Sam Barrington

[gopkrs]

I am sure he has been mentioned but I thought he deserved his own thread here. Barrington played really well. He hit hard often and I saw him use excellent patience before plugging the hole to make sure that was where the runner was going. I understand he is doing a little on the job training but I feel pretty good about him playing. Now if only Nick Perry can get healthy; then Sam and Clay can play together in the middle a lot more. btw Perry was playing really well before the shoulder injury. all imho

 

[red4tribe]

He did a great job, overall. Was a step up from Hawk in a lot of ways. Maybe we will continue to see more of him.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

I think it's premature to think Barrington will replace Hawk for the long haul. While he made some plays and looked better than Hawk in coverage it was pretty obvious he doesn't know the playbook that well as he had to be lined up correctly by someone else several times.

 

[Half Empty]

He can learn the playbook (and will, by playing). On the other hand, Hawk can't learn to be quicker.

 

[El Guapo]

There was a good article on JS Online about how the coaches schemed to have Barrington in all of the packages, except for letting Hawk play in the 3-4 base. To AJ's credit he did what the team asked of him.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

He can learn the playbook (and will, by playing). On the other hand, Hawk can't learn to be quicker.

Capers' schemes are pretty complicated and you need a pretty intelligent guy to make all the right calls. I'm not saying Barrington isn't capable of turning into that player but he's not there as of now.

 

[TJV]

I was very happy to see Barrington taking Hawk's place in the nickel. captainWIMM is correct about the difference between Barrington's understanding of the D and Hawk's: Hawk probably knows the defense better than any other player. But I'd still rather see Barrington in because he's significantly better physically. I'd rather have the occasional blown assignment than the nearly constant subpar play by Hawk. The difference between Brad Jones and Hawk at ILB vs. Matthews and Barrington is (to say the least) stark.

 

[Half Empty]

I think the two previous posts pretty well sum it up.

 

[HardRightEdge]

Capers' schemes are pretty complicated and you need a pretty intelligent guy to make all the right calls. I'm not saying Barrington isn't capable of turning into that player but he's not there as of now.

Yeah, he was out of position on a few runs.

As for the scheme, player selection needs to be weighted toward intelligence over other football talents and the waiting period for ready-for-prime-time performance is elongated. In the nonce, on-field mistakes must be tolerated. There is no substitute for live game experience.

Matthews has taken to pointing and moving guys around out there even when Hawk's on the field. Barrington needn't be the guy making the calls.

Hawk has somehow managed to get slower as he's dropped weight, while still getting pushed around. He's more of a liability now than ever before. If he had not been so adamantly in favor of HGH testing one might suspect he's gone off the juice.

 

[DaveRoller]

A lot of people can learn a defensive scheme, even one apparently as complicated as Dom's.

Fewer people are physically-gifted enough to play ILBer in the NFL.

Hawk has undoubtedly mastered Dom's scheme.

AJ is also at this point not close to be being physically competent to play inside linebacker for the Packers.

 

[PackerFanLV]

http://www.packers.com/media-center...-rolling/1a2258fd-432e-4bf0-b634-2a87b75f670d clay mathews called the crucial 3rd and 7 play. barrington was on the field a lot and that boy hits. mike neal called it 2:24 into the video. AJ is a class act but we want the best players on the field.

 

[GreenBaySlacker]

Barrington is a beast. ILB that calls the plays is needed, so its a good thing a veteran like Mathews is there to do it if needed... Passing of the torch? I think so. Barrington has the beef it takes to hold the middle. And he is not bad in coverage. Not going to say good yet, but i dont see anything bad, and that is good....

I thought Hawk was doing good(for Hawk)... I think the dynamics are that his salary just got spent by Peppers playing great..... We will be paying Peppers.... We do have a big group of core guys on both offense and defense that we will be paying... Cobb makes his case every week to get his new contract... I mean we are going to lose some good guys next year..... And it looks like Hawk is finally not going to make the cut IMO... Pay cut or not. Barrington makes less and plays bigger. Makes sense to test it out before we have a DJ Smith situation when he came in for Bishop. We think we have strong depth and 1st game we lose the depth and need old reliable again....

Thats the one thing Hawk has been great at... staying healthy...... One could say thats because he avoids hitting people...

 

[packer_brax]

Barrington is really a guy that should be playing more then hawk we need someone like him to fill holes as aggressive as he does in result he stuffed pats running backs in every direction and if he didn't he blew up a gap forcing pats rbs to another packer all around Barrington deserves a chance to prove himself for a long term position in the Packers D helping us stop the run and possibly mobile qbs as well because let's face it we've all had nightmares of kaepernick steamrolling packers D on 2 different occasions in the playoffs mobile qbs are the packers weakness our D has struggled a lot with them in the past and I hope Barrington's aggressive playing will help the packers D with the mobile qbs in today's game

 

[ivo610]

Barrington is a beast. ILB that calls the plays is needed, so its a good thing a veteran like Mathews is there to do it if needed... Passing of the torch? I think so. Barrington has the beef it takes to hold the middle. And he is not bad in coverage. Not going to say good yet, but i dont see anything bad, and that is good....

I thought Hawk was doing good(for Hawk)... I think the dynamics are that his salary just got spent by Peppers playing great..... We will be paying Peppers.... We do have a big group of core guys on both offense and defense that we will be paying... Cobb makes his case every week to get his new contract... I mean we are going to lose some good guys next year..... And it looks like Hawk is finally not going to make the cut IMO... Pay cut or not. Barrington makes less and plays bigger. Makes sense to test it out before we have a DJ Smith situation when he came in for Bishop. We think we have strong depth and 1st game we lose the depth and need old reliable again....

Thats the one thing Hawk has been great at... staying healthy...... One could say thats because he avoids hitting people...

Im the biggest hawk hater on this forum (was accused once of being racist against him, being white myself I found that funny), but there is something to be said for always being healthy and available

 

[Half Empty]

Im the biggest hawk hater on this forum (was accused once of being racist against him, being white myself I found that funny), but there is something to be said for always being healthy and available

Hey, don't leave us hanging. What IS to be said about always being there (but unable to function)?

 

[ivo610]

Hey, don't leave us hanging. What IS to be said about always being there (but unable to function)?

That having a consistent mic that plays every game is very important to the defense and you can pencil him at one of the most grueling positions in the NFL. He is the anti clay matthews in so many ways.

 

[rondon57]

A lot of people can learn a defensive scheme, even one apparently as complicated as Dom's.

Fewer people are physically-gifted enough to play ILBer in the NFL.

Hawk has undoubtedly mastered Dom's scheme.

AJ is also at this point not close to be being physically competent to play inside linebacker for the Packers.

Either way I don't see GB keeping A.J. Hawk around past next season.

 

[rondon57]

Hey, don't leave us hanging. What IS to be said about always being there (but unable to function)?

I agree, Hawk,IMO was never worth the fifth overall pick in that draft and has clearly become a liability.what good is it to know the scheme if he can't play up to the level that is required?

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Don't get me wrong I'd rather have Barrington on the field as well but knowing all details of the playbook is very important to play the position in Capers scheme. If you need any prove for that watch a replay of the Saints game when Burnett (who calls the plays in the secondary) wasn't able to play.

 

[rondon57]

I think it's premature to think Barrington will replace Hawk for the long haul. While he made some plays and looked better than Hawk in coverage it was pretty obvious he doesn't know the playbook that well as he had to be lined up correctly by someone else several times.

One game doesn't mean much but I think the writing is on the wall,GB is looking to get someone ready to replace A.J. Hawk.

 

[TJV]

overthecap.com has Hawk making $2.45M plus an $800K roster bonus, and a $250K workout bonus for 2015 and then being a UFA in 2016. His 2011 deal included an $8M bonus so if they waive him after this season the cap hit would be $1.6M vs. paying him $3.5M. If Hawk is permanently replaced in the nickel and dime D, how much would he be worth to the Packers for the percentage of the time they play the 3-4 base D? Perhaps the best we can expect is they cut ties with Brad Jones – his prorated bonus would be $1M but the cap savings would be $3.75M. BTW, the website has the cap savings of waiving both Hawk and Brad Jones after this season at $7.25M (with $2.6M in dead cap money). Again, they’ll probably pay Hawk the last year of his contract because he’s ‘available’ and knows the D so well, but if they feel squeezed at all about keeping Peppers, saving that 7.25M in cap space would be an easy call for me.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

overthecap.com has Hawk making $2.45M plus an $800K roster bonus, and a $250K workout bonus for 2015 and then being a UFA in 2016. His 2011 deal included an $8M bonus so if they waive him after this season the cap hit would be $1.6M vs. paying him $3.5M. If Hawk is permanently replaced in the nickel and dime D, how much would he be worth to the Packers for the percentage of the time they play the 3-4 base D? Perhaps the best we can expect is they cut ties with Brad Jones – his prorated bonus would be $1M but the cap savings would be $3.75M. BTW, the website has the cap savings of waiving both Hawk and Brad Jones after this season at $7.25M (with $2.6M in dead cap money). Again, they’ll probably pay Hawk the last year of his contract because he’s ‘available’ and knows the D so well, but if they feel squeezed at all about keeping Peppers, saving that 7.25M in cap space would be an easy call for me.

Just looked up the numbers before you posted it. I guess Brad Jones will be gone no matter what and I get the impression that Hawk could be on his way out as well. My best guess is the team won't move Matthews inside permanently, drafting an ILB with one of their first picks and use the money saved on Jones and Hawk to hold on to Peppers and re-sign Cobb and Bulaga.

 

[thisisnate]

Just looked up the numbers before you posted it. I guess Brad Jones will be gone no matter what and I get the impression that Hawk could be on his way out as well. My best guess is the team won't move Matthews inside permanently, drafting an ILB with one of their first picks and use the money saved on Jones and Hawk to hold on to Peppers and re-sign Cobb and Bulaga.

Kinda what I was leaning towards as well.

 

[El Guapo]

what good is it to know the scheme if he can't play up to the level that is required?

What good is it to play up to the level if you don't know the scheme? What you need is someone that does both really well, which is a rare trait. If Barrington can learn the scheme better and his role, he will succeed. Unfortunately that's easier said than done, and not always attainable for some players. Inherent brains are just as important as athletics.

 

[HardRightEdge]

Just looked up the numbers before you posted it. I guess Brad Jones will be gone no matter what and I get the impression that Hawk could be on his way out as well. My best guess is the team won't move Matthews inside permanently, drafting an ILB with one of their first picks and use the money saved on Jones and Hawk to hold on to Peppers and re-sign Cobb and Bulaga.

ILB and DT were my top priorities in last years draft. That is again the case at this juncture. While I thought the C-D pick was OK, Hyde looked to be adequate for the S spot.

I doubt both Hawk and Jones will be released. Experience at the position would awfully thin:

- Barrington with about 1/2 season's play under his belt; he still needs to get better
- Lattimore who failed to make the jump and is a just-a-guy special teamer who will be a FA after this season
- Carl Bradford who had a disappointing camp, has not taken an NFL snap, and will be switching from outside to inside (maybe)
- Matthews part-time (maybe)
- unproven rookie or rookies

There's a ton of performance uncertainty with those first 3 guys along with any draft pick at the position.

I don't think Thompson can afford to go big in FA agency again, and he never seems to plow the middle ground for solid-if-unspectacular guys.

I agree with ThxJV...I'd not be surprised if either Hawk or Jones is back, with the edge going to Hawk given that he's still getting snaps.

It's also helpful to remember that Thompson hates dead cap; I have a hard time seeing him take the hit on both Hawk and Jones.