Jarrett Bush's Training Camp Battle

by Brandon on Jul 31, 2008 12:30 PM CDT in Green Bay Packers Analysis

CB Jarrett Bush has a blog over at YardBarker, although I had not been checking his site recently because I thought he would keep quiet until the entire Brett Favre saga was over.

Instead he's has a couple recent posts, including one today. His girlfriend is competing in the Olympics in August, and the team is trying hard to avoid any Favre-related distraction. He confirmed that the team is trying him out at every position in the secondary, and it's a battle between him and CB Tramon Williams for the nickel back job.

With CBs Al Harris and Charles Woodson set as the starters, Bush and Williams will be the dime and nickel cornerbacks, Will Blackmon will be given kick return duties, at which he is very good, while he tries to stay healthy, which he hasn't been able to do in his first two seasons. Blackmon appears to be a pretty good cornerback too, so if he has to step in, he won't be much of a drop off from the top 4. That leaves rookie 2nd round CB Pat Lee deep on the bench where he probably belongs, at first, while he adjusts to the NFL.

It's a deep group, but all of them are average to below average since Harris and Woodson each took a step back last season, in part due to injuries. These guys will play well next season so long as the pass rush returns to it's early 2007 season form.

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I hope they're teaching Bush the fundamentals of falling on a fumble this year

I still won’t forgive him for trying to pick that fumbled punt and run with it instead of just falling on the ball in the NFC Championship…

by Packschmid on Jul 31, 2008 12:36 PM CDT reply actions

Al Harris may have been torched by Plaxico in the NFC Championship game,

but Woodson and Harris did not have bad years last year. An argument could have been made that Charles Woodson may have been the best cornerback in the NFC last year.

Maybe in order to understand mankind, we have to look at the word itself: "Mankind". Basically, it's made up of two separate words—"mank" and "ind". What do these words mean? It's a mystery, and that's why so is mankind.
-Jack Handey

by jobe on Aug 1, 2008 12:32 AM CDT reply actions

Harris Slipped

Al Harris had a bad NFC Championship game, but he was torched in other games last season too. He was abused badly in the game at Dallas for example. He was playing with some nagging injuries all season too, so that might have been the factor, but he was much better the previous three seasons. Woodson had a great 2006 season and played well early in 2007, but he really struggled late in the season after he got hurt in the early December game at St. Louis.

I worry about both players because Harris is 33 and Woodson 31, and both are at an age when cornerbacks begin to decline, and neither one of them had their best season last year.

by Brandon on Aug 1, 2008 11:01 AM CDT reply actions

the only thing I worry about with Harris is that the games against the biggest receivers (particularly guys who talk trash) are the games he plays worst in. I think he gets too involved in the war of words and gets too hyped up and it negatively effects his game. But with their ages my concern is whether the guys who will take over for them in the years to come can play the same man-to-man style that Woodson and Harris play. When Woodson was out for the Dallas game last year and they had to change their man-to-man style and it threw off their whole game. They are the about the only team that still plays a strict man-to-man on the wideouts and I love that.

Can't pitch Gagne in rain. He’s like the B-2 bomber of baseball.--TheJay

by verno329 on Aug 1, 2008 11:23 AM CDT up reply actions

Corners

Look, the way the Packers play defense puts the corners out on an island and they are going to give up some plays, particularly against top notch receivers like TO or Plaxico. It’s just the way it is.

I agree that we can’t rely on the Harris/Woodson tag team forever, but here’s hoping we get another quality year out of them.

by Packschmid on Aug 1, 2008 1:10 PM CDT reply actions