by Bruce Smith | August 25th, 2009
Steady work and Physical Play keeps him in the starting lineup…
Last season when the Packers signed Brandon Chillar as an unrestricted free agent many fans were quick to declare him the starter at SAM linebacker over returning starter Brady Poppinga. Once training camp and the competition began it was quickly over with Brady taking the job by the throat and relegating Chillar to the special packages for playing time.
This season when Aaron Kampman was moved to OLB, Jeremy Thompson was inserted into the lineup and 1st round pick Clay Matthews was acquired, fans were again ready to bury Poppinga with premature obituaries.
Meanwhile, Brady did what he has always done – workout hard, practice hard and play football with passion and attitude. When the starting defense played so dominate, casual fans missed how physical Poppinga was playing and how he was blowing up blockers (often two at a time) and contributing to the team’s dominating performances. However the Coaches, who are paid to notice, did not miss Brady’s play.
Jeremy Thompson, who is fully recovered from his injury was moved to the left side becoming Aaron Kampman’s primary backup and Clay Matthews continues to get splinters on his behind on the trainers table falling way behind in his development by missing almost all of training camp. Fans forget that Matthews has only one season as a starter when it comes to experience and he is now playing at a whole new level of competition.
“I was playing primarily the right, but when I went out, Brady stepped in and did a really good job,” Thompson said. “So, I think they’re going to play Brady on the right side and (Aaron) Kampman and myself on the left. I’m going to look at it like there’s always an opportunity, and I’m going to go out and play hard. What happens, happens.”
“Everybody was excited about where Clay was when the injury occurred,” Coach Mike McCarthy said. “He was lining up with the starters at that particular point, but Brady Poppinga has taken full advantage of his opportunities. I can’t say enough about him. From a preparation standpoint, he’s taken every snap in training camp, hasn’t missed a practice, and it shows up on the field.
“He’s very comfortable in the new scheme; he’s done an excellent job, particularly in the run defense of taking two defenders time and time again. He’s been around the ball a lot and part of the takeaway production that we’ve had on defense. I think Brady’s having a heck of a camp.”
Brady Poppinga made a few mistakes as a first year starter, and some fans cannot seem to get over it. But Brady’s value to the team has not been missed by the coaching staff, or by Ted Thompson who last year extended Poppinga’s contract seemingly out of the blue. It currently looks like the Professionals knew what they were doing.
Poppinga, who was genuinely excited when the Packers drafted Matthews because it improved the football team, continues to concentrate on and be excited about playing football in Green Bay:
“The bottom line is that I go out there and I play football. I’m a football player, guys, so I do what I’m supposed to do. That’s my job, and I’m going to do it. And I’m doing it.”
“I don’t make those decisions, man, so I don’t even worry about it, bro. Look, man, I am a football player, A to Z. Whether or not they call me this or that or the other, it doesn’t really concern me. I go and I do what I’m asked to do and I do it at a high level. Those guys that make those decisions, they’ll make ’em, and we’ll go from there.”
“It’s way early, man. It’s a process, and we are at the beginning stages of the process. It’s like a baby. You go and do an ultrasound, then you’re getting excited that the baby is going to be born the next day. But, in fact, you know the baby is going to develop, it’s got to grow … It’s sort of the same thing with us right now. You get excited, yeah, you want it to be at that elite level right now, but it’s early. We just have to continue to progress and continue to allow the process to work for us over time.”
Bruce Smith is a Staff Op/Ed Writer for PackerChatters.com
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Interestingly enough, it seems the four most promising and potentially productive linebackers on the team are Bishop, Chillar, Matthews and Thomspons…none of which are starting.
Yes, I know this is a “good problem” to have, but I feel unsettled by our starters.
Barnett: Knee. Is he really ready to go 100%?
Hawk: He is an average linebacker who sleeps in an oxygen tank and was drafted 5th overall.
Kampman: We just don’t know if he can get his typical 13-15 sacks at his new position, or if he can play effectively in space.
Poppinga: A month ago he was buried on the depth chart and people were talking about a potential trade.
What happened? Is this a by-product of a lot of depth, injury, etc?
It is a good problem to have, for the first time in many years the Packers are deep at LB — and that is essential for this aggressive 3/4 defense and its many specialty packages.
Barnett will continue to test the knee, but is flying around the practice field like a kid on the first day of summer break. TT had nothing to do with drafting Nick, and MM, Capers and the coaching staff have no reason to put him on the field unless they think he gives them the best chance to win.
Hawk is a young talented linebacker who is still developing. He has been very productive, but needs to kick his game to the next level as a play-maker.
Kampman has exceeded expectations in his development to this point. We are only two games into the exhibition season and he is playing the position quite well.
Poppinga was never buried on the depth chart – he was #2 behind Kampman until Thompson and Matthews failed to answer the bell in training camp. He moved to that side and has claimed the starting position for now. People who were writing Brady off were naive at best and biased at worse.
With Kampman, Poppinga and Hawk in the starting lineup the defense has been dominating through the 1st two exhibition games. They will be tested by a high octane offense in the Cardinals t his weekend.
But in answer to your question – I see it as quaility depth and healthy competition resulting in superior play so far.
THE STORMIN’ MORMON!!!!!!
I just watched Brady’s presser closely, and I learned two things;
1) he is very intelligent, and speaks well adlibing.
2) he stated very clearly why he is doing so well this pre-season i.e. that the 3-4 plays to his strengths, and he is thus able to use his talents as he was meant to. I fully agree.
So, IMO, Brady hasn’t changed…the system was changed to his benefit. He now can use his God-given talents to the max. He’s obviously enjoying the change and so will Packer fans this year.
When I first heard about the switch to the 3-4 I though that Brady would be a great option at OLB since he played DE in college. For some reason you never heard much about that even before Jeremy Thompson improved and before we drafted Matthews. Experience in college rushing the passer and several years of NFL experience as a LB how could he not excel as an OLB in the 3-4?
I liked what I saw of Poppinga in the pre-season so far.
The Packers need a LB that can consistantly cover the better TE’s when it matters most (especially 3rd downs). The Packers seem to get burned in that area too often, I hope the 3-4 will help.
I like the attack mentality in the 3-4 defense for a LB, but our defensive guys need to play under control to avoid giving up big plays…
I am glad I wrote this when I did…
You gotta love sports writers. The very guys who were quick to write Brady’s obituaries last season when Chillar was signed and jumped right back in to the same with the switch to the ¾ defense are now knocking each other down to write pieces singing his praises and inferring that they knew it all along.
Back to the guys that matter…
Kevin Greene on his fellow mad man:
[i]“He’s going to make some things happen and he’s already made some things happen. Good things happen to football players who are around the ball constantly. Brady had a great drop, he was around the ball, tipped, interception. He had another good drop right where he needed to be on that screen. He comes up, closes the gap, is around the ball and gets a fumble recovery.”
“To be an outside backer in this 3-4, you have to be a physical kid, and that’s what he is. He’s a smart kid. He fits exactly into the scheme where he needs to fit. He’s dropping exactly where he needs to drop. He very rarely has a mental error. He is a good all-around backer in this 3-4. One play these guys could be carrying someone vertical in the scheme, a wide receiver. The next play they are rushing against a 335-pound offensive tackle. Think about the range of skills involved in covering that.”
“The last thing we want to do as an outside pass rusher is to run up the field and run around the quarterback. That’s not what Coach Dom wants. He wants the pass rush to collapse it from the outside in, not going up vertical of the quarterback. So we don’t need finesse pass rushers here. We need violent, physical pass rushers. Does Brady fit the bill? Absolutely!”[/i]
Brady on acquiring Clay Matthews and on being competitive:
[i]“The thing was when I signed my contract extension (July 2008) here it was very clear to me that there were no guarantees of a starting spot, and I was like, ‘That’s fine. I don’t need any guarantees. I don’t mind competing year in and year out. I understand the component of competition to a team and how important and vital it is. I signed up for it, man. I think people from the outside didn’t understand that angle of it, but that’s just how this team is built. This team is built on competition.” [/i]
[i]“That guy fits my kind of mold and he is the kind of teammate I would choose. Ask A.J. (Hawk). When I was with A.J. last year in the room, we were watching a USC game. It was the Oregon State game and it looked like the whole USC team had shut down because they were getting blown out. Clay was flying around out there, and I looked at A.J. and said, ‘We’ve got to get guys like this on our team,’ and I mean it. After they drafted him, it was no change. I love it. This is what we need to have to win a championship because that’s really what matters. In this whole scheme of things, yeah, you can be a starter or a Pro Bowler, but what really matters is you win a championship. That’s what we’re here for. Everybody talks about it, but who really does it? I’m going to be the guy that does it.” [/i]
Popp on his approach he is taking:
“I just take every rep possible and take it as a gift and an opportunity. To have as many reps as I have had has been a really big benefit for me because it has been a transition. To have extra reps, even more than if I wasn’t a starter, has been great and has really helped in this process. I’d say by far I am playing my best football, but it’s just the beginning. This is just a scratch on the surface, and I think you can say that for the collective defense. This is a process and we’re at the very beginning stages of this process. It’s only going to get better, as long as we choose to continue to get better and make the commitment to do so.”
Hmmm…..I must admit that I have been looking forward to new LBs i.e., the post-Hawk-Barnett-Poppinga era, but I must respect the evaluation of the Packer brass. Given the great performance/potential of so many Packer LB this camp, it would be easy to make the switches. The fact they haven’t tells me they still believe the old starters are the real deal. As a fan, I’m willing to sit back and trust their judgment as long as the defense produces at a high level. As soon as guys are not making plays that they should, I will be screaming for the next guys. They obviously have depth now and that will be useful as the season wears on. I still think they will trade away one or tow guys just because they have too many to keep ‘em all. And if you are looking to trade somebody, it would be foolish to demote him while looking for a partner. And let’s face it, TT doesn’t ask much from his rookies. Had Matthews excelled all camp, he may have been different, ditto Raji, but Matthews has fallen behind and is a re-injury risk so why put this defense on his back from the get-go when you have a work-horse like Poppinga who earned the opportunity. So, I’m pretty Ok with these decisions even though two weeks ago, I was expecting/hoping to see Matthews, Bishop and Chillar starting.