Former Packers LB Terrell Manning Signs With Giants

Former Packers LB Terrell Manning has signed with the New York Giants, the latter announced today.

Manning, the Pack's 5th Round Draft Pick back in 2012, played just one season in Green Bay after starring at North Carolina State, recording 3 tackles and no sacks.

Last year, he landed a brief spot on the San Diego Chargers' Practice Squad, before signing and being cut by the Minnesota Vikings in April.

As of now, no details of his new contract have been released, and they probably never will, as it's currently unknown if the deal will even last through the month.

Position Review: Inside Linebacker

This looked like a position to watch this preseason, but instead the Green Bay Packers have already made up their mind and recently released Desmond Bishop. With the starters now in place, it's just a matter of figuring out who's going to fill out the backup positions.

Previously:
Position Reviews-Offense
Position Review-Defensive Line

There are four rookie linebackers currently on the roster, I wouldn't be surprised to see one or two of them move inside, and the Packers have been known to move those guys back and forth from the outside. But at this point, I don't know what the coaches exactly have in mind. I'm going to exclude the rookies at this point.

A.J. Hawk and Brad Jones. The two unquestioned starters. While Hawk has never been my favorite player, the coaches spoke highly of him this offseason and he certainly knows the defense. There is an advantage to having a player who rarely misses a game. Jones had a breakout season as an emergency starter and graded out very well by Pro Football Focus. Not a lot of flash, but they're both solid.

Terrell Manning. I was surprised at how limited he looked last preseason, but it was apparently due to the fact that he was really sick. If the Packers had been concerned about their depth, they probably wouldn't have released both Bishop and D.J. Smith. I think Manning's the reason why they let both of them go. He'll be someone to watch this preseason.

Robert Francois. He started some games in 2011, but he was relegated to the special teams last season. He probably won't be given the first chance to start if either Hawk or Jones is injured, but he doesn't seem to be going anywhere either.

Jamari Lattimore. The former undrafted free agent has played inside and outside in his first two seasons, but it looks like his future lies on the inside. I expect he's just a special teams player, but Jones and Bishop hid deep on the depth chart for three seasons before they got their chance to start. He's only 24 years old and maybe his opportunity just hasn't happened yet.

Overall, there's not a lot of intrigue while the backup positions are sorted out, but there's been a lot of changes now that one starter is gone (Bishop) and his likely successor (Smith) has been released too.

It's Official: Packers Release Desmond Bishop

I've thought this was an obvious move ever since the Green Bay Packers re-signed ILB Brad Jones, so it doesn't come as a big surprise.

The release of LB Desmond Bishop is official: http://t.co/0gu2iKnWQz
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) June 17, 2013

Previous: Packers May Soon Release Desmond Bishop.

Though one unfortunate consequence is that Bishop may soon visit the Vikings, who lost starting ILB Jasper Brinkley to the Cardinals in free agency. It sucks when anything done by the Packers potentially helps the Vikings.

Bishop had a surprising career with the Packers. I wasn't expecting much from him as a 6th round pick in 2007, but he made the team as a special teams player. He showed promise early on as a run stuffing inside linebacker, but it took him a couple years to figure how to cover receivers. After injuries to Nick Barnett and Brandon Chillar in 2010, he finally got his chance to start and had a great 2010 season.

Unfortunately, he wasn't as good in 2011, and then he was out for all of 2012. He'll be 29 years old at the start of next season. While he's likely to play for another team, the combination of leg injuries, age, and high price led to his release. Because of the coaches undying love for A.J. Hawk, and a surprisingly strong 2012 season from Brad Jones, the Packers are probably in better shape with them next season. Also, the Packers appear to be expecting more from second year LB Terrell Manning as a reserve. While the release of Bishop, and the previous release of LB D.J. Smith, is stretching their depth at linebacker, they appear to be comfortable with the healthy players still on the roster. With Bishop's likely demotion, his release should have little impact on them next season.

Out For The Year: Replacing Brandon Saine and D.J. Smith

While the Green Bay Packers looked very impressive in their win on Sunday over the previously undefeated Texans, the victory came with a cost: backup RB Brandon Saine and starting LB D.J. Smith were lost for the season due to knee injuries. Word on CB Sam Shields and LB Nick Perry is pending until later this week.

If Saine played at all on offense, I must have blinked and missed it, but he was a key player on special teams.   Mike McCarthy was complimenting rookie LB Terrell Manning as a special teams player on Monday, so Manning might be playing a larger role in the future. Though Saine didn't play on offense, his loss, in addition to the temporary absence of RB Cedric Benson and the ongoing limited playing time for RB James Starks (turf toe), has made depth a problem at running back. So the waiver claim of RB Johnny White seemed necessary.

White was a 5th round pick in 2011 and probably deep behind Bills' RB Fred Jackson and RB C.J. Spiller on the depth chart, which could have made him expendable in Buffalo. He hasn't done much as a pro, but he was a jack-of-all-trades in college at North Carolina, playing cornerback and wide receiver in addition to running back, so he could fit the role as backup, scout team player, special teams performer quite nicely. The Packers usually have three running backs active each week, so White might get thrown into the mix at special teams right away until Benson returns.

There's been no roster move to replace Smith yet, but as soon as the Packers want to add someone to the 53-man roster, Smith's certain to go onto I.R. They don't need to make a move immediately because Manning was not active against the Texans, so he'll take a backup role and probably play on special teams against the Rams.

Veteran LB Brad Jones spent the offseason preparing to play inside linebacker, which seemed unnecessary a few months ago and now looks like a wise move. Smith got off to a slow start with a poor game against the 49ers, but he'd been looking a lot better over the past few weeks. If Jones was a better player then he would have already been ahead of Smith, but I'm not expecting much of a drop off. I'm also expecting to see a lot more of LB A.J. Hawk; Smith had been playing ahead of Hawk on some of the Packers nickel and dime packages this season.

If Jones struggles, then I'm sure they wouldn't hesitate to give either LB Robert Francois, LB Jamari Lattimore, or Manning a chance (though McCarthy admitted Manning's "farther ahead on special teams than he is on defense.") Losing two inside linebackers (LB Desmond Bishop during the preseason) is a bad thing, but the Packers have a lot of depth to make up for it.

The Packers 90-man Roster: Linebackers

The Green Bay Packers are bringing thirteen linebackers into training camp next month, so this has to be one of the biggest areas of competition on the roster based on size alone. Though they could keep as many as ten on the 53-man roster. Overall, this may be the best group of linebackers to play for the Packers since the early 1980s.

Player	Height	Weight	Age	Experience
Bishop, Desmond	6-2	238	27	6
Francois, Robert	6-2	255	27	3
Hawk, A.J.	6-1	247	28	7
Jones, Brad	6-3	242	26	4
Lattimore, Jamari	6-2	230	23	2
Manning, Terrell	6-2	237	22	Rookie
Matthews, Clay	6-3	255	26	4
Moses, Dezman	6-2	249	23	Rookie
Perry, Nick	6-3	265	22	Rookie
Smith, D.J.	5-11	239	23	2
So'oto, Vic	6-3	263	24	2
Walden, Erik	6-2	250	26	5
Zombo, Frank	6-3	254	25	3

Unless there's a big shake-up in training camp, it will be Bishop, Hawk, Matthews and Perry starting at linebacker. There should be no doubt about Bishop and Matthews, and while Hawk had a poor 2011 season, the coaches are publicly supporting him and I can't imagine they'd take away his starting job in training camp.

I don't believe the Packers would have drafted Perry in the 1st round if they didn't expect him to be good enough to start immediately. They might limit his snaps if he struggles in some situations, such as obvious rushing downs or on defensive calls when they need a linebacker to drop into pass coverage, but I expect he'll start one way or another.

While the Packers should keep six (or seven, if a linebacker is kept on the practice squad) of the remaining nine players listed, I have no idea who they might be. It all depends on whether they can stay healthy, and how they play this preseason.

Francois has been cut before, so he's not a lock. Jones has been in-and-out of favor for the past three seasons, he's been lining up inside this summer, and he'll need a strong camp to stay. Lattimore looked good last preseason, but he did little when he had a chance to play during the regular season. Smith might be the one sure thing among the backups, but a poor preseason could doom his chances too. So'oto followed an outstanding 2011 preseason with a MIA regular season due to injuries, and he did little when he was able to play. Walden received little interest in free agency, and despite his limitations as a pass rusher and in coverage, he's probably the best outside LB after Matthews and Perry. Zombo had a lost 2011 season due to multiple injuries, and he'll have to prove that he's healthy and productive. Overall, there's a lot of potential with the returning backups, but an awful lot of question marks too.

Finally, Manning and Moses are the other promising new additions. Manning looks like he could be a solid middle linebacker in coverage, and he could be a Brandon Chillar type of player. Moses has been the star of the OTAs, the undrafted player who's already earned some reps with the first team defense. It's very early in their careers, but so far so good.

Overall competition level: high. There are a lot of good players here, and at least one promising player or former starter is going to find himself released before the start of the regular season. The Packers needed to upgrade the position, and they've certainly done it.

In The 5th Round, The Packers Select LB Terrell Manning

The Green Bay Packers had already drafted a pass rusher to play outside linebacker when they chose USC's Nick Perry in the 1st round. But I also listed inside linebacker as a position of need because of A.J. Hawk's poor 2011 season, and I think that's what they've found with this pick.

Round 5, Pick 163. NC State LB Terrell Manning. Watching the film below, I actually formed a different opinion of Manning than the writer for NFL Draft Scout. Manning seems to have good instincts and doesn't appear to bring much as a pass rusher, at least not anything more than any of the other middle linebackers on the Packers's roster. It does look like he needs to work on his fundamentals because he didn't always make the tackle.

In college, he's playing weak side outside linebacker in a 4-3 scheme, which is why he's listed as an outside linebacker by most draft previews, but NC State did move him around a bit. He often played with a safety to his outside which made him look like an inside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme. He was also asked to drop into coverage a lot, so he could make the transition to inside linebacker in the Packers's scheme. But he might be undersized at 237 lbs. to ever be seriously considered a full-time starter outside.

He reminds me a little of last year's late round selection, ILB D.J. Smith. And he's being drafted a round later than most had him projected, so he's got some value to him. He's also coming out of college early, so he might have been ranked a little higher if he could have put together a strong senior season. He shouldn't be a serious challenger for Hawk in 2012, but he'll pressure players like Robert Francois and Brad Jones for a spot on the roster.