2011 Packers Yearbook: Most Frustrating Player

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2011 Packers Yearbook: Most Frustrating Player

(Be sure to place your vote in the poll below.)

Adam: Tramon Williams. It was very frustrating watching Williams go from a top-tier CB to a complete mess. Hopefully a better pass rush and a fully-healed shoulder gets him back on track in 2012.

Al: So many candidates… I’ll stay away from the obvious choice (cough… Finley… cough…) and go with Charlie Peprah. The Packers won a Super Bowl with Charlie Peprah at safety. Last season, he was a disaster. Made mistake after mistake and gave up one big play after another. Obviously, without Nick Collins around for guidance, he was just lost back there…

Chad: Jermichael Finley, hands down. (Pun intended.) This year we saw the drops bug move from James Jones to Finley, and boy was it frustrating to watch. Finley is a dominant player and such a threat to defenses that seeing him consistently drop passes was gut-wrenching. Here’s hoping this problem goes away with a fresh year and a fresh contract.

Kris:  Finley. The kid has all the potential to be a revolutionary player at the tight end position, which made his drops even more maddening.  If the guy’s head is in the right place, he can be dominant but after only about two and quarter seasons, we have yet to see if Finley can mentally handle the pro game.

Michael: James Starks. Following his surprising play down the stretch in 2010 and into the playoffs, Starks appeared to be on his way to becoming the Packers primary running back. Instead, Starks was injured most of the year and when healthy, failed to consistently run the ball well. With Ryan Grant likely gone via free agency, Starks will need to improve his vision and his ability to stay on the field throughout the season.

Thomas: D.J. Williams.  What happened to that guy?  During training camp he looked smooth and controlled in the offense and then when the regular season rolled around, he fell off the map.  When Williams was drafted, I figured he would get looks at slot reciever/away from the formation tight end and in the backfield as a pseudo-fullback with lots of flares and curls to catch linebackers and defensive linemen, but in the end Williams barely was active let alone on the field.  Hopefully a full offseason and a years worth of experience will help Williams entrench himself in the lineup and he can start to contribute earnestly.

Zach: Jermichael Finley and it’s not even close. Few plays in football are more frustrating than a dropped pass, and Finley led all NFL tight ends in that category last season. He was clearly pressing in a contract year. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Finley all but eradicated that problem next season, much like James Jones did between 2010 and ’11.

 

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Jersey Al Bracco is the founder and editor of AllGreenBayPackers.com, and the co-founder of Packers Talk Radio Network. He can be heard as one of the Co-Hosts on Cheesehead Radio and is the Green Bay Packers Draft Analyst for Drafttek.com.

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18 thoughts on “2011 Packers Yearbook: Most Frustrating Player

  1. No one is going with raji??? That’s surprising… I understand picking Finley guys but he had a really solid year up till the last quarter of the season. Raji on the other hand was pushed around all year. He didn’t do anything well… I know he wasn’t used properly and I still blame the coaching staff to some degree but he was ranked dead last in run defense this year and got next to zero pressure on the QB…. All this coming off of a probowl year

    1. I agree with Raji – last year he just seemed to be around the ball, made plays, and was a disruptive force. This year it looked like a lot of standing around, and most importantly this occurred at a position where the Pack and especially the defense really needed a difference maker.

    2. Probowl caliber year I should say…. not probowl year. Yeah dan he just didn’t show up this year… he got blown off the line every time, it was sad to see. Hopefully him and some of the other guys on our defense will develop a chip on there shoulders this offseason and come to play next year. that coupled with an actual training camp will hopefully bring us a lot closer to our 2010 form.

  2. I left Raji out because I didn’t feel he fits the “frustrating” term. Maybe disappointing or overrated, but “frustrating” is someone who does something to drive you batty. That’s not Raji.

    1. I have the intuition that “frustrating” would be more of someone who has an awesome play followed by a bone-headed play. Is that your idea as well?

      If so, then the fact that Raji isn’t the most frustrating is even more damning: he was just invisible

  3. So dropping the ball at very crucial points of the game and actually single handedly losing games gets you rewarded with a new lucrative contract, sounds like we are headed to the bottom of our division once again

  4. Josh Sitton.

    He tried to play through some injuries, but his performance contributed to the late season dip in offensive performance.

  5. Sorry but nobody in the history of the Packers frustrates me more to watch than MLB AJ Hawk. I ask you to focus on him for just 5 plays in a row, he is truly god awful, his instincts are terrible, he can’t change directions, he can’t catch, he can’t tackle(usually ends up on bottom with ball carrier on top of him), no feel for blitzing, etc. etc. If he were a 5th round pick, he would be on the bench or cut, I don’t know how the packers coaches can watch those tapes and feel good about him in the middle of the defense.

    1. Yeah I was on the fence between mentioning Hawk and Raji. I literally wrote a whole comment very similar to yours about Hawk before erasing it and giving Raji my vote.

  6. I’d take Sam Shields. From a promising rookie year debut to nothing but disappointment in his second year.
    His coverage went down when he kept peaking into the backfield and losing contact with the receiver. He was so bad in the playoff game, Capers began substituting Bush on early downs. That alone garners consideration for MFP.

    But the most frustrating part relating to Shields is either his lack of ability in tackling or lack of desire to do so. So bad pass coverage and bad tackling. What a carking combination.

  7. I’ll just lump all the running backs together. They still don’t have an instinctive, plant-the-foot, one-cut and go runner.

    Love Starks physical ability, but he’s pre-determining his hole and cut (I think he can grow here). Grant does the same, but his vision is worse. Kuhn is surprisingly bad after contact for a fullback. Saine shows a lot of promise and Green flashed.

    This was the first year I can remember where, from Lang all the way across to Bulaga, there would be some great cut-back opportunities off zone blocking but the backs minimized, not maximized the yardage.

    I LIKE the depth of Starks, Saine and what Alex Green possibly brings to the table. I also empathize with them because McCarthy doesn’t really give enough opportunities to excel or get a rhythm.

    Watching the backside cut there for the taking so often this year without the productivity was maddening.

  8. I picked Sam Shields. Just watching his tackling attempts drives me frickin crazy.

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