Green Bay Packers: 3 ways they can solve their linebacker situation
2. Ink NaVorro Bowman
The Packers have reportedly discussed bringing in NaVorro Bowman to help salvage the linebacker group.
Said on @nflnetwork: After losing ILB Jake Ryan, the Packers have discussed veteran options, including NaVorro Bowman. But they’re focused on their young guys for now. One they like: Ahmad Thomas, who spent time on their practice squad last season.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) August 2, 2018
Bowman, like Cushing, would add experience to the Packers linebacker core, a core that contains just one player with NFL experience in Blake Martinez. 30-year-old Bowman registered 127 total tackles over 15 games with the Oakland Raiders and San Francisco 49ers last season. It wasn’t long ago, give or take four years, when Bowman was one of the elite inside linebackers in the entire NFL. He made three Pro Bowls with the 49ers from 2012-2015.
In 2017, Bowman received a 84.8 grade by Pro Football Focus for his play, very respectable given his age and injury history. Although he won’t give the Packers the physicality and quickness he once had, he’ll still be a beast in the run game. coincidentally, the run game is where Ryan excelled the most.
Besides his play and experience, Bowman comes with many perks. For those that didn’t see many Oakland Raiders games last season, Bowman was the quarterback of the defense, if you will. He called the plays, aligned his teammates and to simply put it, made sure everyone knew and did their job.
Bowman wouldn’t come in as the all-pro player he once was. However, his ability to stop the run and become a leader would work wonders for Packers defenders playing in the box.