Green Bay Packers: Week 13 Silver Linings
By Jamie Wright
Sam Barrington. Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports photograph
Sam Barrington – ‘the new kid on the block’
Barrington has outplayed veteran ILB A.J. Hawk – and therefore has taken his place opposite Clay Matthews.
Sunday, he made two great plays back-to-back: a TFL on Shane Vereen and then a complete stuff of LeGarrette Blount, who had a pretty good day running through the Packers. He looked like a beast out there, flying around making plays. Barrington is a second-year guy trying to make the most of his opportunities … and if Sunday is any indication, his opportunities are only going to increase.
Sam provides a much bigger body in the middle to plug the run. Hawk is lean and weighs too little to really drag bruising backs down – whereas Barrington is proving to be a bruiser, himself.
He plays hard, with intensity and hasn’t really shown many blinding errors, though he is still getting used to the formations and schemes. Look for him to help change the course of the defense as we approach the colder winter months, where rushing and stopping the rush become prominent.