How Tramon Williams and A.J. Hawk Played In Pass Coverage

by Brandon on Jan 19, 2012 7:01 AM CST in Green Bay Packers Analysis

Williams, Hawk Contracts Troubling After Down Seasons | Cheesehead TV. Obviously the Green Bay Packers had a lot of problems in pass coverage this season. Both of these players rarely came off the field last season and both players need to be re-evaluated.

CB Tramon Williams. There were many times last season when he was late to close on a receiver or running far behind the play. But I attributed many of those situations to the general confusion in the secondary. Here are some key stats from the past two seasons:

	Tackles	INTs	Pass Def.
2011	64	4	22
2010	57	6	20

Based alone on that analysis, he's looked pretty consistent over the past two seasons. He remains worth the money they spent on him in 2010, and he should remain their starter for the next couple seasons, at least.

LB A.J. Hawk. I've never been his biggest fan. Coming into the 2010 season, he was supposed to play only on rushing downs, and make way for LB Brandon Chillar in their nickel package. Instead, Chillar was hurt for most of the season, and Hawk took over full-time. He responded with the best season of his career and became a leader on defense. However, in 2011, I didn't see him around the ball nearly as much, and his stats took a nose dive:

	Tackles	INTs	Pass Def.
2011	84	0	3
2010	111	3	10

Applying this same analysis to Desmond Bishop paints a similar picture (zero INTs in 2011, and pass defenses down from 8 in 2010 to 1 in 2011). He had more tackles and sacks in 2011, which might indicate that he was playing less in coverage and spending more times blitzing.

While I still have my concerns about Hawk, no one player deserve all the blame. The loss of S Nick Collins left two inexperienced players in at safety. And the lack of a pass rush may have forced Bishop and Hawk to spend more time rushing the passer and less time in coverage.

Are these guys part of the problem, or will they be part of the solution in 2012?

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I thought the Goal of the 3-4 was for the 3 down linemen to eat up blockers...???

To leave our ILB to make plays??? Hawk will never live up to his draft position… At #6 you expect to get an all out STUD… Well, Hawk is serviceable… Which is to be said for too many of our defensive guys… Tramon played awesome last year… I think we played a lot more zone this year and when you don’t get a pass rush it leaves your cover guys exposed!!

I could be very wrong, but I think IMO that the lack of a pass rush, with CM3 getting double teamed most of the time, was the downfall of the defense this year…

Look at it this way… AR was protected a lot better this year & only gave up 6 INT’s… & in turn we scored the 2nd highest # of points in NFL history… (If I’m not mistaken!!)

I think Dom disguised a lot of weaknesses through scheme and it resulted in a lot of INT’s for our D… But, our lack of pressure from the back side killed us!!

CM3 was our only threat and 98% of QB’s are right handed… They can see him coming from the LOLB spot and believe me… They knew when he was getting close and got rid of the ball!!!

They stood back there and didn’t worry about their blindside at all, because everyone knew there was no threat over there!!! With no threat from the BlindSide… QB’s were far too comfortable in the pocket… & when you can see CM3 getting double and sometimes triple teamed… Well… Why worry???

"SOUTHERN HILLS KENNEL" ~ We Breed The Best Bitches In TEXAS!!!

GO PACK GO!!!

by BirdDogUni on Jan 19, 2012 8:45 AM CST reply actions

Many analysts pegged Hawk as a huge reach when the Packers took him

They were right. We thought we were getting a Willis type that high. Boy were we wrong…

Shit happens when you win championships

by Andrew Clark on Jan 19, 2012 12:42 PM CST up reply actions

I don’t remember this AT ALL. He was the consensus pick for the Packer from most of the analysts that I saw.

The Green Bay Packers...Putting bad coaches out of their misery since 2010

by TrevorR on Jan 20, 2012 10:12 AM CST up reply actions

Correct

And some if not most teams had him top 5 in the draft. Hawk was as no-brainer a pick as the Packers ever had. EVERYONE had him rated that high and going to the Packers!

Our Biggest Challenge is how we deal w/ Success!

by Strohman on Jan 21, 2012 10:30 AM CST up reply actions

All the charts,analysis,finger pointing at Hawks play

are moot until you can show the same results while having a DLine…period.His play was a lot better last year,why,Jenkins and while still not exactlyy dominant as one would believe,it made every one elses job easier and more fruitful overall.
Take out the bias many have toward him and the constant 6th pick crap.Stats can be read in many ways,understanding why a player goes up and down in them is another.

by Tarynfor12 on Jan 19, 2012 9:48 AM CST reply actions 3 recs

AGREE WITH YOU... JENKINS ALLOWED ILB's TO DO THEIR JOBS BETTER!!!!

Every level of the “D” needs PlayMakers… Yet, it all starts with the D Line in the 3-4!!

"SOUTHERN HILLS KENNEL" ~ We Breed The Best Bitches In TEXAS!!!

GO PACK GO!!!

by BirdDogUni on Jan 19, 2012 10:07 AM CST up reply actions

funny coming from you with your constant Finley hate. I think Hawk is OK nothing more, he needs to be put in a position to succeed, he doesn’t create success for himself, something Finley can do. If Hawk has a down year next year, I think he could be replaced because he is SLOW. Can’t keep up with RB’s cant keep up with receivers, cant keep up with TE’s. If there isn’t enough pressure and the ball gets dumped off to the RB, it was usually a 6-8 yd gain before he was taken down, Hawk has little explosiveness.

by Tracker J Dunn on Jan 19, 2012 4:15 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs

Comparing a Hawk on defense and Finley on offense is obsurd.

Hawk as with all defensive players need and bank on each other as we have seen all year.
Finley is in a better position to excell every week by virtue of the QB and the WRs around him and hasn’t come close to what is expected all while the offense gets much,much more leeway as to the defense.
Hawk has ligitmate reasons…Finley only has blinker wearing believers

by Tarynfor12 on Jan 19, 2012 4:51 PM CST up reply actions

We need a ROLB & DE.

While I never was high on Hawk, I always liked Barnett better, I think that a ROLB and a rushing DE are higher priorities. I’m so sick and tired of the Packer defense giving up too many first downs when it’s third down. The defense plays well on first and second downs but seems to collapse on third down.

by joeybal56 on Jan 19, 2012 12:38 PM CST reply actions

Hawk really plays well in run support, IMHO

Guy just doesn’t have the quickness to take the edge or hang with RBs. Unfortunately, the way the NFL offenses are evolving…thats a huge problem.

Shit happens when you win championships

by Andrew Clark on Jan 19, 2012 12:43 PM CST reply actions

I agree, I think he is pretty stout in the middle, but when he needs to start moving sideways or backwards, he just gets burned. Like you said, there isn’t as much between the tackles running and Hawks weaknesses are being exposed.

by Tracker J Dunn on Jan 19, 2012 4:17 PM CST up reply actions