Photo Credit: AP Photo/Aaron M. Sprecher (NFL.com)
By: Marques Eversoll
In hindsight, I really wish I had a dime for every time I said, “Whenever Chris Borland is drafted, it’ll be too late.” Many weren’t on board with the undersized former Badger, but he’s a football player. Isn’t that who the NFL employs?
The linebacker-rich San Francisco 49ers grabbed Borland with the 77th overall pick. Guess what? Borland was picked too late.
There were 60 inside/middle linebackers that played at least 25 percent of their team’s defensive snaps this season. Luke Kuechly, the 2013 Defensive Player of the Year, was the No. 1 player at the position, according to Pro Football Focus. Borland, the overlooked third-round pick, was the No. 4 player at the position.
Perhaps the Packers wanted Borland in the third round, but they never got the chance. Instead, they picked defensive tackle Khyri Thornton (85) and tight end Richard Rodgers (98) with their two third-round picks. Rodgers improved throughout the course of his rookie season and looks like he’ll play a significant role for the team moving forward, whereas Thornton remains a wild card, having spent 2014 on the injured reserve.
Imagine if the Packers had Borland right now. How much different would the “offseason needs” conversation be?
Now, they enter the offseason with a glaring hole (or two, or three) in the middle of the defense. In fact, the crutch the team is leaning on is Sam Barrington, who became a key player on the inside but is a seventh-round pick and far from a proven starter. Veteran linebackers A.J. Hawk and Brad Jones could be released, which would free up more than $7 million in cap space. Jamari Lattimore is also a free agent. Clay Matthews moved to the middle and helped bolster the run defense, but he’s a better player on the outside. The Packers simply had no better options than playing Matthews in the middle.
Borland (5-11, 248) was an afterthought because of his lack of size. But if you watched him at Wisconsin or did your homework before the draft, you noticed No. 44 around the football – a lot – often behind the line of scrimmage. He had 8.5 tackles-for-loss as a senior at Wisconsin. He posted a ridiculous 19 (!) TFLs as a redshirt sophomore in 2011.
Perryman (5-11, 236) may benefit from Borland’s early success, in terms of where he’s draft. He’s projected to come off the board in the latter portion of the first round or early in round two. Of course, an impressive showing at the combine could skyrocket his draft stock. Perryman made 9.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage this past season at Miami.
Oh, by the way: Perryman is a member of Miami’s “No. 52” club. Ray Lewis wore it. So did 10-year veteran Jonathan Vilma.
At his Feb. 20 press conference at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Perryman compared himself to Borland. “He’s a dog,” Perryman said. I’m now certain that Perryman’s been reading my Twitter feed. Or it’s just an extremely common comparison.
Watch Borland play at Wisconsin, then watch Perryman play at Miami. They’re both instinctive. They both can hit. They both have the mental capacity to lead a defense.
The Packers won’t be able to get Perryman in the third round, where they nearly had a shot at Borland last season, but they very well may be able to get him with their first pick at No. 30 overall.
Mike McCarthy, per Tyler Dunne of JSOnline, told reporters this week at the Combine that inside linebacker “could probably be compared to where we were last year at the safety position.” Of course, the Packers didn’t wait long to address their need at safety. They picked Alabama’s Ha Ha Clinton-Dix at No. 21 and watched him develop into an every-down player as a rookie – an every-down player that intercepted two passes in the NFC Championship.
The Packers (because of an injury to Morgan Burnett) began 2013 with M.D. Jennings and Jerron McMillian as their starting safeties Week 1 in San Francisco. They started 2014 with Burnett, Clinton-Dix and Micah Hyde rotating in with different packages.
This past season, Brad Jones and A.J. Hawk were the Packers’ Week 1 starters at inside linebacker. Only time will tell if they suffer a similar fate to McMillian and Jennings. But it’s safe to say the Packers will have two new opening-week starters in the middle of their defense.
Marques Eversoll is on-air on SportsLine every weekday afternoon from 4:00-6:00 PM on The Fan, and he hosts the Saturday Morning Showcase every weekend 8:00-10:00 AM. Follow him on Twitter @MarquesEversoll.
