Tramon Williams Looking Good

PackOne

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Al Harris is in no danger of losing his cornerback job, but if he glances over his shoulder, he will catch a glimpse of a young, hungry, unheralded backup who some day soon wants to be in the starting lineup.


Tramon Williams is one of the fasting rising backups on the Green Bay Packers’ roster. He has attended every offseason workout and weight-training session, looked sharp in the two organized team activity practices open to the media in May, and is drawing rave reviews from the coaching staff.

“Tramon has had a very good offseason,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said on Thursday. “Really, the first week of practice, he has been outstanding, particularly in the slot in the nickel and also on the outside. He’s a lot stronger. He’s doing a lot better job in his bump technique, as far as the releases. He’s had three or four that I can think of where he basically buried the receiver at the line of scrimmage.”

That’s no faint praise for a guy who has been climbing uphill his entire football career. Williams walked on at Louisiana Tech, then was undrafted in 2006 before signing as a free agent with the Houston Texans. He was cut the week before the regular season began.

Williams estimates he tried out with nine NFL teams that fall. Finally, in late November, the Packers signed him to their practice squad.

He returned in 2007 but was given little chance of making the team. How far down the pecking order was he? In the Packers’ media guide, Williams was listed in an obscure section after the veterans and rookie draft choices under the heading “other free agents,” which included such names as Jerry Babb, Travis Leffew, Alvin Nnabuife and Devarick Scandrett.

The 5-foot-11, 182-pound Williams not only earned a spot on the roster, but worked his way into the Packers’ cornerback rotation. Now, he’s making a bid to become the primary nickel back, maybe more.

“I’m pushing for the highest role there is,” Williams said. “I’m pushing to be a starter. But whatever role they give me, I’m going to play it 100 percent.”

No one has suggested Harris is ready to be put out to pasture. But time stops for no man in the NFL, and at 33, Harris is the oldest Packer. He has been a solid starter for the past five seasons and earned his first Pro Bowl berth in 2007. But Harris struggled late in the season, including a forgettable performance against the New York Giants’ Plaxico Burress in the NFC championship game.

Harris was a no-show at the team’s open OTAs, which gives a player like Williams more chances to shine.

“He’s someone that’s really taken full advantage of our program here,” McCarthy said of Williams. “He’s someone you can point to, he’s an excellent example of a young man that’s here all the time. He doesn’t miss any workouts. He’s up there one-on-one with his coaches, both in special teams and the defensive back room, taking full advantage of his opportunity. We’re really proud of what he’s accomplished so far, but he still has a lot in front of him.”

Williams, 25, is grateful for getting a chance to play with the Packers, but he isn’t satisfied.

“Not just do it, but be great at it,” Williams said of his goal. “That’s what I’m hoping to do here.”

Mike Vandermause is sports editor of the Press-Gazette.
 

CaliforniaCheez

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I observed that he improved considerably over the course of the preseason and the season.

He may never be a starter in Green Bay but he does deserve a roster spot until the Packers find better players to bump him off the roster.
 

arrowgargantuan

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arrowgargantuan said:
tromadz said:
IronBMike said:
God I can't wait till we trade or dump Harris.

you guys are dumb.

Harris is going to do fine next season.

Ideally, I hope he does.

Realistically, I expect him to be average AT BEST.

if he makes the pro bowl next season, will you poop in your pants?

he's an above average cornerback, no doubt about that.

he'll be fine.
 

tromadz

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tromadz said:
arrowgargantuan said:
tromadz said:
IronBMike said:
God I can't wait till we trade or dump Harris.

you guys are dumb.

Harris is going to do fine next season.

Ideally, I hope he does.

Realistically, I expect him to be average AT BEST.

if he makes the pro bowl next season, will you poop in your pants?

I'd rather him play well an entire season, which he hasn't done since he's came here.

Pro bowl means nothing, a glorified popularity contest that only matters in contract negotiations.
 

Raider Pride

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Pro bowl means nothing, a glorified popularity contest that only matters in contract negotiations.

Wrong Trom! Have you lost your mind while I have been fishing?

Making the Pro Bowl is the water-shed mark for a T.T. Draft Pick.

Unless T.T.'s draft picks make the Pro-Bowl, then that pick was a failure and T.T. is a loser.

REMEMBER?
 

Pack93z

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I'd rather him play well an entire season, which he hasn't done since he's came here.

Pro bowl means nothing, a glorified popularity contest that only matters in contract negotiations.

There have been very few corners in this league that have ever played an entire season without having a bad game or two within that given season.. playing cornerback has got to be the most non-forgiving position on an NFL team.. even the best get it handed to them every now an then.. Champ Bailey is widely considered the best CB in the league present day... go check out last seasons games.. he got it handed to him on several occasions.. heck the "slow" footed Jones even torched him.. does that mean he sucks as well because someone beat him?

Harris is above average.. no where near the best but alot better than some Packer fans give him credit for on the field. Now there may be questions off the field about him.. but he is solid between the white lines of the gridiron.
 

tromadz

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tromadz said:
I'd rather him play well an entire season, which he hasn't done since he's came here.

Pro bowl means nothing, a glorified popularity contest that only matters in contract negotiations.

There have been very few corners in this league that have ever played an entire season without having a bad game or two within that given season

And there are very few corners as hyped as Al Harris.

"bad game or two" Really? If you say so.

Lets just get some young players ready to take over ASAP.
 

Pack93z

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And there are very few corners as hyped as Al Harris.

"bad game or two" Really? If you say so.

Lets just get some young players ready to take over ASAP.

Alrighty then.. list off the games in which Al was dusted in... Cowboys and Giants.. for the greater majority of the other games he was solid at the very least. He played all 16 games with a gawdy back and other injuries.. an I agree he isn't a young man anymore.. but the games in which he got exposed are the ones with a physical reciever that out thug'ed him at the line.. which would suggest to me that the coaching staff should be able to react to a mismatch in which Al is going to get handled and make the adjustments...

Now if you are making a case for a pure cover corner.. that doesn't rely on the hard bumping styles to provide coverage.. well then I would agree that there are many in the league that are superior to Harris.. but that isn't the style of play in Green Bay..

Again not making the case for Al to be anything more than solid.. but he isn't the plague on the Packers depth chart you seem to make him out to be.. IMO.

Oh.. as far as getting someone ready behind him.. that is a mind numbing statement.. since 33 is ancient for a starting NFL CB.. we definately need the youngsters to be ready...
 

tromadz

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tromadz said:
And there are very few corners as hyped as Al Harris.

"bad game or two" Really? If you say so.

Lets just get some young players ready to take over ASAP.

Alrighty then.. list off the games in which Al was dusted in

This I will not do because I'm missing a couple games from the season(ones that didn't get televised in my area).

But what I WILL do is ask you to remember me *****ing a lot during the season in the tromadz lounge on gamedays. Was I making it up all those times?

What I CAN do is point them out THIS year since you think I'm making it up or something.

My prediction:

Al Harris gets off to ANOTHER slow start this season. He rebounds around week 4, has a couple good games, and starts to fall off a bit around week 12. He plays average at best the rest of the season and post season, with the occasional "big play"

Al Harris is an average cornerback. This is how I 'TRY' to look at him, and I admit it is hard because so many people love him and dub him one of the best in the NFL. His play does not live up to his contract and fan\media hype.

Also, it's not just Al Harris getting "dusted." It's him getting beat, and it's him losing his cool and talking trash when he's getting beat up. It's him getting penalties for hands to the face damn near once a game too. I hate that.

These actions(average play + penalties + trash talking for no reason) are not the actions of a highly paid top tier CB.

Just my opinion though. I hope he does well this year.
 

warhawk

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Like 93 says the Pack puts their corners on an island to a greater degree than most any other team. I don't know that we could have won this many games over the last year and a half if Harris and Woodson weren't outstanding.
On the flip side it also makes sense that Harris did not play well in some of the games we lost. He takes on the #1 guy on the other team week in and week out and every now and then the dog eats.

Most of the time, however, Harris eats the dog.

I actually believe we may have to adapt our defensive philosophy over time because it may be difficult to get the consistantly good play out of our #1 corner needed for the "D" to be successful. I don't think we can expect many corners to hold down the other guys best receiver like we have gotten out of Harris MOST of the time.

I think we need to get good enough at other coverages in the event the one on one doesn't work. I think we should have been able to change coverages up some against the Giants rather than Manning just going back there over and over.

I don't blame all that on Harris. It was a tough day weather wise and Plex and Eli were unconscious. It happens. All I;m saying is when it does we need to go to something that takes it away vs. putting Harris down and saying he sucks.
I certainly don't believe Williams is ready to go over there and take the #1 guy on ever week that's for sure. Like to here he's improving though. Anytime you here that about a corner it's good.
 

Zombieslayer

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Al Harris is the oldest Packer at 33?
Dang that makes me feel old now.

In defense of Al Harris, this is a team game. When you give a good QB too much time, he's going to burn you. NOBODY can cover a WR for 6 seconds consistently, and that's what Tony Overrated Romo was getting all day long.

The other thing how this is a team game is when someone is having trouble, you help. Disguise a coverage. Make it look like the Safety will go one way, then send him the other way and end up with a brutal hit or even better, an INT.

It seemed like we were doing it against the Hawks. Bigby (who will be in the Pro Bowl in '08 and is due for a nice fat paycheck increase) made their WRs almost wet their pants when a ball went in their direction. Why didn't we do that against the Giants? I don't know.

As for Williams, I like his punt returning abilities, but it will still take some time for him to develop as a CB. If he can eventually be a starter, I'd be very happy for him (and happy as a Packer fan).
 

IronBMike

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Pack93z said:
tromadz said:
And there are very few corners as hyped as Al Harris.

"bad game or two" Really? If you say so.

Lets just get some young players ready to take over ASAP.

Alrighty then.. list off the games in which Al was dusted in

This I will not do because I'm missing a couple games from the season(ones that didn't get televised in my area).

But what I WILL do is ask you to remember me *****ing a lot during the season in the tromadz lounge on gamedays. Was I making it up all those times?

What I CAN do is point them out THIS year since you think I'm making it up or something.

My prediction:

Al Harris gets off to ANOTHER slow start this season. He rebounds around week 4, has a couple good games, and starts to fall off a bit around week 12. He plays average at best the rest of the season and post season, with the occasional "big play"

Al Harris is an average cornerback. This is how I 'TRY' to look at him, and I admit it is hard because so many people love him and dub him one of the best in the NFL. His play does not live up to his contract and fan\media hype.

Also, it's not just Al Harris getting "dusted." It's him getting beat, and it's him losing his cool and talking trash when he's getting beat up. It's him getting penalties for hands to the face damn near once a game too. I hate that.

These actions(average play + penalties + trash talking for no reason) are not the actions of a highly paid top tier CB.

Just my opinion though. I hope he does well this year.

Exactly. Plus his age, he IS going to be slowing down considerably.
 

warhawk

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I think there's some pretty harsh assessments of Harris going on around here quite frankly. The bottom line is the numbers don't lie and that's because the numbers compare results equally. Yards, catches, td's, etc.
Who else holds down #1 Wr's like he does? Not many. Numbers prove it.

What's happening is many here watch every single play of every single Packer game and see a guy playing the absolute hardest position to play on the football field. Yes he gets beat once in awhile. Yes he has a bad game once in awhile. The NUMBERS show it's less than most of the rest of 'em.

If you watch all the other top corners play as much as you see Harris you wouldn't be so critical. I've seen many of the "top" corners out there getting their *** beat a whole lot more than it happens to Harris.

Life as a Cornerback in the NFL ain't easy. The rules are in affect to move the football and create offense. They stopped corners from mugging so receivers can get open and catch passes and score TD's. It's more exciting and actually makes games more competitive.
So you bump 'em once, try to stay up with 'em, and hope somebody's chasing the QB around back there behind you or getting a hand in their face.

It's a lot easier to look bad than it is to look good at that position.
 

Zombieslayer

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I think there's some pretty harsh assessments of Harris going on around here quite frankly. The bottom line is the numbers don't lie and that's because the numbers compare results equally. Yards, catches, td's, etc.
Who else holds down #1 Wr's like he does? Not many. Numbers prove it.

What's happening is many here watch every single play of every single Packer game and see a guy playing the absolute hardest position to play on the football field. Yes he gets beat once in awhile. Yes he has a bad game once in awhile. The NUMBERS show it's less than most of the rest of 'em.

If you watch all the other top corners play as much as you see Harris you wouldn't be so critical. I've seen many of the "top" corners out there getting their *** beat a whole lot more than it happens to Harris.

Life as a Cornerback in the NFL ain't easy. The rules are in affect to move the football and create offense. They stopped corners from mugging so receivers can get open and catch passes and score TD's. It's more exciting and actually makes games more competitive.
So you bump 'em once, try to stay up with 'em, and hope somebody's chasing the QB around back there behind you or getting a hand in their face.

It's a lot easier to look bad than it is to look good at that position.

Agreed big time. Harris deserved to go to the Pro Bowl. He's a top caliber CB. Does that mean that he will stop EVERY WR he ever faces? No.

We lost to the Giants because we got outcoached. I feel like a lot of people who I normally agree with on this board scapegoated Harris for the loss.

We lost to the Cows at the line of scrimmage, both sides. That was the other game where Harris got beaten.

In just about every other game, Harris took the #1 WR out of the game.

Keep in mind, someone mentioned Champ Bailey being burned by Jones. If I'm not mistaken, twice, right? Jones was a rookie at the time. A rookie. And a rookie from a small school that most scouts don't even waste their time at. Heck, I live not too far from there and didn't even know they had a football team.
 

RainX

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I like our young trio of reserve corners we will potentially carry on the roster this year. (Williams, Blackmon, and Lee) That is, unless someone like Jarrett Bush or someone else actually shows they are worth keeping around.
 

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Jarrett Bush is very much worth his ST spot at the moment, id keep him around.
 

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probably not smart to jump into the discussion at this point, but, hey, I'm stupid. anyway; Harris is a great player who's getting old. Last season, I watched the Packers two oldest players have individually one of the best seasons of their career. They never showed their age, except when it got cold. Then, they showed their age. I think a primary goal for the Packers has to be finding a way to keep Old Man Harris warm, because it gets cold in January, when we need him most.
 

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