Zero2Cool
14 years ago

Cornerback Sam Shields' prospects exciting for Packers 

IRVING, Texas For the Green Bay Packers, Sam Shields is like found money.

The nickel cornerback has been the rarest of finds, an undrafted player who as a rookie has helped improve the Packers defense from 2009 and has all the makings of a playmaker in the not-too-distant future. All for the price of a $7,500 signing bonus plus some quick salesmanship in the immediate hours after last Aprils NFL draft.

That kind of windfall is almost incalculable for an NFL franchise, because teams will always make mistakes drafting players, including in the high rounds. Landing an undrafted rookie like Shields, who probably would be a first-round pick if that draft were held over today, can erase any number of personnel mistakes. That makes him like found money.

Clearly everybody made a mistake on him, General Manager Ted Thompson said of Shields going undrafted. Including us.

The Packers were far from the only team that tried to sign Shields he says about 20 teams showed interest but they took an especially deep and thorough look at him in the months leading up to the draft.

It started with John Gutekunst, their scout for the Southeast, identifying him as a good prospect during the 2009 college season. Then at the Texas vs. The Nation all-star game, which is played the weekend of the Super Bowl, Thompson, college scouting director John Dorsey and assistant college scouting director Shaun Herock took a close-up view of him in the week of practice.

Shields later turned heads at Miamis campus when he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.28 and 4.30 seconds. That helped him earn a draft grade in the fourth or fifth round for many teams even though hed only moved to cornerback in the spring before his senior season in at the University of Miami and wasnt even a starter as the No. 3 cornerback for the Hurricanes. Then in March of last year he was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of possession of marijuana he never was charged which injured his draft stock but put the Packers in position to use their Miami connections to evaluate his character and then recruit him.

Two Packers scouts have ties to the football program because they attended school there. Alonzo Highsmith, an area college scout, had a distinguished career at Miami as a player, was a teammate of then-coach Randy Shannon, and has a son, A.J., whos a quarterback at the school. Also, one of their assistant directors of pro personnel, Eliot Wolf, went to college at Miami and worked in the athletic department while a student.

Those ties helped the Packers trust their evaluation of Shields character, which checked out fine. Then immediately after the draft, Highsmiths relationship with Shannon helped sell Shields and his agent that the Packers were his best option. On the evening the draft ended, Shields was on the telephone getting a persuasive pitch from a Chicago Bears scout when he got another call.

I was like, I might be in Chicago, Shields said. Then my agent, Drew Rosenhaus, called me and said, Packers.

Said Joe Whitt, the Packers cornerbacks coach, who had given Shields a first-round draft grade earlier that spring: They called me in there and said weve got Shields. I was happy.

Though the Packers liked Shields, their hopes for him coming into camp were modest. Hed been a standout gunner and jammer on the punt and punt-return teams, and they thought he might make the roster for those roles and then possibly develop into a decent or better cornerback down the road. Maybe, just maybe, hed contend for the nickel job as a rookie, but that seemed unlikely.

Shields then surprised everyone in training camp, and his ascension to the nickel role for the start of the regular season is well known to those who follow the team closely. He seemed to make an eye-catching play every other day in training camp, and in four weeks soared from near the bottom of the depth chart to the No. 3 cornerback job.

Just a natural football player, Thompson said. Ron (Wolf, the former Packers general manager) noticed that in training camp, too -- said he was just a natural at it.

Shields won the nickel job by outplaying Pat Lee, a second-round draft pick in 2008, and Brandon Underwood, a third-rounder in 2009, but even at that point cornerbacks coach Joe Whitt had misgivings about playing him in such a prominent role. Though the nickel back isnt officially a starter, hes close to being a full-time player because the Packers have played their nickel a little more than 70 percent of their defensive snaps this season.

Going into the regular season it seemed a given that Shields would have some rough times, perhaps many, as offenses targeted him as a rookie and kept going back when it worked. Shields appeared especially vulnerable, even if gifted, because hed only been a cornerback for one season his entire football career. Whitt wondered whether those rookie lumps would irreversibly damage the cornerbacks confidence. But Shields never took those lumps.

You look at some of those young corners who got beat early on (in their careers), and theyre never the same later on, Whitt said. I didnt want that to happen to him. And in that first game (at Philadelphia) we couldnt protect him that much. We tried to put him to the quarterbacks off hand, little details we do, but through the year he continually got better. Now I dont care where you put him, he can play.

Shields surprising play this year has been no small factor in the Packers defensive accomplishments this season, which includes a No. 2 finish in the NFL in fewest points allowed. His two interceptions in the NFC championship game at Chicago made him famous nationally, but his ability to hold up in coverage over the course of the season has been more important to defensive coordinator Dom Capers over the long haul. Hes improved as much anyone on the team and has the ability to cover up many of his mistakes with superior speed.

The Packers have one of the NFLs better cover men in cornerback Tramon Williams, but if Capers had to protect Shields on the other side in the nickel, hed lose flexibility in play calling and blitz packages. Because Capers trusts Shields in one-on-one coverage, he can maximize Charles Woodson in the slot, where hes as much a threat to blitz as to drop into coverage against a receiver, tight end or in a zone.

What matters for now is Shields performance in the Super Bowl on Sunday. His pure speed makes him a possible matchup with the Steelers top receiver, Mike Wallace, who ran the 40 in 4.28 seconds at the 2009 NFL scouting combine and is one of the leagues best deep threats, if Capers chooses to go that route.

But Shields long-term prospects have to excite the team also. Especially considering hes been playing cornerback for less than two years, theres reason to think he might one day be an elite player.

This offseason Im going to be very tough on him, because theres a lot of growth ahead of him, Whitt said. But hes rare, not only because of his ability but because of the man he is. He doesnt let things bother him, he can take hard coaching. The ceiling on this kid is unbelievable.

"Pete Dougherty" wrote:


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Tezzy
14 years ago
I entirely doubted this to come out of Sam Shields. Been a real pleasure to watch this guy just keep his nose to the grind.
On top of every beard grows a man.
"The Bears are shell-shocked... and it's breaking my heart."
nerdmann
14 years ago
Starks is gonna be a great find too. CJ Wilson has also come on. We got some great scouts and a great GM.
“Winning is not a sometime thing, it is an all the time thing. You don't do things right once in a while…you do them right all the time.”
Zero2Cool
14 years ago

Starks is gonna be a great find too. CJ Wilson has also come on. We got some great scouts and a great GM.

"nerdmann" wrote:

Still surprises me that we've got the same scouts now as we did with Mike Sherman.
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Pack93z
14 years ago

Starks is gonna be a great find too. CJ Wilson has also come on. We got some great scouts and a great GM.

"Zero2Cool" wrote:

Still surprises me that we've got the same scouts now as we did with Mike Sherman.

"nerdmann" wrote:



Amazing what a difference "listening" to your scouts can have on actually acquiring talent that fits verses the Al Davis method of looking at the measurable traits of a player and not their performance on the field and potential.

From things I have read, Sherman wasn't big on heeding the advice and evaluations of the scouts.
"The oranges are dry; the apples are mealy; and the papayas... I don't know what's going on with the papayas!"
14 years ago
Sam Shields was a godsend. He and Williams make me SO comfortable, and it allows Woodson to go nuts. God I love our D.
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DakotaT
14 years ago

Starks is gonna be a great find too. CJ Wilson has also come on. We got some great scouts and a great GM.

"Zero2Cool" wrote:

Still surprises me that we've got the same scouts now as we did with Mike Sherman.

"nerdmann" wrote:



Just had to go there didn't ya? God damn, I hate that SOB. Pissed away Brett Favre and Ahman Green's prime years. What the hell were Wolf and Bob Harlan smoking when he was given full control?

They should just put a big empty trophy case in the Packer hall of fame and above it, title "The Sherman Years".

The guy hasn't sniffed a pro coaching job in years.
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Zero2Cool (3h) : new site, text editor gooder even on phone
beast (4h) : Oh yes, sometimes they make using a cellphone tough. I just wanted to make sure it was the correct article, & thank you for pointing it out.
jdlax (5h) : I can't believe one of my teams went out and wablammo just up and acquired one of the best players in the world overnight
dfosterf (10h) : I do very much appreciate when Beast and others pick up my slack 😊
dfosterf (10h) : I accept Beast's admonishment regarding my failure to link stuff I reference. I simply never learned to link from my cell phone.
beast (10h) : That's not what your she said 😌, she said keep going 😏
Mucky Tundra (13h) : Anything over 4 hours means he needs to get to the hospital
Mucky Tundra (13h) : Someone might want to check on Hafley and make sure his erection has gone down
Zero2Cool (15h) : LaFleur texts "bleep me I cannot sit down"
Zero2Cool (15h) : YouTube has had me last hour or two lol
Mucky Tundra (15h) : Ugh this trade happened right as my shift started and it's killing me
Zero2Cool (15h) : Parsons wore 23 in high school.
Zero2Cool (16h) : Packers just cost Lions more money with Hutchinson too huh
Zero2Cool (17h) : That is fair by me.
buckeyepackfan (17h) : Kenny Clark is the player, 2 1st rnd picks
Zero2Cool (17h) : umm... what?
wpr (17h) : I am stunned
Mucky Tundra (17h) : RICKEY SCOOPS WAS RIGHT AGAIN!!!
Mucky Tundra (17h) : ITS HAPPENING
buckeyepackfan (17h) : DEAL IS DONE
buckeyepackfan (17h) : MICAH IS COMING TO GREEN BAY!!!!!!!!!
wpr (28-Aug) : Me do-ed it gooderly,
Zero2Cool (28-Aug) : Bahah, I was like WTF why isn't anyone posting on PP.com ... oops no one has permissions
dfosterf (27-Aug) : tell her I reckon
dfosterf (27-Aug) : Micah Robinson cut. Probable PS player tomorrow. Has to call mom back and t
Zero2Cool (27-Aug) : New site so much better. Might make switch and deal with it.
dfosterf (27-Aug) : Mecole Hardman to our practice squad
dfosterf (27-Aug) : Nick Nieman from Texans our 5th linebacker. Special teams signing
TheKanataThrilla (27-Aug) : Looks like we signed Clayton Tune as QB3
wpr (27-Aug) : TKT people lose their minds over QB3. Point is almost none of them are ready that's why they are on the PS and other teams don't take them.
TheKanataThrilla (27-Aug) : Unfortunately he doesn't seem ready to be an emergency QB.
TheKanataThrilla (27-Aug) : As a Canadian and a follower of Canadian University football. I am rooting for him
dfosterf (27-Aug) : I bet a lot of us will follow the Taylor Elgersma journey with interest. Personally, got a Kurt Warner vibe goin' on. I like him
TheKanataThrilla (27-Aug) : Not sure if either will be claimed though.
TheKanataThrilla (27-Aug) : Tune or Hooker would make sense
dfosterf (27-Aug) : Clayton Tune cut by the Cards? Don't know if that's the guy, we shall see
TheKanataThrilla (27-Aug) : Per Bill Huber, the Packers will not be bringing back Taylor Elgersma or Sean Clifford on the practice squad, so a new third quarterback
Mucky Tundra (27-Aug) : Schefter must have deleted his tweet
dfosterf (27-Aug) : Hopefully Jerry reaches under the seat cushions and ashtrays of his jet and scrapes up the 45 million apr and spares us further nonsense
dfosterf (27-Aug) : Have to admit the PO'd Cowboy fan videos would be fun to watch. Problem with draft picks is half their fanbase barely knows what that is
beast (27-Aug) : I think Cowboys fans are ready to get their pitch forks and burning sticks if Jerry were to trade Micah
dfosterf (27-Aug) : If Jerry traded Micah to GB, here in northern Va. they would have to quick build yet another data center to handle the internet hate traffic
Zero2Cool (27-Aug) : its signing and trades that you don't hear about, other then announced
Zero2Cool (27-Aug) : If you hear rumors about Packers sign or trade, won't happen. Not how they work
dfosterf (27-Aug) : 19 players in a contract year. Jones called loss to us worst loss in Cowboy history. Forget Parsons trade. Not happenin' Cap'n
packerfanoutwest (27-Aug) : The Packers, meanwhile, are the youngest team in the league for the third consecutive year.
dfosterf (27-Aug) : That it was darkest before the dawn in Bengals and Commanders before they got deals done
Zero2Cool (27-Aug) : what is Schefter saying?
dfosterf (27-Aug) : He was getting Dorito infusion therapy
dfosterf (27-Aug) : He's outta shape. Why, just the other day I saw him splayed out on the trainers table
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