If I am an athlete, all I would be concerned about would be getting bigger, faster, stronger, and beating the guy in front of me.

---

3 safeties in the league that played at least 800 snaps went without getting an INT.

2 of them were Packers.

1 of them didn't even record a pass defended.

--

the fact that players with such shitty production still linger on this team year after year baffles me.

Either the GM or coaches are doing something very wrong.

or both.

---

Seriously? More whining and ranting about Capers?

Once and for all, with the personnel the Packers have on defense, you can't just line up and play straight head to head plain vanilla defense. You NEED trickery/schemes/COMPENSATION for the lack of talent.

Capers has, as McCarthy says, done a GREAT job, considering the players he has to work with.

If anybody is giving in to mediocrity, it is the shithead GM who has been so delinquent in building up the talent level of the Packers D.

---

I doubt Jennings is back next year.

---

We need a real safety on this team. Don't you guys realize the importance of having a good safety. When Collins went down this defense crumbled.

The defense priorities to get this off season:

1- Safety
2- D-Linemen "we need a pass rush"
3- Linebacker

---

Losing Raji and Pickett pushes DL above safety IMO.

As bad as they were, We have nobody behind them.

---

I like where you are going shield4life, but I might arrange them this way:

1. Safety
2. Safety
3. LB
4. DL

And, Laser Gunns is right, we still need DL with the uncertainty of Pickett and Raji. The good ones tend to go off the board fast. Maybe we can add one in FA… but, I won't hold my breath. We were in nearly the exact same position last year, and we went with the DL R1. Datone Jones has got to be the man next season!

Our Safety play with the ball in the air was absolutely abysmal. We could stand to add two good ones, one who can range with some speed and make plays, another who is stout at the line. We dumped a ton of cash on Morgan Burnett, and he regressed. Can we count on Burnett becoming a better player next season? I don't think we should. That risk is too great. If they decide to move Hyde to SS we might only need one, shifting Burnett over to FS. I don't know that Hyde has the speed we might need at FS. Maybe that would be a decent fix… it could work. Maybe Richardson becomes a factor next year. All I know is we have way too much uncertainty at S. If we switch Hyde, then we will need a CB.

Add to this, we do have a real need for OLB and MLB help.

I'm amazed and disappointed that we are talking about these same 3 areas of need, 3 years down the line… multiple players, again, needed in those three areas of our D. And, that is assuming we re-sign Shields…

Those calling for Capers to step down have every right, with him being in charge of this D and no progress being made with many players. Remember that draft 2 years ago where we added all of those defenders? 6 out of 8 picks? ONE player made a major contribution last season, Mike Daniels.

Now, Ted Thompson is equally culpable. Look at the players added on D from our last 3 drafts:

Datone Jones
Micah Hyde
Josh Boyd
Nate Palmer
Sam Barrington
Nick Perry
Jerel Worthy
Casey Hayward
Mike Daniels
Jerron McMillian
Terrell Manning
Davon House
Ricky Elmore
Lawrence Guy

Out of 14 players, 2 made significant contributions last season (Daniels and Hyde), and 2 appeared to show promise (Datone Jones and Josh Boyd). Nick Perry can't stay off the injury report, I don't know what the hell happened to Davon House, Palmer might show something year 2, Hayward was sorely missed, and I don't know what we have in Worthy. 4 of the 14 are no longer on the team… Is Dom Capers not responsible for failing to develop many of these players?

We can't afford draft misses on this scale, we can't afford the attrition due to injury, and we can't afford to not play in FA if this defense is to improve next year. Maybe we can't afford to stick with Dom too… I don't know. New blood and a new direction at DC would look awfully good to me. Then again, from a pure talent standpoint, a bunch of guys on that list make it look like a defensive shit storm.

All of Ted, Mike and Dom are going to have to make some major changes, as none of them are going anywhere else. The changes have to be made within, in their methods and philosophies.

I don't know, I think House is a solid backup CB, for the most part. I thought he did a decent job against Crabtree in the playoffs. He struggled, but he's not a guy that should be covering number 1 wide receivers. But as a #4 CB or backup guy, he's valuable. That's certainly not a wasted pick. Teams need guys like him to feel their role.

If we resign Shields and get Hayward back healthy he's probably our 4th or 5th cornerback (depending on how highly you regard Hyde and if you project him at safety next year). That's not bad for that level of depth.

---

And that's where he should be. But he also offers the ability to move up a slot or two if injuries occur and give the defense a chance. House is decent.