I think the biggest issue of Hawk.. he isn't Bowman or Willis.. but was drafted at a slot where expectations could never live up to reality.
Boy was that a draft class the was void on the top end of the talent scale comparative to other years.
Originally Posted by: Pack93z
I understand that thinking, and agree with your assessment.
Some here forget A.J. Hawk was a 4-3 outside LBr coming out of College, nobody seemed to have any complaints his first 2 years.
Then comes 2009, Barnet gets hurt, Packers ask Hawk to move to ML, never played the position, and despite playing through groin and shoulder injuries(which btw would have put most on IR), Hawk never complained and did the switch. The A.J Hawk sucks threads begin.
2010 Packers change to 3-4, A.J. Hawk is asked to stay inside, once again Barnet gets hurt and Hawk again changes position, takes over the "QB" position, plays the last 16 games(incl playoffs), with what seemed like 15 different LBr's around him due to injuries, solidified the inside position through the SB.
Yet the A.J. Hawk sucks threads continued.
Early 2011 Ted releases A.J. Hawk freeing them of his 10mil last year of rookie contract.
The very next day Ted signs A.J Hawk to a new contract. Why? if he "sucked" so bad as many on this forum have expressed the last 3 years why did Ted Thompson offer him a new 5 yr deal with a 8mil signing bonus?
2012 A.J Hawk plays all 16 games and leads team(or is #2 behind M. Burnett) in tackles, then when asked to takes a pay cut to help out the team(despite some questioning his character), he does. Yet he still "sucks"
Again, and this is not aimed at you Pack93z, if you have a problem with A.J. Hawks performance over the last 3 years, you need to start questioning Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy, they are the ones who made the decision to keep A.J. Hawk.
To get this back to topic, Ted Thompson did with Brad Jones just as he did with most every player, he let him explore FA, from what I have read, there was a lot of interest in Jones from other teams, Ted then had to make the decision whether to let him go or sign him to a contract which would keep him with The Packers.
Unlike Walden, Ted decided Jones was worth the 4 yr. deal he offered.
So when The Brad Jones "sucks" threads start I will remind everyone who made the decision to keep him.
I was addicted to The Hokey Pokey, but I turned myself around!