Packers and Jaylon Smith closing in on a deal

[lambeaulambo]

He was in the game today, and appeared kind of rough, hopefully as he gets used to a new Defense and improves.

 

[PikeBadger]

Yeah, I was very unimpressed too. I'm expecting almost nothing with this guy.

 

[OldSchool101]

He’s been in Green Bay for 8 days now. What the heck is he even doing on the field is what I want to know. Maybe just to give Barnes a breather?

 

[Deleted member 6794]

He was in the game today, and appeared kind of rough, hopefully as he gets used to a new Defense and improves.

I saw Jaylon miss a tackle on Herbert on a play but other than that he didn't catch my eye.

It's definitely a way too small sample size to make an educated guess about his future impact with the team.

 

[tynimiller]

I will say it again, Barnes and Campbell are the mains, Jaylon was EXTREMELY cheap and worth it for depth and diversity in the LB room. I didn't expect him to really be up to speed yet, and was shocked he saw action really - 15 snaps.

 

[PackAttack12]

I will say it again, Barnes and Campbell are the mains, Jaylon was EXTREMELY cheap and worth it for depth and diversity in the LB room. I didn't expect him to really be up to speed yet, and was shocked he saw action really - 15 snaps.

I couldn't believe the over reaction to his snaps yesterday. But really when I think about it, I'm not sure why I don't believe it.

 

[PikeBadger]

I couldn't believe the over reaction to his snaps yesterday. But really when I think about it, I'm not sure why I don't believe it.

I just have not read or seen anything that leads me to believe that J. Smith can be a decent starting LB here. Either inside or outside.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

I just have not read or seen anything that leads me to believe that J. Smith can be a decent starting LB here. Either inside or outside.

If Jaylon performs up to potential he can definitely be an upgrade at inside linebacker.

 

[PikeBadger]

If Jaylon performs up to potential he can definitely be an upgrade at inside linebacker.

I'm of the opinion that his functional ability at ILB is very limited these days. I think he falls into the category of "could have been". I saw something on a play near the sideline that looked like Oren Burks without good legs.

I think the Packers should keep looking for another ILB.

 

[gopkrs]

I don't see any reason to force him into the starting line-up.

 

[tynimiller]

An ILB of his age doesn't fall off a sheer cliff - which is how I'm interpreting what some are claiming.

2018 - 121 Tackles (82 solo)
2019 - 142 Tackles (83 solo)
2020 - 154 Tackles (89 solo)

To a bum? A guy that isn't even our #3 worthy ILB?

Sorry I politely push back on that idea. Jaylon is fully capable of holding down the ILB position once he gets acclimated here - I personally feel Campbell is playing above expectations, Barnes is continuing to be solid and progress and Jaylon has the ability to minimum be their solid 3rd worst case.

 

[Pugger]

When you consider Dallas is paying most of his salary any contributions we get from him is gravy IMO. And if it doesn't work out we aren't out much.

 

[Heyjoe4]

An ILB of his age doesn't fall off a sheer cliff - which is how I'm interpreting what some are claiming.

2018 - 121 Tackles (82 solo)
2019 - 142 Tackles (83 solo)
2020 - 154 Tackles (89 solo)

To a bum? A guy that isn't even our #3 worthy ILB?

Sorry I politely push back on that idea. Jaylon is fully capable of holding down the ILB position once he gets acclimated here - I personally feel Campbell is playing above expectations, Barnes is continuing to be solid and progress and Jaylon has the ability to minimum be their solid 3rd worst case.

154 tackles last year? Yeah it's nice to have some depth at ILB for a change. The last time they had a decent player at that position was for the short time CMIII was moved inside to stop the bleeding. If Dallas is paying most of Smith's salary this year, so much the better.

 

[tynimiller]

154 tackles last year? Yeah it's nice to have some depth at ILB for a change. The last time they had a decent player at that position was for the short time CMIII was moved inside to stop the bleeding. If Dallas is paying most of Smith's salary this year, so much the better.

Stop, if you think CM is the last "decent" ILB we've had you haven't watched Packers games over the past few years. Blake Martinez was an above average or above decent ILB - he lacked any kind of big play potential - but 100 out of 101 people would say easily was a decent ILB.

Blake didn't start or play every game as a rookie but his next four seasons (2017-2020 seasons) he had 144, 144, 155 and 151 tackles. He has consistently been in the top tier of tacklers in the league during that time frame.

He even tossed in averaging 3 sacks a year along with handful of pass defenses each season and nearly an INT a year.

 

[DoctorChicken]

Hello Packers fans.

I really hope Jaylon plays well for you guys. He is an incredible guy off the field, kind, generous and an upstanding citizen with a remarkable story of overcoming the odds.

However, watching his snaps form his first game as a Packer... is exactly how he looked the last two years playing for Dallas. Lost, spastic movements, takes bad angles. Reacts so slowly and doesn't have any lateral movement whatsoever.

I hope these problems are fixed with a new scheme.

 

[Mondio]

I haven't really watched Dallas recently so I didn't know what to expect other than I know he was a talented kid with a big injury coming out of college but has been pretty reliable since at least in terms of availability. Other than that, I figure i'm not making any judgements for 4-5 weeks in the system at a minimum.

 

[Heyjoe4]

Stop, if you think CM is the last "decent" ILB we've had you haven't watched Packers games over the past few years. Blake Martinez was an above average or above decent ILB - he lacked any kind of big play potential - but 100 out of 101 people would say easily was a decent ILB.

Blake didn't start or play every game as a rookie but his next four seasons (2017-2020 seasons) he had 144, 144, 155 and 151 tackles. He has consistently been in the top tier of tacklers in the league during that time frame.

He even tossed in averaging 3 sacks a year along with handful of pass defenses each season and nearly an INT a year.

I realize Martinez tackled a lot of guys but it was usually 5 or 6 yards past the LOS. I don't consider CMIII a true ILB and should not have included him for comparison. He could get after the QB though, something I never saw from Martinez. And I haven't heard Martinez mentioned in the news since the trade.

Regardless, and back to the point, the current ILB group looks pretty good. Is Campbell playing over his head? We'll see.

 

[Heyjoe4]

I haven't really watched Dallas recently so I didn't know what to expect other than I know he was a talented kid with a big injury coming out of college but has been pretty reliable since at least in terms of availability. Other than that, I figure i'm not making any judgements for 4-5 weeks in the system at a minimum.

That's fair. The ILB group looks better than it has in years, so I hope they all play up to their potential. Some are saying Campbell is playing over his head. Maybe. As you say, time will tell.

 

[OldSchool101]

I realize Martinez tackled a lot of guys but it was usually 5 or 6 yards past the LOS. I don't consider CMIII a true ILB and should not have included him for comparison. He could get after the QB though, something I never saw from Martinez. And I haven't heard Martinez mentioned in the news since the trade.

Regardless, and back to the point, the current ILB group looks pretty good. Is Campbell playing over his head? We'll see.

That’s largely false. Martinez was rarely used in GB as a pass rusher, that was not his role. After leaving GB Last season for the Giants he had:

151 tackles
9 TFL
3 Sacks
6 QB hits
5 PD
1 INT
1 FF

No way do you produce like that unless you’re involved early and often. If we had Blake paired next to Campbell they’d be a force to reckon with.

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-linebacker-rankings-entering-2021-nfl-season

If Jaylon is in earshot of that type of involvement for 750K, he’d be one of the top steals of FA. The best part is Jaylon doesn’t need to be our #1 LB. He is our primary backup LB until proven otherwise and a cheap one at that.

 

[tynimiller]

I realize Martinez tackled a lot of guys but it was usually 5 or 6 yards past the LOS. I don't consider CMIII a true ILB and should not have included him for comparison. He could get after the QB though, something I never saw from Martinez. And I haven't heard Martinez mentioned in the news since the trade.

Regardless, and back to the point, the current ILB group looks pretty good. Is Campbell playing over his head? We'll see.

Don't let "news" stories declare whether a guy has seen success or not Corey Linsley is yet again quietly being one of the best centers in the game...Martinez going down this year in NY has caused a massive hole in Giants defense. In 2020 Martinez excelled for them and even proved to be an all around ILB that season at least with a PFF grade of 75.9 - With his coverage grade even breaking 70 at 73.9

As example some of the arguably best ILB grades in 2020:

Blake Martinez - 75.9 OVR / 75.2 Run / 54.7 Pass Rush / 73.9 Coverage
Bobby Wagner - 83.2 OVR / 90.0 Run / 83.9 Pass Rush / 69.2 Coverage
Lavonte David - 81.5 OVR / 78.9 Run / 51.2 Pass Rush / 83.8 Coverage
Darius Leonard - 72.6 OVR / 66.8 Run / 84.6 Pass Rush / 69.8 Coverage
Roquan Smith - 67.2 OVR / 39.8 Run / 74.8 Pass Rush / 84.0 Coverage
Tremaine Edmonds - 47.9 OVR / 59.4 Run / 41.8 Pass Rush / 44.4 Coverage
Devin White - 43.4 OVR / 41.0 Run / 85.9 Pass Rush / 39.8 Coverage

 

[mongoosev]

Martinez is a very talented guy.

 

[Schultz]

I always liked him and thought he got a bad wrap. He was the type of player that did his job well but not good enough to make up for others who did not. The Pack had plenty of those guys. Put on a solid defense he was just that, solid.

 

[Mondio]

Don't let "news" stories declare whether a guy has seen success or not Corey Linsley is yet again quietly being one of the best centers in the game...Martinez going down this year in NY has caused a massive hole in Giants defense. In 2020 Martinez excelled for them and even proved to be an all around ILB that season at least with a PFF grade of 75.9 - With his coverage grade even breaking 70 at 73.9

As example some of the arguably best ILB grades in 2020:

Blake Martinez - 75.9 OVR / 75.2 Run / 54.7 Pass Rush / 73.9 Coverage
Bobby Wagner - 83.2 OVR / 90.0 Run / 83.9 Pass Rush / 69.2 Coverage
Lavonte David - 81.5 OVR / 78.9 Run / 51.2 Pass Rush / 83.8 Coverage
Darius Leonard - 72.6 OVR / 66.8 Run / 84.6 Pass Rush / 69.8 Coverage
Roquan Smith - 67.2 OVR / 39.8 Run / 74.8 Pass Rush / 84.0 Coverage
Tremaine Edmonds - 47.9 OVR / 59.4 Run / 41.8 Pass Rush / 44.4 Coverage
Devin White - 43.4 OVR / 41.0 Run / 85.9 Pass Rush / 39.8 Coverage

I didn't watch hardly a complete game or 2 of the giants last year, but never with us did I see anything from Martinez that would cause me to put him on a list with Edmonds, Roquan, Devin or Bobby Wagner. If I was a betting man, I'd bet that list was an example why "grades" don't always tell the story.

Martinez was ok, that's about it. We didn't miss him when he was gone, and we needed players.

 

[tynimiller]

I didn't watch hardly a complete game or 2 of the giants last year, but never with us did I see anything from Martinez that would cause me to put him on a list with Edmonds, Roquan, Devin or Bobby Wagner. If I was a betting man, I'd bet that list was an example why "grades" don't always tell the story.

Martinez was ok, that's about it. We didn't miss him when he was gone, and we needed players.

Not at all, again I'm not stating nor would anyone say Martinez is a highlight type guy - BUT he plays within his role of a system incredibly well. If you noticed majority of those gradings illustrated that they had better seasons than Martinez in 2020...no one is arguing he was tier above any of them.

 

[Heyjoe4]

Don't let "news" stories declare whether a guy has seen success or not Corey Linsley is yet again quietly being one of the best centers in the game...Martinez going down this year in NY has caused a massive hole in Giants defense. In 2020 Martinez excelled for them and even proved to be an all around ILB that season at least with a PFF grade of 75.9 - With his coverage grade even breaking 70 at 73.9

As example some of the arguably best ILB grades in 2020:

Blake Martinez - 75.9 OVR / 75.2 Run / 54.7 Pass Rush / 73.9 Coverage
Bobby Wagner - 83.2 OVR / 90.0 Run / 83.9 Pass Rush / 69.2 Coverage
Lavonte David - 81.5 OVR / 78.9 Run / 51.2 Pass Rush / 83.8 Coverage
Darius Leonard - 72.6 OVR / 66.8 Run / 84.6 Pass Rush / 69.8 Coverage
Roquan Smith - 67.2 OVR / 39.8 Run / 74.8 Pass Rush / 84.0 Coverage
Tremaine Edmonds - 47.9 OVR / 59.4 Run / 41.8 Pass Rush / 44.4 Coverage
Devin White - 43.4 OVR / 41.0 Run / 85.9 Pass Rush / 39.8 Coverage

Interesting stuff Ty, thanks for putting that together. What caught my eye was Devin White. He was drafted very high and, as I would expect, leads the Pass Rush category. What surprised me is that he is at the bottom of EVERY other category.