Kampman: Not As Good As His Rep

Who is saying he is truly great? I haven’t heard that. Above average at least and maybe good. But he is no Reggie White.

“When your pass rush consists of one above average guy and a bunch of stiffs, you don’t trade away the one above average guy, not unless you want to revert to having the defense count to ‘5 Mississippi’.”

What I’ve been saying for how long? Let’s hope Raji is an immediate impact. Let’s hope Jenkins is fully recovered by the start of the season. Let’s hope Jolly is not convicted of a felony. Let’s hope Pickett isn’t slowed by a lingering hamstring again. And, let’s hope that Harrell can actually play more than two consecutive games at an acceptable level.

So, no you can’t let the best pass rusher you have go. Regardless what the football purists believe, he is the best GB has.

While, admittedly, I know very little about the 3-4 and only slightly more of the 4-3, I can see that Kampman’s future depends on how well he adapts to his changed responsibilities with the 3-4 scheme. The big question in my mind is whether he can be disruptive when he drops back into coverage. I doubt his expertise in that role. I can see him coming in when the 4-3 is called and putting his hand down. But in the 3-4 he would always be fully covered up. The Packers are being stacked up with speedy guys who can both rush and drop back into coverage. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him traded after this season to a 4-3 club. For us now, the 3-4 is the way to go and he becomes a part-time player. And the Packers do not give big contracts to such a player. From now on, our pass rush will come from Raji and speedy OLBers. But Kampie will always be remembered as a man who worked hard to maximize his talents.

retiredgampa – not quite accurate to say that Kampman will be a part-time player. He’ll still be on the field for almost every down. In the base 3-4 he’ll be standing up as an OLB and in sub packages, when they switch to a four man line, he will line up at his old end position, maybe even inside sometimes. But he won’t be coming off the field very much.

Also, the Packers can’t trade him after the season, he’ll be a free agent. That’s why so many people have suggested trading him before he hits the market. I just don’t think it’s worth it.

No question mark?

A couple of things Aaron:
1. Kampmans value stems from his ability to do all things well. He isn’t great at any one skill set. He isn’t a premier pass rusher, he isn’t a bonafide run stuffer, he isn’t the dominant player on a defense. But he is very solid in all those aspects. He’s a well rounded defensive end, that’s where his value comes from.
2. I think your next post should be titled: “Peppers: Not as good as his reputation.” He had 2.5 sacks two years ago and barely got into double digit sacks the 3 years prior to that. He takes plays off and doesn’t even show up some games and he’s looking for elite player money. I’d rather have a consistently-good-but-not-great Aaron Kampman than a flashes-of-greatness-but-also-goes-missing-for-games Julius Peppers.

3. And couldn’t we say the same thing about all DEs in terms of building stats against mediocre tackles? Elite tackles are hard to come by for a reason. Even the best pass rushers can be neutralized be an equally good tackle. Take Reggie White for example. Eric Allen of the Cowboys had his number every game and Reggie knew it (even admitted it in his book). That’s why tackle is so important.

Good stuff Ryeguy.

1. I could not agree more. The question becomes, how much are you willing to pay for those attributes? As I say in the post, I think there’s a real danger that the Packers could overpay here, though knowing Thompson, I doubt it.

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2. Again, I agree. Perhaps I’ll post that over at the Other 31 But since this is a Packers blog, I generally don’t post about defensive ends that play for the Carolina Panthers.

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3. To some extent, this is true. And yes, most players will tell you they have trouble with this guy or that guy. But the best pass rushers know how to set guys up to take advantage of them at just the right time – Reggie and Taylor were masters at this. Sure Allen and maybe even one or two others could keep Reggie at bay, but he got the job done a hell of a lot more times than he didn’t, no matter who he was facing. The same can be said of all the greats.

Okay, I get that his physical abilities are not elite, but he IS an elite DE. He can play the game for sure, and has will power equal to none.

He has an average of 10.8 sacks since 2005, accounting for an average 29% of Packer sacks.

While Ware has an 13,37 sacks avg., he also has 29% of Cowboys sacks.

Merriman, excluding last season, has 13,16 for 25% of SD sacks.

Allen has 12,12 for 33%

And while I can’t compare tackles between LBs and DEs, Kampman has an 74 Tackle average in that spam, while Allen has 62,5. One can say Kampman plays the run better…

By stats, I DO have to account Allen, specially since he has played for KC and suceeded, but Kampman’s stats are close enough to the elite pass rushers…

PackersRS – Many of Kampman’s sacks come outside the pocket. He’s not getting them because he’s dominating, but rather because the play breaks down because of the dominant (at times) defensive backfield. I’d be curious to see how many “coverage sacks” are attributed to all of these guys.
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As for tackles, that can be misleading. If a cornerback has a lot of tackles, that’s usually a bad thing because it means the ball is being thrown his way a lot. While defensive ends are not quite the same story, I do believe that something similar may have been happening, especially since he was playing opposite of Cullen Jenkins, who, I believe, is a much better run-stopper than Kampman.

Aaron,
You certainly must have 2nd thoughts about posting this blog. You should have gone with your ‘other’ choice.
Kampman represents the type of player all fans pull for. (especially in this day where prima-donnas get all the attention – I won’t mention any names). He definitely exceeded what I & most people had expected out of a 5th round draft pick from corn-country. His numbers say he’s elite. Maybe he’s just not flashy enough for you??
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Having said that, I doubt GB resigns him regardless of his performance in the 3-4. He’s pushing 30 years old. CM3 is the new featured OLB. Most think GB has an endless supply of salary-cap space. They don’t. They won’t be able to sign all their core-players the next two years. Kampman, because of age, will play somewhere else.

KGB was ONLY had one skill, he could not play the run, he could not play the screen, he could not do anything but speed rush. AK74 is more than a one trick poney. We will soon see if he can cover, but we know he plays the run well, can rush the passer (sure not top 5 in the NFL but probably top 10) and he always ALWAYS plays each play till the guy is actually tackled. Unlike most NFL DE’s who assume the play is over when the QB no longer has the ball.

http://www.tundravision.com/20.....mpman.html

I wrote this a month ago, and still stand behind it. I agree that Kampman is a great asset, but in a contract year and putting him out of position, we stand to gain nothing if he is merely serviceable as an OLB and he decides to bolt.

As you say, he’s not an overpowering guy and is really an overachiever…but there is a team out there that is going to look at his stats and Pro Bowls and overpay for it…and we get something out of it.

I find it somewhat ironic that it was so important to squeeze a third-round pick of value out of Brett Favre, but some of us seem content to see Kampman go for nothing after this season.

Well written article, Aaron, but I just disagree with you. Kampman isn’t a one trick pony, but an outstanding all around football player. He has the potential to be a Mike Vrabel in this defense, which is fine by me.

It’s interesting to see the Kampman posse represent. When other guys on the defense fail to make a play, it’s because they suck. When Kampman fails to make one, it’s because he’s got two, or three, or nine guys blocking him.

I’ve said in the past that Kampman has sucked just as much as the rest of the Dline, and while there’s a bit of hyperbole there, I’ll stick by it. He’s not terrible, and he’s not “just a guy”- but not by much. He’s a hard worker, but not a difference-maker. As Aaron said, many of his sacks come when plays break down. That’s a credit to his motor, which is commendable, but not to his abilities. One of the other jobs of a D end (besides getting to the QB) is to control the edge; he really doesn’t do that very well at all.

I think Kampman is popular because, like Tauscher before him, he’s a guy that many Packer fans can identify with. Fairly low-key, a hard-working grinder, a midwesterner who likes to do the things that small town midwesterners like to do. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it doesn’t make him an elite defensive player. It just makes him popular.

Yeah,

I kind of agree with Bucky here. I just don’t think you are a good evaluator of talent on the defensive side of the ball Aaron. Kampman is Jared Allen, they are indistiguishable…why do you even mention he was a throw in if not to tarnish him by association of draft status?

I have been amazed at your unfettered criticism of Collins as well….I think you just don’t like these guys, but you do a good job of dressing up your criticism in cogent thought. Between the lines you just don’t like them.

Which is odd because they both are in the top 5 of our best players

Jennings
Woodson
Kampman
Collins
Rodgers or some such. Did Kampman spit in your latte’? Did his mom copy your wife’s hairdo? Did Collins play your favorite Sinatra tune backwards?

Weird.

Aaron,

Great topic and thank you for taking on the ridiculious and false statement that Kampman is “always” double or triple teamed. He very rarely gets double teamed. He is a very good player and at his current salary i think he is a great fit on this team. But I hate when fans through out false “facts” jst to prove a point. I wish those fans could have watched the NFL networks replay of the game at Minnesota yesterday. Kampman wasn’t doubled teamed once i the first half (small sample i know)…..anywyas…. keep up the great posts…some peopel only see the world asd black and white.

It seems that guys like Allen, Harrison, and Ware play with a better group of guys that helps even out the blocking. The Packers had Kampman and no one else as rushing threats after Jenkins went down.