Bigby In - Manuel Out as Starter

[Thunder Muscle]

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=649588

[MadCityBucky]

Sounds good to me. He played extremely well last game and it's no surprise to me that he gets the start though I would like to see a little more of him in games.

Excited to see a hard hitter though.

A source close to the situation said cornerbacks Al Harris and Charles Woodson had been lobbying the coaches for Bigby to replace Manuel, a player whom they apparently no longer trusted.

Interesting....

[LUKE23]

I also found the Woodson/Harris input interesting. Not that surprising though. When you combine average athletic ability with mental breakdowns, it causes major problems in the secondary. At least Bigby will be able to compensate for problems he has in coverage if he has any with his speed.

Does anyone know what Bigby ran in the 40 at his combine, just wondering?

Also, another interesting quote from MJS:

Why the Packers kidded themselves that Marquand Manuel was suddenly going to turn things around is a complete mystery. They were delusional in thinking that his marginal speed and poor coverage ability were magically going to change because he was healthier. Maybe Manuel looked quicker, as the coaches claimed, but the Packers wasted precious time tutoring better athletes like Atari Bigby and Aaron Rouse while putting Manuel on the field. The decision to elevate Bigby to the starting position this week was the right one, but they should have been putting Rouse, a third-round pick, on a fast track to be the top backup instead of messing around with Manuel. Former general manager Ron Wolf always said that the worst thing you can do is fail to part quickly with your mistakes and that appears to be what current general manager Ted Thompson did with Manuel.

[deep throat]

A good comment on the JS - Wolf knew how to cut his losses- Ted should of canned Manuel in the off-season. I'm not sold on Bigby as a cover guy, he looked great blitzing the QB -that's only a small part of the position.

Luke, He's not that fast 4.6/40 -His best time was a 4.57 ("wind-aided" time). He's a strong guy though and willing to scrifice his body-sometimes not a good thing because in the open field he will need to wrap up tackle. He missed at least three tackles that turned into big gains in the steeler game, hopefully he can correct that. I think he will give up big plays in coverage, but make some big plays with his gambing style. ANYTHING'S BETTER THEN MANUEL.

[paulpressey25]

I think bringing in Manuel last year was a decent move......he wasn't that expensive and looked much better when he had better protection around him in Seattle......

But now that he's proven not to fit here, time to cut losses and move on with Bigby and Rouse.....good move here.

[Ayt]

Good.

Its also very good to hear they inserted Bush as the nickel even though it doesn't come as much of a surprise. He's been rock solid. I love the physical style that he plays.