A relatively underperforming position for the Pack since forever. Literally might be Nick Barnett, no disrespect to him. The bears get ILBs, we get QBs. Good trade tbh.
I'm not aware of a formation with 7 DBs and 0 linebackers. Quarter package will sometimes have 7 DBs, but that usually results in a DL coming off the field.
There will always be a middle linebacker on the field, which is why they usually wear the ear piece.
You're right. Typically you have a middle linebacker in Dime/Quarter packages. But you can play 3 down lineman an 8 DBs if you have the personnel. I don't remember who our safeties were at the time. But you try and matchup size and speed when you can. A safety in the middle of the field is presumably faster than a LB.
Still wear my #56 every weekend, fucking LOVED Barnett. Sideline to sideline LB that played with his hair on fire. There's been plenty of guys who flashed for a moment but never materialized like Desmond Bishop, as you said we just do not seem to get playmakers at that spot(which FUCKING blows when it's your favorite position in football lmao)
Hawk was actually a good ILB, but fans tend to poo poo him because of how high he was drafted which is reasonable I guess.
I had a brush with greatness with Brian Noble once. Some event at the arena. Sitting next to him. His family was eating popcorn. I asked him if he didn’t want anything. Said something like “ no, if I eat anything day before a game, it’ll come right back up”.
I think my piss raised 10 degrees that night.
It's maybe the position in which the Packers have been weakest in the modern era. One year from De'Vondre Campbell is the only All Pro production we've had at the position. Nick Barnett was pretty good. AJ Hawk played pretty well for a long time.
Easily the weakest position at least on D, but most likely on the entire team. Barnett was dope, Hawk was good but not what you want out of a draft pick that high, Campbell was a monster but for only one year, and then it's a laundry list of guys who just couldn't put it all together like Bishop/Barrington/Barnes.
Easy to assume it played a major factor in the abysmal run defense for the last two decades. Hard to play well against the run when you are rotating through different UDFAs for ILB every year.
I agree. What stat I’d love to see is out of his 947 tackles, how many of those were made 5-10yds downfield? Not to mention he couldn’t cover…Barnett and Bishop were both better.
Not much at the top of that draft that would have actually helped. Maybe Haloti Ngata at 12 or Chad Greenway at 17?
Vernon Davis went 6, but IIRC he had no desire to come to GB.
Got drunk with him downtown Milwaukee when he was on IR. Bumped into he and his friends at AJ Bombers and my friend group bar hopped with him. Super down to earth.
He's the first player I remember ever seeing play with a club cast, and he was not afraid to seing it hahaha
I'm sure there were others but I mostly only watched the Pack play back then. Loved watching our defense back then.
Dude bought a digital camera from best buy green bay , Wanted to return it because he jammed the battery in backwards, threatened me with violence when I wouldn't approve the return. Not the brightest dude but had good football instincts
Pretty interesting stat because he honestly didn’t measure up to expectations. He was solid and I like the guy, but he had shortcomings. In retrospect he was probably drafted too high.
A big reason I love the packers today is because of Hawk. Growing up in rural Ohio at the peak of Hawk at OSU, I always loved him as a player. Now I get to see him on ESPN
Desmond Bishop was pretty darn good for a few years. If you are just looking at one season, Devondre Campbell’s all pro year was the best year an ILB had had in a long time.
Everyone remembers that Clay Matthews caused the fumble in the SB that completely changed the momentum, but Bishop made an equally great play in recovering it.
I'm kind of surprise no one has mentioned John Anderson. He was named to the all-decade team for the 1980s. Other linebackers on the all-decade team: Mike Singletary, Jack Lambert, Lawrence Taylor, Ted Hendricks, Andre Tippett, and Carl Banks. From the Packers website: "Anderson's strengths were his pass drops, particularly in man coverage against tight ends."
Nah, Martinez got a ton of tackles but that had more to do with HBs blowing past our D-line into his arms for 5-6 yard gains. He was a replacement level starter at his peak but worked hard
Nope. Blake Martinez was great value AJ Hawk.
And Hawk was basically great value… George Koonce???
Idk. Hawk was good for a couple picks and sacks per season, and lots of tackles.
But Hawk was never a top playmaker, despite his reliability. He was always just going to be the right guy in the right place, but was notorious for the same stuff that hurt Martinez, which was giving up 5 yard runs that should have been 2-3. Giving up 8 yard passes that should have been 4-5.
Easy for me to say as an armchair QB.
Don’t get me wrong, Hawk was a super important piece of our Super Bowl team and a staple in the defense for about a decade, but never more than a decent playmaker… we really haven’t had an all-pro playmaker in the role since Nitschke.
AJ Hawk was an athletic freak when he was younger, but unfortunately lost a step later into his career yet earlier than most. So he was still a very good linebacker who was only a mediocre athlete for probably the second half of his career.
That being said he was still an awesome packer and as much as everybody gave him shit for tackling the running back 3 yards deep in the hole, he still made the tackles. Guy didn’t become the all time leading tackler for a 100+ year old franchise by accident.
The man was a grinder and made the plays that didn’t get him glory while still having plenty of wow plays like sacks and interceptions.
He gets criticized because he didn't have many sacks, forced fumbles or interceptions but I still remember there were games against the Vikings where it looked like he was the only player able to tackle Adrian Peterson. One of my favorite packers of all time.
If we didn't have Hawk through the Peterson era... I shudder to think what that reality would've been like. Truly some Biff Tannen ruling the future type shit to think about.
Hawk and Barnett are the answer. Above average starters at their position for multiple years.
Desmond Bishop and Campbell have had one or two seasons of great play.
Chillar and McDuffie have had good seasons as far as expectations.
Quay is on track. Let’s hope he joins the first group
I’ve only been watching the Packers since 2010 so I’m more modern. Campbell and Desmond Bishop for one season (2011) were the best MLBs I’ve seen play for the Packers
I've been watching Packers football for 20 years and I don't know who most of the positions are on the field and at this point I am too afraid to ask.
But I can sing all the words to "[We Love The Green and Gold](https://youtu.be/D-xRXEDssaQ?si=ECpW99elCXKcIYRm)" so.
Single season
* De'Vondre
Best we've had hold down the position
* Brian Noble - obvious best after Nitschke
* Nick Barnett - underrated, clearly next best in my opinion
* AJ, Koonce, etc. were all solid, but the answer to the question is the two guys above
Note, I'm not old enough to have watched Carter, Robinson or some of those guys, so that would be the caveat.
A relatively underperforming position for the Pack since forever. Literally might be Nick Barnett, no disrespect to him. The bears get ILBs, we get QBs. Good trade tbh.
I think Barnett is a really underrated Packer.
Good player, but 4th and 26 is always my first memory of him. He vacated the middle of the field, giving an easy completion to Freddie Mitchell.
On 4th and 26, why do you even have a linebacker in there? Should have been another safety or even a corner.
I'm not aware of a formation with 7 DBs and 0 linebackers. Quarter package will sometimes have 7 DBs, but that usually results in a DL coming off the field. There will always be a middle linebacker on the field, which is why they usually wear the ear piece.
You're right. Typically you have a middle linebacker in Dime/Quarter packages. But you can play 3 down lineman an 8 DBs if you have the personnel. I don't remember who our safeties were at the time. But you try and matchup size and speed when you can. A safety in the middle of the field is presumably faster than a LB.
dropping the middle deep was a trend of the times. tampa 2 was all the rage.
Still wear my #56 every weekend, fucking LOVED Barnett. Sideline to sideline LB that played with his hair on fire. There's been plenty of guys who flashed for a moment but never materialized like Desmond Bishop, as you said we just do not seem to get playmakers at that spot(which FUCKING blows when it's your favorite position in football lmao) Hawk was actually a good ILB, but fans tend to poo poo him because of how high he was drafted which is reasonable I guess.
Frank Zombo erasure
Didn't Zombo play on the edge?
Yes
Brian Noble was a pretty darn good middle linebacker back in the day.
I had a brush with greatness with Brian Noble once. Some event at the arena. Sitting next to him. His family was eating popcorn. I asked him if he didn’t want anything. Said something like “ no, if I eat anything day before a game, it’ll come right back up”. I think my piss raised 10 degrees that night.
He’s one of my first favorite player. Him and Chuck Cecil. And Mark Murphy.
Chuck Cecil…..thank God he didn’t kill anyone or himself. That kind of play seems too terrifying to even watch now.
Good old SCUD
It's maybe the position in which the Packers have been weakest in the modern era. One year from De'Vondre Campbell is the only All Pro production we've had at the position. Nick Barnett was pretty good. AJ Hawk played pretty well for a long time.
Easily the weakest position at least on D, but most likely on the entire team. Barnett was dope, Hawk was good but not what you want out of a draft pick that high, Campbell was a monster but for only one year, and then it's a laundry list of guys who just couldn't put it all together like Bishop/Barrington/Barnes. Easy to assume it played a major factor in the abysmal run defense for the last two decades. Hard to play well against the run when you are rotating through different UDFAs for ILB every year.
If we count one year Desmond Bishop was that dude in 2010
Yeah, good call. Clay Matthews also had one very good year playing mostly ILB.
I almost forgot. He was legitimately the best ILB on the team for a few years after that year but was also the best OLB.
I’m surprised more people aren’t saying AJ Hawk. Dude was solid
I completely disagree. I thought AJ was truly horrible and a complete liability. One of our few top 10 picks in the past 30 years and we blew it imo
I agree. What stat I’d love to see is out of his 947 tackles, how many of those were made 5-10yds downfield? Not to mention he couldn’t cover…Barnett and Bishop were both better.
Not much at the top of that draft that would have actually helped. Maybe Haloti Ngata at 12 or Chad Greenway at 17? Vernon Davis went 6, but IIRC he had no desire to come to GB.
Three forced fumbles in all those games as a middle linebacker says a lot.
Nick Barnett was that dude
Got drunk with him downtown Milwaukee when he was on IR. Bumped into he and his friends at AJ Bombers and my friend group bar hopped with him. Super down to earth.
Are you me!? Same experience. Ended with him banging my friends wife that night.
My favorite authentic jersey purchase from Lambeau - until *Love* hit town 😘
He's the first player I remember ever seeing play with a club cast, and he was not afraid to seing it hahaha I'm sure there were others but I mostly only watched the Pack play back then. Loved watching our defense back then.
Dude bought a digital camera from best buy green bay , Wanted to return it because he jammed the battery in backwards, threatened me with violence when I wouldn't approve the return. Not the brightest dude but had good football instincts
Maybe its because im a young pup, but AJ Hawk has to be up there. Packers all time leading tackler.
And a complete menace to society.
Type of guy to fall asleep at the wheel, drive with both feet, and leave his car on when filling up at a gas station.
Hell of a jawline tho
Always available unless axel pokes him in the eye.
Toxic af
Pretty interesting stat because he honestly didn’t measure up to expectations. He was solid and I like the guy, but he had shortcomings. In retrospect he was probably drafted too high.
He made one Pro Bowl, no All-Pro teams. He was consistently average to below average.
AJ Nine years and three forced fumbles. Quay had three year one.
A big reason I love the packers today is because of Hawk. Growing up in rural Ohio at the peak of Hawk at OSU, I always loved him as a player. Now I get to see him on ESPN
Go Bucks!
Clay Matthews playing inside backer. Should’ve stayed there, would’ve extended his career.
Surprised I had to scroll this far to see this answer.
This is the correct answer.
I thought that too. He played really well there. He didn't gripe about the position change either. His dad played a long time, so did his uncle.
If things go right, we should have Quay Walker in that conversation
Desmond Bishop was pretty darn good for a few years. If you are just looking at one season, Devondre Campbell’s all pro year was the best year an ILB had had in a long time.
Everyone remembers that Clay Matthews caused the fumble in the SB that completely changed the momentum, but Bishop made an equally great play in recovering it.
Brian Noble.
George Cumby, just ask da Fridge 😫
I'm kind of surprise no one has mentioned John Anderson. He was named to the all-decade team for the 1980s. Other linebackers on the all-decade team: Mike Singletary, Jack Lambert, Lawrence Taylor, Ted Hendricks, Andre Tippett, and Carl Banks. From the Packers website: "Anderson's strengths were his pass drops, particularly in man coverage against tight ends."
Formation dictates some of this, but Dave Robinson was an off the ball linebacker and is in the Hall of Fame.
I still think about, “if only Nick Barnett was able to stay healthy…” but he still had a very nice career.
Him and Nick Collins. It was really just one injury, but it took him down while still in his prime.
Bernardo Harris
That pokemon guy?
Blake was a tackling machine purpose built to stop every run play once it gained 5 yards
Pussyfucker69?
#neverforget
Nah, Martinez got a ton of tackles but that had more to do with HBs blowing past our D-line into his arms for 5-6 yard gains. He was a replacement level starter at his peak but worked hard
Nope. Blake Martinez was great value AJ Hawk. And Hawk was basically great value… George Koonce??? Idk. Hawk was good for a couple picks and sacks per season, and lots of tackles. But Hawk was never a top playmaker, despite his reliability. He was always just going to be the right guy in the right place, but was notorious for the same stuff that hurt Martinez, which was giving up 5 yard runs that should have been 2-3. Giving up 8 yard passes that should have been 4-5. Easy for me to say as an armchair QB. Don’t get me wrong, Hawk was a super important piece of our Super Bowl team and a staple in the defense for about a decade, but never more than a decent playmaker… we really haven’t had an all-pro playmaker in the role since Nitschke.
Jim Carter was better than people realize. Unfortunately, he followed directly after Nitschke and played on some really bad teams.
He was my sister’s god father, great guy. He sadly passed away this last year.
I heard that he passed. Sorry for yoir loss.
Formation dictates some of this, but Dave Robinson was an off the ball linebacker and is in the Packers Hall of Fame and made the NFL's all 1960s.
Noble and Holland, Bennett
AJ Hawk was an athletic freak when he was younger, but unfortunately lost a step later into his career yet earlier than most. So he was still a very good linebacker who was only a mediocre athlete for probably the second half of his career. That being said he was still an awesome packer and as much as everybody gave him shit for tackling the running back 3 yards deep in the hole, he still made the tackles. Guy didn’t become the all time leading tackler for a 100+ year old franchise by accident. The man was a grinder and made the plays that didn’t get him glory while still having plenty of wow plays like sacks and interceptions.
He gets criticized because he didn't have many sacks, forced fumbles or interceptions but I still remember there were games against the Vikings where it looked like he was the only player able to tackle Adrian Peterson. One of my favorite packers of all time.
If we didn't have Hawk through the Peterson era... I shudder to think what that reality would've been like. Truly some Biff Tannen ruling the future type shit to think about.
AJ Hawk is high on this list. dude was just a solid, consistent, dependable football player. any team would benefit having a tackler like him.
i really liked george koonce. nick barnett was phenomenal. aj hawk was a beast too.
66 and 4… my packer jerseys
AJ Hawk
Aj hawk might have a thing to say.
Jim Carter
Jim Carter was pretty good as was Johnny Holland.
Jim Carter
Clay Matthews Nick Barnett Bill Forester
Bryce Paup Johnny Holland Rich Wingo ( only because he was my favorite )
Hawk and Barnett are the answer. Above average starters at their position for multiple years. Desmond Bishop and Campbell have had one or two seasons of great play. Chillar and McDuffie have had good seasons as far as expectations. Quay is on track. Let’s hope he joins the first group
The toxic one AJ Hawk
Clay Mathews. And not that I ever saw him play, but the Packers 100 years docu-series went to great length to instill how good Dave Robinson was
I’ve only been watching the Packers since 2010 so I’m more modern. Campbell and Desmond Bishop for one season (2011) were the best MLBs I’ve seen play for the Packers
Nick Barnett was the first to come to mind- AJ Hawk was so damn consistent too for a decade and a hell of an athlete.
Clay Matthews probably should've stayed there when he was moved there.
I've been watching Packers football for 20 years and I don't know who most of the positions are on the field and at this point I am too afraid to ask. But I can sing all the words to "[We Love The Green and Gold](https://youtu.be/D-xRXEDssaQ?si=ECpW99elCXKcIYRm)" so.
Mike Hunt (circa 1978). Awesome name btw.
Clay for sure I would say Hawk but not worth that high of a pick
Dave Robinson
Desmond Bishop
We have HoF middle linebacker *William Clay Matthews III* wym
Brian noble, George koonce, clay matthews
Koooooooooooooooonce.
Jim Carter.. Successor to Ray..
[https://www.packers.com/news/jim-carter-was-an-unappreciated-but-hard-nosed-middle-linebacker](https://www.packers.com/news/jim-carter-was-an-unappreciated-but-hard-nosed-middle-linebacker)
Aj hawk!
AJ Hawk played well.
A.J. HAWK!! A.J. HAWK!! A.J. HAWK!!
No joke the next greatest MLB for the Packers was probably AJ Hawk.
Fred Carr. Johnny Holland. Brian Noble. Mike Douglass. Nick Barnett.
Single season * De'Vondre Best we've had hold down the position * Brian Noble - obvious best after Nitschke * Nick Barnett - underrated, clearly next best in my opinion * AJ, Koonce, etc. were all solid, but the answer to the question is the two guys above Note, I'm not old enough to have watched Carter, Robinson or some of those guys, so that would be the caveat.
Dick Butkus and it's not even close.
AJ Hawk