Now that I have seen Dom Capers press conference and read the transcript and done some thinking about the change, I thought I’d begin the discussion of my thoughts and feelings about some of what was covered.
Let me begin by saying I am ecstatic with this hire. Capers has said all of the things I have ranted about all season: change scheme to fit personnel and allow them to be successful. If our defense falls apart this year, it will be the players’ fault and not coaching. We will have one of the most dominant defenses in the NFL next year!!!
Now on to the more controversial stuff!
(There’s some thought this isn’t the ideal defense for Aaron Kampman. Do you envision him as another Tony Brackens, or how do you envision him?)
As I mentioned, I think you made a big mistake. I know Aaron Kampman has been a very good football player and has had a lot of production. I think the number one thing you do is you try to adapt what you are doing to your good football players. If a guy is a good football player we’re going to find a way to use him. You take and you say, hey, if these are our 11 best football players, let’s adapt what we are doing to get those 11 best football players out there because they give you the best chance of winning. It’s about players and scheme, but it’s probably more important players than it is any scheme. You put good players out there in any scheme they are probably going to be successful. Now, if you can get a combination of good players and the scheme matches up and guys are into it and they understand their responsibilities and the other guys around them, now you’ve really got something.
I can’t agree more with his assertion that great players give you a good chance at winning and that Aaron Kampman is a a great player. I think it will be hard to justify keeping Kampman on the roster when you could trade him for someone who is a great player but fits better in the 3-4 scheme. Kampman is probably my favorite Packer (next to Justin Harrell 
) so I would hate to see him go, but a trade for someone of equal caliber who fits the new scheme seems to make sense. A trade for someone like….oh, let’s see… Julius Peppers would make sense with the change in scheme.
(When you look at the linebackers, are they good players? Do they match the scheme well? Do you see that in A.J. Hawk and Nick Barnett and those guys?)
Those guys, again, I think both of those guys have been good football players and there is a reason why. Just what I know about those guys, and again, I am really in the preliminary stages of going through and looking at the guys that we have. But that’s the fun part about this business. I think there are some possibilities with what I see and I’ll certainly know more about it every step I go through. You start to get a clearer picture of what their strengths and weaknesses are, and quite frankly that will be a big determining factor in terms of how much we do of one thing or another because I think we’ve got to try to maximize what people can do.
I have to review some game film from last year to watch our linebackers play before I give a better answer. I can see taking away constant gap responsibility and allowing more freedom will do wonders for our LB corp. A great acquisition like … Oh, say Terrell Suggs…would allow more flexibility and depth and help out as that hybrid OLB/DE.
(What’s the importance of the nose tackle position in your scheme?)
It’s very important. There are different style nose tackles. Again, some nose tackles can sit in there and play head up on the center in quote what people call ‘two-gap.’ Others you put maybe on the edge of the center and they play more of a one-gap scheme. But I think probably the classic nose tackle, you look at the people in the league that have the big, physical nose tackle like a Hampton at Pittsburgh or Wilfork at New England, which are big, physical guys that are hard to knock off the ball. A lot of times they use up a couple of blocks.
I know there are a lot of people who think Pickett is the perfect answer here. I can’t agree. Last year Pickett was being blown off the ball, turning sideways and being handled by one lineman. This was all on Ryan Pickett. We need to move for someone big….say Albert Haynesworth to fill this role.
So, what do I expect/hope to see happen:
1. Aaron Kampman for Julius Peppers
2. Acquire Albert Haynesworth by trade with Al Harris & Brian Brohm or by $$$$$
3. Acquire Terrell Suggs
We have some draft picks we can use to help with a trade. Tennessee could use another good corner and a backup QB. We could trade Justin Harrell as part of a deal with Baltimore but 10 footballs is a high price to pay.
More to come………
This is posted over at the forums if there is more discussion than you want to post here.
And so it begins…
Let me begin by saying I am ecstatic with this hire. Capers has said all of the things I have ranted about all season: change scheme to fit personnel and allow them to be successful. If our defense falls apart this year, it will be the players’ fault and not coaching. We will have one of the most dominant defenses in the NFL next year!!!
Now on to the more controversial stuff!
(There’s some thought this isn’t the ideal defense for Aaron Kampman. Do you envision him as another Tony Brackens, or how do you envision him?)
As I mentioned, I think you made a big mistake. I know Aaron Kampman has been a very good football player and has had a lot of production. I think the number one thing you do is you try to adapt what you are doing to your good football players. If a guy is a good football player we’re going to find a way to use him. You take and you say, hey, if these are our 11 best football players, let’s adapt what we are doing to get those 11 best football players out there because they give you the best chance of winning. It’s about players and scheme, but it’s probably more important players than it is any scheme. You put good players out there in any scheme they are probably going to be successful. Now, if you can get a combination of good players and the scheme matches up and guys are into it and they understand their responsibilities and the other guys around them, now you’ve really got something.
I can’t agree more with his assertion that great players give you a good chance at winning and that Aaron Kampman is a a great player. I think it will be hard to justify keeping Kampman on the roster when you could trade him for someone who is a great player but fits better in the 3-4 scheme. Kampman is probably my favorite Packer (next to Justin Harrell
(When you look at the linebackers, are they good players? Do they match the scheme well? Do you see that in A.J. Hawk and Nick Barnett and those guys?)
Those guys, again, I think both of those guys have been good football players and there is a reason why. Just what I know about those guys, and again, I am really in the preliminary stages of going through and looking at the guys that we have. But that’s the fun part about this business. I think there are some possibilities with what I see and I’ll certainly know more about it every step I go through. You start to get a clearer picture of what their strengths and weaknesses are, and quite frankly that will be a big determining factor in terms of how much we do of one thing or another because I think we’ve got to try to maximize what people can do.
I have to review some game film from last year to watch our linebackers play before I give a better answer. I can see taking away constant gap responsibility and allowing more freedom will do wonders for our LB corp. A great acquisition like … Oh, say Terrell Suggs…would allow more flexibility and depth and help out as that hybrid OLB/DE.
(What’s the importance of the nose tackle position in your scheme?)
It’s very important. There are different style nose tackles. Again, some nose tackles can sit in there and play head up on the center in quote what people call ‘two-gap.’ Others you put maybe on the edge of the center and they play more of a one-gap scheme. But I think probably the classic nose tackle, you look at the people in the league that have the big, physical nose tackle like a Hampton at Pittsburgh or Wilfork at New England, which are big, physical guys that are hard to knock off the ball. A lot of times they use up a couple of blocks.
I know there are a lot of people who think Pickett is the perfect answer here. I can’t agree. Last year Pickett was being blown off the ball, turning sideways and being handled by one lineman. This was all on Ryan Pickett. We need to move for someone big….say Albert Haynesworth to fill this role.
So, what do I expect/hope to see happen:
1. Aaron Kampman for Julius Peppers
2. Acquire Albert Haynesworth by trade with Al Harris & Brian Brohm or by $$$$$
3. Acquire Terrell Suggs
We have some draft picks we can use to help with a trade. Tennessee could use another good corner and a backup QB. We could trade Justin Harrell as part of a deal with Baltimore but 10 footballs is a high price to pay.
More to come………