Welcome Dom Capers. Welcome to outside linebacker Aaron Kampman. In a move that was sort of anticipated the Packers announced that with Capers’s 3-4 defense Kampman will be moved from defensive end to linebacker. Defensive linemen in the 3-4 scheme are pretty much responsible for simply taking up blockers. That isn’t a very good assignment for Kampman, a smaller d-lineman who is one of the best pass rushers in the game. So he is moving to linebacker to free him up. But he can’t just rush from there. He’ll have more run blocking responsibility AND he’ll have to drop in to coverage to defend the pass.
What do you think about Kampan’s move to linebacker? Will he succeed there? Or are the Packers better off trading Kampman who has huge value as a defensive end? On a personal note, I wish Kampman the best whatever happens to him. He is one of the nicest guys I’ve come across in the Packers locker room. If you haven’t noticed, just about every time I go cover a Packer game my post-game story involves Kampman. He is a pleasure to talk with and he actually gives thoughtful answers as opposed to cliche responses. Ok… enough of that… your thoughts?
on Feb 5th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
I think Kampan is a very talented and athletic player who will be able to adjust to any position he’s put in. I’m not so sure that he will be as effective there as he was in the 4-3, but I’m confident he will do fine.
As a fan perhaps I shouldn’t put this kind of faith in the coaches, but they’ve never had a problem getting rid of fan-favorites if they were past their worth or won’t fit into the scheme (Favre, KGB, Samkon Gado)… and if they weren’t absolutely confident Kampman would do well in this position, I think they’d show him the door as well.