sho nuff said:
Good signing. Id like to see them move Hodge outside if possible...or even Barnett.
Been nice to see Hawk, Barnett, Hodge for years to come.
I wasn't all that impressed with Hodge in his start last season. Until he can learn to cover, I'd rather not see him starting. We already went through that once at LB.
I would settle for learning how to make his reads and not getting lost in the trash at the line. He was downright pitiful in his one start, yet there are some here who are sure he's ready to take over the middle from Barnett. Unreal...
And A.J.Hawk overpursued and missed lots of tackles too, does that make him pitiful as well?
Yes, he did. And then he corrected it. That was what was so awful about Hodge's performance against the Seahawks. He kept getting caught at the line, out of position, taking himself out of the play again and again. The same mistake over and over. Sure, Hawk made rookie mistakes against the Bears in week one, then he corrected and got better as the game went along. There's a reason Hodge was taken in the third round and Hawk was taken 5th overall...
I think what the other guy is saying is that Hawk, granted he's physically talented to boot, had an entire season get out all the kinks and such. Had Hodge been given anything more than a game, he'd have been able to adjust too. BTW - Hodge was rated highly coming into the draft and YES his only question was his coverage skills. His knack is that he's always around the ball (talking college) and showed that even during the preseason. You can knock him for his ONE game and mind you Hawk's first start was 3 tackles and 2 assists. Add that Hodge was hampered by injury for majority of the start of the season, so he didn't have the whole season to practice fully with the defense either and was thrust into starting within a week. How long did Hawk have to prepare? See, it's apples and oranges...
I think GB drafted a real player, such as Zach Thomas. If you talk about that Hodge was taken in the 3rd, Zach Thomas was drafted in the 5th. So what does that mean? Not much, especially considering all the 1st round busts in the NFL. Matter of fact most of the scouts weren't high on Zach at all and questioned Miami selecting him, but scouts were high on Hodge. Plain and simple, Hodge has a nose for the ball and if you watch his past clips, you'll notice that he's always making the tackle or cleaning it up. You can't teach instinct, which is what it is. I think the cheeseheads will be very thankful that they not only got Hawk with the lofty draft pick, but got on hellva MLB when all is said and done.
One game doesn't equal a career, you might think so...but surely it does not!
Ok, enough beating this dead horse...