that’s where his playmaking skills are best used.

For the Packers D to get where we all want it to be, the first order of business is to significantly improve pressure on the QB. IMO the Packers also have to improve their coverage skills – IOW I don’t believe the only problem in coverage last season was lack of pressure. While the symbiotic relationship between pass rush and coverage is obvious, I think we have legitimate reasons for optimism that both units, standing alone, will improve and here’s why regarding coverage:

Tramon Williams played like one of the best shut down CBs in the league in 2010 and regressed badly last year. Near the end of the season opener, he collided with Nick Collins and “bruised” his right shoulder. He missed the next game and when he came back he was a different player. According to Wilde’s article http://espnmadison.com/corp/page/06%2F14%2F12_One_arm_tied_behind_his_back/686?feed=2 Williams went from being able to shoulder-press a 125 pound dumbbell to not even being able to put a 30-pound dumbbell over his right shoulder. The nerves in that shoulder were damaged and for a CB who relies heavily on press coverage that meant he had to change his game. For Capers that meant going from relying upon Williams heavily to having to hide or help him. They did an EMG test in February and the nerve in his right shoulder was firing at 15%. So not only his coverage but his tackling suffered. Although he doesn’t expect to be 100% by TC, he says his shoulder is getting better every day.

Sam Shields also regressed badly in 2011. He was replaced by Jarrett Bush on early downs in the playoff game and it has been reported he has played behind Bush so far in OTAs and minicamp. Needless to say, that aint good, so what happened? According to another Wilde article http://espnmadison.com/corp/page/06%2F14%2F12_Shields_at_a_crossroads/685?feed=2, his position coach Joe Whitt who predicted Shields would be one of the top CBs in the league by this season said, “Sam’s problem was me. I did a poor job with Sam. I did a poor job with him. I took for granted that he knew or was going to know some things…” As Capers went on to explain, Shields’ problem was in 2010 he was inserted almost exclusively to play the pass and last year they needed to play him on run/pass plays a lot more. Shields had only played DB his last year of college and then as a “specialist” in 2010. He struggled making the transition to full time coverage CB and that led him to gamble more in coverage and his poor tackling skills added to the Packers’ defensive woes.

Of course Shields’ problems weren’t all Whitt’s fault; IMO Sam Shields has fantastic coverage skills, “all” he needs to do is thoroughly learn the playbook and be determined to tackle. “All” is in quotes for a reason – some players just can’t do that. I was very high on Shields after 2010 and I still think he has the physical skills to be a very good, if not great CB. He just has to be coachable and he has to want it badly.

For a serious NFL youngster an offseason of dedication and OTAs and minicamps can do wonders and that seems to be the case with Davon House who no doubt was hurt by the absence of those learning opportunities, and an ankle injury last year. House stayed in Green Bay since the end of his rookie year and his HC says he “has done an excellent job in the weight room," said McCarthy. "He's a different young man today than he was last year."

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/young-packers-house-green-put-offseason-to-good-use-nj5n68j-158389145.html We’ve read some good things about him so far this off season. He’s got good size as he’s listed at 6’0”, 195. More than the words quoted, his actions show his dedication and Packers fans have to love that.

It’s foolish to get too high on a rookie, even one drafted at #62, but I admit I’m optimistic about the contribution Casey Hayward will make as a Packer, even in his rookie season - perhaps as the last DB on the field in the dime. What I know about Brandian Ross is he has good size and the Packers like him enough to have kept him around. Ross and two UDFAs will have to really shine to make the team, but particularly in Green Bay they should not be dismissed out of hand.

I will not be surprised if the dime package includes Morgan Burnett playing FS along with “rover” Charles Woodson, Tramon Williams and three CBs. If that happens, Shields, House, Hayward, and Bush will probably be the leading contenders to fill those spots. Of course safeties MD Jennings, who has gotten stronger in the offseason, rookie Jerron McMillian, Anthony Levine, and the slow but experienced Charlie Peprah all have a shot to fill a spot in the dime and even the nickel. But if one of the safeties fill a spot, IMO that player will have to have superior coverage skills.

So I’m optimistic about the CB position because I’ve seen Williams and Shields excel – both just have to recapture their 2010 level of play. To the extent Woodson plays CB his savvy and toughness make up for his lost step and he’s a great counter to TE matchup “problems”. House’s renewed dedication and Hayward’s obvious talent should make for a great battle between them. In summary I’m optimistic about coverage improving for the same reason I’m optimistic about the pass rush improving: I think it’s reasonable to expect the returning vets will be better and because of an obvious infusion of talent.

So many teams have gone away from base D for most of a game. It has become a passing league and when you face the Packers D it makes sense to pass: Lack of pass rush, blitz crazy, man to man, lots of illegal contact calls.
There are some teams that still love to run the ball. KC took advantage of no Ryan Pickett for our only loss last year. But by and large it will be pass, pass, pass.
It takes a different type of secondary to play defense today. Guys like Jack Tatum, Chuck Cecil, and Willie Wood made their living with the body contact that scared receivers. Today you breathe on a pass catcher and it's a penalty.

Nice piece.

I've long felt the loss of Nick Collins was bigger than most realize, and is ultimately what destroyed our defense last season because it limited what we were able to do in coverage, which also impacted our pressure schemes. As for Tramon, I knew he had a shoulder injury, but I didn't realize it was that bad all year long. Unfortunately, nerve regeneration isn't very predictable, and heals on it's own timetable. It's encouraging to hear he's gaining some strength back.

You touched on it Jack but the third need for our defense along with pass rush and better secondary coverage is tackling. The Packers were an awful tackling team last year.

McCarthy and the defensive staff have been hammering the players on the need to improve the tackling, and rightly so. In fact McCarthy talked about poor tackling last season. Look what Shields says, “My main focus” is tackling. I didn’t mention it in the OP but obviously Williams’ shoulder prevented him from tackling as he normally would. Players like Peprah (but certainly not only him and not only the DBs) had no such excuse. Except for “nursing” Williams along so he’ll be as healthy as possible for opening day, I hope the coaches keep their word and make tackling a true priority.

milani, IMO the lesson of the KC game was how they played the Packers’ offense. If the Packers had an average offensive output in that game, KC running the ball wouldn’t have mattered. The good news IMO is neither the Lions in the next game nor the Giants in the playoff game successfully incorporated the lessons of how KC played the Packers’ O. The Packers beat themselves vs. the Giants with dropped passes, fumbles lost and poor defense. IOW I don’t worry about teams trying to beat the Packers running the ball (not saying you are though).

SpartaChris, I agree the loss of Collins hurt the D but I don’t think his absence alone ‘ultimately destroyed’ the defense. For example, I don’t think Williams’ shoulder would have healed quicker or Peprah and Shields (just to name two) would have tackled better. Moot point now of course. And you’re right about nerve damage. I think it’s likely Williams won’t be 100% by opening day. We just have to hope he’s close to that and doesn’t re-injure it before it can get to 100%.

I agree it wouldn't have an impact on Williams recovery or the piss poor tackling, but my feeling is losing Collins and replacing him with Peprah severely limited what we were able to do from a coverage and pressure standpoint. I don't have numbers to back it up, and could certainly be wrong, but for example, I feel like we didn't send Woodson on very many blitzes last season because he was needed in coverage. We also relied more on Sam Shields to stop the run, which wasn't his strong suit. We weren't able to get as creative as the season before because Peprah doesn't have nearly the same talent and ability as Collins. Ultimately I feel like losing Collins forced us to alter our defense and we just never recovered.

I expect dramatic improvement this season though, though it's not hard to improve by leaps and bounds when you're a below average defense. I think Neal is on his last straw and is in a put up or shut up year, and I love that we brought in a lot of guys to see if anyone can bring pressure and get to the quarterback. I also love what I'm reading about our newer linebackers and defensive backs making dramatic improvements from year 1 to 2. There is definitely a ton of intrigue with this team.

I'm hoping somebody other than Peprah steps up and wins the second safety spot. We need a serious upgrade at the safety.

Of the three headed monster, i.e pass rush, coverage and tackling I think the poor tackling was the thing I got the most pissed about not that I was happy about the other two. Yes Jack, MM has been talking about improving that aspect but it fell on deaf ears last year. Here's hoping this off season brings about a change. Poor tackling drives me bonkers.

With all due respect, I don't think we gathered a plethora of D Linemen to only use 2 at a time. That being said, I doubt you will find many who can disagree with such a well written post. I truly enjoyed reading it.

On the tackling issue, raise your hand if you lost count of all the time you yelled "HIT HIM!!! last season as I did.

Well, technically Collins wasn't replaced with Peprah. He was replaced by Burnett and Peprah moved into the SS role that he played in 2010. I agree with everything else though.

Losing Collins obviously hurt, but the defense looked terrible in the 1.5 games when he was still playing. I'm fairly confident the main reason the defense faltered so much was due to a lack of pass rush. A secondary can only cover for so long, no matter how talented. Eventually, something will come open, especially for an elite QB. Of course, pass rush may have been the main factor, but it was a cumulative effect of a poor pass rush, poor communication and tackling, gambling too much, not playing fundamentally sound defense, etc. etc.

I can't imagine any way the defense isn't significantly improved next season though, just like most others here.

I agree 100%. It all starts with the pass rush!

Also was yelling at the TV every time I saw Shields tip toe around a pile. That boy needs to toughen up and hit some people. He was too "Finesse" last season IMO. He could learn a lot from Wood, more than just coverage and anticipation. It amazes me the way Woodson throws himself into plays. Love that guy, and the way he plays demands respect of the rest of the D

As far a Neal... I hope he gets his act together. If he turns out to be the player TT thought he was, plus Worthy and Perry too. This D is gonna be tough, fast, and nasty! I cant wait to see if Merling or Hargrove bring a little to the mix too

Because they are so interdependent IMO its difficult to gauge whether it was tackling, pass rush or coverage most to blame. It was almost the perfect negative storm as each contributed to the others. In the end it doesn’t matter as each area has to see improvement. The good news is if they do as most of us expect, their interdependence bolsters the other areas.

Early on I thought McCarthy was hinting he wanted Capers to play more base D so I was surprised to read they’re talking about playing more dime. I don’t know if they mean playing it in addition to playing a lot of nickel (playing base less often) or if in fact they’ll be playing more base and the dime will take the nickel’s place more often. And with the added depth on the DL, Capers could switch to a 3-3-5 for the nickel instead of 2-4-5. But the 2-4-5 really becomes a 4-2-5 when both OLBs rush the passer so if Perry excels at rushing the passer I’ll bet they play a lot of 2-man DL again.

With all the additions on the DL, IMO 5 are viable candidates (at this early date) to rush the passer in the nickel and dime: Raji, Daniels, Worthy, Hargrove, and Neal. Hargrove will serve his suspension along with Neal and Neal will have a lot to prove when he comes back. That leaves three to start the season and of course we don’t know how the rookies will respond to that role and whether all of them will be available injury-wise. All I’m saying here is that while there is an infusion of talent, it’s not like we can make the determination the Packers are overloaded with pass rushing DL at this point.

An excellent article on the decline of tackling in the NFL:
http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/tackling-the-issue-in-the-nfl-lh5p210-158997705.html
I think we can all agree the loss of Nick Collins was really bad. It should be. Losing pro bowl players in any level of your defense will cause you to make adjustments based on the personnel available, their experience and talent level. It's why we always say it takes time to judge a draft. I am excited about Davon House obviously, Sam Shields can't be hurt by this offseason here and Tramon Williams was hurt more than alot of us probably knew. OK, I"m going to also mention Bush, they guy keeps sticking around, he one day HAS to become a savvy vet right?
I think the Packers, knowing they didn't have the pass rush had resorted to a more gambling type of defense last year and it certainly helped, they got those turn overs but it wasn't enough in the end to completely overcome the rest. Enough 20 plus yarders has got to help you win games.
I don't think anybody could have watched the Packers D last year and not understood that the secondary, depleted as it was, really didn't have a chance. I like our secondary, but if it's not bolstered at least somewhat by a better pass rush our D will not be significantly improved.
So yes, lots to consider, if the rush gets some pressure, if our secondary players improve (new guys for dime) I think gambling makes more sense, QBs will be a little more excited in the pocket and make a few more mistakes. Turnovers are game changers and with the D in depth a missed tackle can be embarrassing but a defense that crowds to the ball with some better tackling should be enough.
Oh, Mike Neal will be a factor in the pass rush this year. I'm predicting it.

I'd say more run-stuffers than anything, which is really all we need them to be IMO. I am however excited about the possible caliber of depth at CB. We may well have a very some incredible talent on our hands, to the point that we may possibly keep six on the roster.

If we're going to get more pass rush it's going to come from Nick Perry. Worthy and eventually our two suspended players Neal and Hargrove may provide some, but ROLB and LOLB are where it's going to come from. Who knows? Maybe Dezman Moses may be able to contribute as well.

I also have hopes for Terrell Manning, but he may be a year away from making any kind of contribution to the defense.

I do, too, and agree with this statement. I think many teams under valued him and he could be a great pick. Potentially another guy like Bishop, but potentially even better. Of course, I'm biased being an NC State guy and all.

Heard that McMillian has also taken snaps in the slot. This could be an interesting development at DB

Wilde talked about the CBs on Homer’s show today. He confirmed that House has now taken over the starting CB job opposite Williams. He also said Joe Whitt said Shields has actually been coming on the last two practices. Perhaps the best news was Wilde’s observation that Williams looks like his 2010 self. That’s only Wilde’s opinion and just a few practices and of course his shoulder isn’t 100% but if it’s close, he should be much improved from his 15% shoulder self.

This Wilde article is worth a read:

http://www.espnmilwaukee.com/corp/page/08/01/12_A_House_renovation_project/1001?feed=2