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Packers Cornerbacks:  All eyes were on the cornerback group during Training Camp in 2012. This unit, above all others, had some serious competition going on for a starting job. And the result was that this competition continued throughout the season until we ended up with Tramon Williams, Sam Shields, and Casey Hayward as the clear leaders of the secondary.

For expanded coverage of this topic, listen to the podcast using the player below or download the podcast from the Packers Talk Radio Network on Itunes.

Where are we now:

Here are the current suspects:

Tramon Williams (UDFA, 2006)
Jarrett Bush (UDFA, 2006)
Sam Shields (UDFA, 2010)
Davon House (4^th Round, 2011)
Casey Hayward (2^nd Round, 2012)
James Nixon (UDFA, 2012, Practice Squad)

How many teams can say that their top two cornerbacks went undrafted as rookies? The Packers can, though they can also say that their past two draft selections on cornerbacks are also beginning to make names for themselves.  Read more... (936 words + 1 image, estimated 3:45 mins reading time)

• Williams: After a horrible showing in 2011 thanks to an early shoulder injury, Tramon Williams was looking to get back to his championship form of 2010. Unfortunately, he only seemed to get about halfway there. He showed clear improvement but still came up short, especially in key moments. The big question is whether he’ll continue the upward trend or start falling again.

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Packers Cornerback Casey Hayward

If you’re suddenly enamored with Packers rookie Casey Hayward, be prepared to join a very large club. Three days of training camp, and it’s obvious the kid is a player, right? At the same time, know that around here you’re very late to that party. Indulge me for a  bit:

Very early on during “draft season”, I was told told by a little birdie that Casey Hayward could be the second or third best CB in the draft and that the Packers were in love. I was also told the Packers would be willing to trade up for him, which is why I included him in my one and only mock  draft  and whispered just before the draft that the Packers loved Casey Hayward.

I’m not mentioning these things to brag (although it does sound like that), but rather to point out that if you are a regular reader of AllGreenBayPackers.com, you’ve known about Casey Hayward for awhile. So you weren’t one of those fans who said “who?” when the Packers traded up to snatch him up. And months later, you aren’t surprised that Hayward has made an instant impression in training camp, picking off passes, blanketing receivers and gaining the enthusiastic praise of his teammates.

Hayward has had a fantastic first three days of camp, and has opened up some eyes. Here are some quotes about Hayward that Bob McGinn of JSOnline.com recently garnered:  Read more... (1045 words + 3 images, estimated 4:11 mins reading time)

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Receivers often gained yards after the catch against the Packers because of poor tackling.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to look back on the Green Bay Packers 2011 season and identify the obvious reasons for their defensive collapse.

Cullen Jenkins was sorely missed at right defensive end, little to no production was received from outside linebacker opposite Clay Matthews and Nick Collins’ season-ending neck injury handicapped the back end.

But one factor that gets overlooked is just how poor the tackling was for the Packers defense, especially in the secondary.

Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus effectively laid out just how bad it was for the Packers secondary in 2011.

According to the site, which reviews and grades every single play for every single player, the Packers trio of cornerbacks—Charles Woodson, Tramon Williams and Sam Shields—was the worst tackling cornerback trio in the NFL.

And believe it not, the numbers weren’t even close.

Woodson missed 15 tackles on 87 attempts, Williams missed 16 on 80 attempts and Shields missed 10 on 40 attempts. Altogether, the three missed 41 tackles in 2011—a number that ranks them significantly above any other cornerback trio in the NFL.

The Philadelphia Eagles were the first team that came to mind in comparison, but their trio of Nnamdi Asomugha, Asante Samuel and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie only missed 27 tackles last season.

All three of the Packers cornerbacks ranked in the bottom 20 of tackling efficiency, too.  Read more... (647 words + 1 image, estimated 2:35 mins reading time)

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There’s a very interesting article about NFL cornerbacks on ProFootballFocus.com that provides some unexpected insights about the trio of Green Bay Packers cornerbacks. Overall, Charles Woodson, Tramon Williams and even Sam Shields compared very favorably to the rest of the cornerbacks in the NFL.

I see it as a rather ironic development, as last off-season, many Packers followers (including myself) thought cornerback to be one of the Packers’ biggest positions of need. So naturally, Ted Thompson did nothing to address it in the draft, but then miraculously struck gold with UDFA Sam Shields. The combination of Woodson, Williams and Shields would prove to be a point of strength for the Packers in 2010, surprising just about everyone.

The Pro Football Focus article  ranked NFL cornerbacks based on several statistics.  First, they looked at the “times thrown at per coverage snaps.” I would expect this to be reflective of a player’s reputation, and the results mostly seem to bear that out. In the top four are Nnamdi Asomugha, Sean Smith, Asante Samuel and Darelle Revis. No surprise is Charles Woodson also being in the top 20, coming in at #18.

A shocking development, however, is Sam Shields coming in at #9. How in the world was he thrown at so few times? After the first game in Philly, I wrote that Eagles fans should be furious at their coaches for not going after Shields (see the last paragraph here). I was convinced that Shields would be attacked much more frequently as the season progressed. The stats here show it just didn’t happen.  Read more... (651 words + 3 images, estimated 2:36 mins reading time)

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In this next installment of our 2011 Draft Prep series looking at the Green Bay Packers’ needs by position, we are going to analyze how the cornerback position currently stands. Strengths, weaknesses, depth, and uncertainties will all be examined to determine the urgency of need in regards to next season.

This series is meant to help us figure out the needs of the team and how the draft could be used to improve the weaker areas. While Ted Thompson largely uses the “best player available” (BPA) approach, his decision to trade up or down the board is affected by what position players he would prefer to have. Additionally, the picking up of players in the later rounds and in undrafted free agency is often based on need, since the talent is less defined.

CURRENT PLAYERS:

#21 Charles Woodson
34 yrs. old / 13 yrs. exp.
Signed through 2014

#38 Tramon Williams
28 yrs. old / 4 yrs. exp.
Signed through 2014

#37 Sam Shields
23 yrs. old / 1 yrs. exp.
Signed through 2012

#24 Jarrett Bush
26 yrs. old / 5 yrs. exp.
Signed through 2011

#22 Pat Lee
27 yrs. old / 3 yrs. exp.
Signed through 2011

#28 Brandon Underwood
24 yrs. old / 2 yrs. exp.
Signed through 2012

#40 Josh Gordy
24 yrs. old / 1 yrs. exp.
Signed through 2012

Josh Bell
26 yrs. old / 3 yrs. exp.
Free Agent  Read more... (1420 words + 1 image, estimated 5:41 mins reading time)

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1) Profile:

Brandon Burton

College: Utah

Position: CB

Height: 6’1″   Weight: 185 lbs.

Born: July 31, 1989 From: Houston, TX

2) High School / College Highlights: Burton stood out as a starter the last two seasons for Utah, making the All Mountain West second team in 2010. He’s skipping his senior season to enter the NFL and projects as a CB with a ton of raw talent that needs refinement through additional coaching. Burton defended 20 passes in his two seasons as a starter and also excelled on special teams. He blocked a field goal on the game’s final play to preserve a one-point win over BYU on Nov. 29, 2010.

In high school, Burton returned 10 of his 11 career interceptions for touchdowns and also lettered in track. He qualified for the junior Olympics in the 200-meters.

3) College Stats: 37 games/25 starts, 3 interceptions, 101 tackles, 5 tackles-for-loss.

4) NFL Combine Results: 4.50 40-yard dash, 6.93 three-cone drill, 4.07 20-yard shuttle, 18.0 bench press, 32.0 vertical jump, 118.0, broad jump.

5) Strengths/Weaknesses: Most scouting reports rave about Burton’s talent before pointing out that he is also raw and needs further development and coaching. His size matches up well against most receivers and helps him hold his own on run plays. Burton is also good at tackling if his receiver makes a catch or a ball carrier enters his zone.  Read more... (435 words + 1 image, estimated 1:44 mins reading time)

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Call him the Florida Flash.  By now, most Packers fans know that Sam Shields can outright fly. Shields himself knows that putting that speed to use on the playing field will be his ticket to outpace other candidates for a spot on the 53-man roster. Let’s just say that after his 98 yard interception at the family night scrimmage, Shields has made a good first impression.

I generally like to do my undrafted free agent evaluations before training camp starts, so I can make more of a “blind”  evaluation uninfluenced by camp performances (I like the challenge). While in the previous weeks I covered the wide receivers, running backs and offensive linemen free agents, there just hasn’t been time to get to the defensive UDFAs.

But there are a couple of defensive UDFAs in camp that are worthy of a “better late than never” evaluation, and we’ll start with Sam Shields.

Shields was born in Sarasota Florida and played football there for Booker High School. After a senior year where Shields caught 67 passes for 1,201 yards (17.9 avg.) and 22 TDs, as well as two TDs on punt returns and a 44 yd average on kickoff returns, Shields was a top-20 nationally ranked WR recruit. Shields chose the University of Miami over Florida, LSU and other suitors.  Read more... (1077 words + 3 images, estimated 4:18 mins reading time)

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