Understatement Of the Year

From the Green Bay Press Gazette, regarding Tramon Williams:

As long as CB Al Harris is playing well on the other side, teams will keep testing Williams. He needs to use his hands better at the line of scrimmage and clean up his technique on double moves to limit those big plays.

Newsflash: He needs to use his hands, period. On two separate Steve Smith completions in the Carolina game and two of the three big gains by the Texans' Kevin Walter, Williams never laid a hand on either receiver. It's just stunning. And nothing from McCarthy, after publicly calling out Blackmon after the Atlanta game for doing the exact same thing on the touchdown to Roddy White.

And I think it's obvious why.

McCarthy can't degenerate Williams or his play because it would automatically bring the decision to play Charles Woodson at safety into question. I was skeptical of the move after the Carolina game and now I'm downright against it. Woodson made a few plays Sunday (my favorite being the one where he jumped/flew over/around a horde of bodies to tackle Slaton - brilliant) but nothing close to the game-changing plays he was making at corner. I just don't understand the logic of taking a guy who's playing at an All-Pro level and moving him to an unfamiliar position. I realize they're undermanned at safety, but a safety tandem of Rouse/Collins is more than adequate, especially with Woodson and Harris underneath.

As for Williams, he's just guessing way too much, peeking into the backfield in a way he wasn't when he was filling in for Harris. Those double moves Walter shook him with are the same ones he was stoning earlier in the year (indeed, his interception at Seattle was on just such a route) The only thing I can see is very different is his commitment to getting physical with guys at the line, because right now, he's not even pretending to.

 

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Comments (5)

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Ron La Canne's picture

December 09, 2008 at 12:19 pm

Williams is showing all the signs of being a new guy corner I was affraid off when he stepped in for Harris. He seemed to adapt well in that situation and I felt (and admitted) I was wrong about him. Now, in the last two weeks the "new guy" mistakes are becoming too egregious to ignore. Moving Woodson to safety has hurt the pass defense more than I thought it would and Tramon has not continued his improvment, he has regressed.

Another problem for Sanders to fix. Oh, nevermind.

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PackerAaron's picture

December 09, 2008 at 12:28 pm

You were very forthcoming in that admittance Ron - and are dead to rights in calling Williams performance a 'regression' these past two games. I mean, he has been absolutely terrible, playing way, way too loose and freelancing way too much. Whatever happened to the hard bump-and-run guy I saw at the beginning of the year, I'll never know...

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Mr.Man's picture

December 09, 2008 at 04:22 pm

Since Williams wasn't even trying to bump Steve Smith, I was wondering whether it was some sort of deliberate variation of tactics, at least in the Carolina game. And I guess I see playing Woodson at safety, but it depends on the following personnel determinations--- T. Williams > injured Rouse and T. Williams > C. Peprah. Because that's what the real choice is-- the safety switch keeps Williams on the field full time. At some point earlier in the season I could see that decision being the right one, but not right now.

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PackerAaron's picture

December 09, 2008 at 04:43 pm

Rouse was active for the game and came in when Collins was injured. Just think he's serviceable, esp at the safety position where a lot of athletic shortcomings can be masked...

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L.A.'s picture

December 09, 2008 at 06:03 pm

I have to agree, Aaron. I wrote an article not too long ago about moving Harris to S because after the Giants game, it looked like he was losing step. Funny how he's become the shutdown corner this year, and it was the playmaking corner that was moved back.

I still don't think it is a bad idea to get a quality S back there, and I don't think that Rouse or Bigby are the solution. But I have to agree with Ron..we've diminished the play at the corner position to simply stabilize our safety spots.

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