Better in the middle…Hawk or Barnett? November 15, 2008
Posted by Wes in : Uncategorized , trackback
Who do you think will fare better in the middle? AJ Hawk or Nick Barnett? I personally think that Hawk will do better. I think physically he built as a Middle LB. I think that with Barnett’s athleticism, he is more suited to play outside, although he won’t be playing anywhere for quite some time. I really think that this move of Hawk to the middle could give our run defense a huge boost. The other thing with the move is that Chillar gets more playing time, which seems to be a good thing. He was getting more time before, but at the expense of Hawk on the sidelines. All this said, I would still like to have Barnett on the field, but on the outside. Your thoughts?
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Well Hawk showed me more instincts in the middle in one game then I’ve seen from Barnett in 5 years…
I like Barnett, but I would like to see him on the outside with Hawk on the inside and see how that works out.
I think hawk will settle in quickly i wouldn’t say he’s better then Barnett but i think the packers as a unit will be fine.
Hawk is better. Barnett was very fast, and could often range from side-to-side to follow a play, but it set him up to be ‘influenced’ by blockers. Hawk is nearly as quick, but more solid. An anchor if you will. The only concern when he joined the team was that it wasn’t his ‘natural’ position and that he might be confused or overwhelmed by the responsibility. I think last week proved that that was a groundless fear.
Overall Hawk’s demeanor is better also. Nick seemed to try and hype himself up before a game to get an edge. Hawk is more even-tempered, with that sleepy-eyed focus that changes instantly when the play begins, very reminiscent of how Brian Urlacher plays and talks.
Hawk should stay in the middle for the most part, except for particular sets. I was impressed at how he reacted to no-huddle also.
I admittedly don’t know enough about the Xs and Os of our defense to determine which guy fits which position the best, and one solid game at the mike for Hawk doesn’t necessarily mean he would be great or even good there for the future.
But I do hope that the coaching staff will look at the situation with an open mind in the off-season. Barnett seems like a team player and I would hope that he wouldn’t take it personally if they switch him and Hawk. He can still be the leader of the defense playing outside. Hawk has 10-15 pounds on him, so if they could both go back to their natural spots that they played in college and be more comfortable there I believe the coaching staff owes it to the team to at least experiment with it in training camp. Hopefully Barnett will be fully recovered by then.
Ummm, one thing though. AJ needs to work on his pass defending. He seems to get lost when he’s working in space. At least on Monday night it looked like that.