If you look at his actual position he is top 2 or 3 with the likes of Bowman.

Originally Posted by: PackFanWithTwins 

People really need to get past the number he was picked at, and expecting him to be something he never was expected to be. He was not drafted to be Ray Lewis, or Urlacher. That was Nick Barnett. Hawk was the most surefire pick, never expected to have the greatest upside, but never expected to have a huge downside either. And that is exactly what he has been.

Barnett, Bishop, and Jones have been the Mike backers for the Packers, that is the position that is suppose to make the plays. Hawk has been the will. His job is more to help the mike make plays. He is suppose to prevent the cutback to the weak side if the RB get past the dline. He takes on lead blockers, he blitzes to occupy blockers so the mike can get a free shot on the QB.

His only real issue was that he got to big for a while, which cost him movement and speed. He has dropped about 10 lbs and has gained some of that back. His coverage problems are overblown as well. When I re-watch games, he is normally right on his man. Most of the time, in order to have close coverage he would be flagged for PI. And he normally makes the tackle.

If you look at his actual position he is top 2 or 3 with the likes of Bowman.

Originally Posted by: PackFanWithTwins 

Hawks a really good player to have on your team. He's incredibly available, which means a lot in todays NFL. He's definitely not elite, but a team can win with him, as the Packers have shown. I'm fine with Hawk, but it would be nice if the Packers could get a very good to elite player to play beside him.

He isn't the best #5 overall pick ever, but it could have easily been much, much, worse. Things don't always work out perfectly.

Originally Posted by: DoddPower 

If somebody has sure-thing knowledge of the Capers D, or what came before it for that matter, I'd yield to that, but ...... as far as I know, there is no differentiation between the two ILB positions as the Packers play them. Also, "Mike" means starting with M - Middle. "Will" means starting with W - Wing or Wide. It's kind of hazy this many years later, but wasn't the plan when Hawk was drafted for Nick Barnett to be bumped from Middle Linebacker to Outside Linebacker - making room for Hawk to be the Middle Linebacker? I would suggest that indeed he WAS drafted to be something resembling Ray Lewis or Urlacher. I would further suggest AGAIN that it is extremely appropriate to take into consideration the high position in the draft when judging whether Hawk has been a good thing or a bad thing for the Packers.

And most of all, I say AGAIN, the WORST thing about A.J. Hawk IMO is that he has lasted so long, preventing the Packers from filling that spot with somebody a whole lot better - as most of the good and a lot of the bad teams in the league have playing MLB or ILB.

Originally Posted by: texaspackerbacker 

If somebody has sure-thing knowledge of the Capers D, or what came before it for that matter, I'd yield to that, but ...... as far as I know, there is no differentiation between the two ILB positions as the Packers play them. Also, "Mike" means starting with M - Middle. "Will" means starting with W - Wing or Wide. It's kind of hazy this many years later, but wasn't the plan when Hawk was drafted for Nick Barnett to be bumped from Middle Linebacker to Outside Linebacker - making room for Hawk to be the Middle Linebacker? I would suggest that indeed he WAS drafted to be something resembling Ray Lewis or Urlacher. I would further suggest AGAIN that it is extremely appropriate to take into consideration the high position in the draft when judging whether Hawk has been a good thing or a bad thing for the Packers.

And most of all, I say AGAIN, the WORST thing about A.J. Hawk IMO is that he has lasted so long, preventing the Packers from filling that spot with somebody a whole lot better - as most of the good and a lot of the bad teams in the league have playing MLB or ILB.

Originally Posted by: texaspackerbacker 

He's definitely a guy you can win with if he's on your team but if your whole D was made up of AJ Hawks it wouldn't be very good.

Originally Posted by: steveishere 

Would an entire defense made up of any single NFL player be any good at all?

Originally Posted by: Porforis