Packers Huddle

What you see is what you get. Linsley might be as consistent as any player on the roster. Efficient, scrappy and smart. On the smaller side but knows how to play the game. Gets better all the time as a reach blocker. When he gets beat in the run game, it’s usually because he’s overpowered or back-doored. His “bad” run total of 16 ½ led the club and marked his career-high. On the other hand, Linsley’s total of 14 ½ pressures (3 ½ were sacks) was the lowest on the line. With some centers, the shotgun snap is an adventure. With Linsley, it’s become automatic. Since the Packers had four fumbles from the shotgun in 2014, Linsley’s rookie year, they’ve had just four in the last five seasons. The back problem that knocked him out of the second Lions game bears watching in the future. Grade: B-minus

BF004 wrote: ↑

13 May 2020 17:26

Really want to vote for Savage here over Linsley, but proven beating potential here.

YoHoChecko wrote: ↑

13 May 2020 17:49

BF004 wrote: ↑

13 May 2020 17:26

Really want to vote for Savage here over Linsley, but proven beating potential here.

Let your heart have what it wants! This is a poll about 2020, not about 2019. Why make anyone prove anything if you feel in your soul that Savage will be the better player this year?

I'm not saying not to consider all those things. I assuredly have and will make "proven" arguments throughout this series. But you "want to"? Then do it. Give yourself permission to dream big. Savage! The safety and the name we need and we want.

Backthepack4ever wrote: ↑

13 May 2020 18:46

Went savage. I dont think Lindsley is a packer in Sept. Hes fine but nothing that asks for 12 on this roster.

Savage Kirk next

YoHoChecko wrote: ↑

13 May 2020 21:05

I'm on Kirksey, btw. I think I forgot to mention that.

He's been off a full year so his body has had plenty of time to heal. If he's the guy we has in 2016, 2017, and half of 2018, he's the best ILB we've had... shoot, when was our last good ILB? Barnett? Hawk?

Anyway. My only question about him is availability. He knows the scheme and his play on the field has been a cut above what we're used to.

I'm looking into this. Kirksey had a torn pec.

From what I'm reading, in 6-9 months' time, a FULL recovery is expected. (5-6 months for the recovery, but an additional 3 months to return to peak performance).

Several athletes have returned from this.

Mario Williams, for instance, missed the final 11 games of the 2011 season. He came back in 2012 at age 27 with 10.5 sacks, his most since 2008; then followed up with 13.0 and 14.5 sacks in the following two years--his prime years were in no way curtailed.

Another example is, fittingly, former Browns LB D'Qwell Jackson. D'Qwell Jackson is a mixed bag. He tore his pec in 2009 at age 26. Then, training for the upcoming season, he tore his other pec and missed his 27-year old aged season. So on that note, lightning struck twice. The guy who injured his pec did it again. BUT, on the upside, in his first year back, at age 28, he led the league in solo tackles, had 3.5 sacks, forced some fumbles, got an INT and some PDs. By Pro Football reference's metrics, it was his second-best season as a pro. But it gets brighter--as his best season as a pro came two years later. Again, the missed time with the torn pec in his late twenties did not rob him of his prime.

Now, back to Kirksey, the previous season (18) there was a hamstring issue. And that again bothered him leading up to 2019. I'm concerned about hamstrings, as all Packers fans are. But again, a year to heal, careful monitoring of his hamstrings.... there is NO reason to expect anything worse than Kirksey's best. These are not debilitating injuries that break the body down. His joints or back aren't failing.

TheSkeptic wrote: ↑

14 May 2020 01:24

I voted for Linsley and it is a no brainer to me.

But now we have a bunch of unproven or partially proven players. Some with a lot of upside. For me the next group is Sternberger, Savage and Lazard.

As for Kirksey, if you look at the way his contract is structured, it appears to me that the Packers view him as a boom or bust in the ratio of about 30-70. That means a 30% chance of being a good player and a 70% chance of being a total bust probably because he will rip his hamstring again and never play again.