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.
2 comments:
I was thinking of DJ Smith as well. How about this, Manning is DJ Smith with the ability to cover! DJ Smith was really exposed in that Kansas City game that he started. Didn't show good awareness in pass coverage at all. That's probably what TT is thinking, Hawk and DJ don't cut it in coverage. Hopefully this guy does.
I still think one of TTs few (emphasis few) mistakes was having Hawk around for $5-6million a year. I think you can easily find talent at ILB in the draft. Not as tough as say, finding a quality left tackle.
I especially like the Manning pick for that reason. I thought we definitely needed an ILB who was good in coverage and actually posted that Bradham from Fl St would be a good ILB piok in the mid rounds due to his ability in coverage. Sometimes you gotta use a draft pick on a guy that can fill a specific role early in his career and then work w/ him to get better overall to become a good player in your scheme. And I thought coverage by the ILB was something worth using a draft pick on.
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