Yesterday, we took your votes on the Packers’ top cornerbacks of the first 25 years of the 2000s, and competition was fierce. The Packers have a deep bench of contributors there, and lots of people voiced intense opinions in the comments. That’s great!
What’s less great is the Packers’ depth at linebacker. There have been a few decent players at the position so far this century, but nobody who reaches the heights of even the third or fourth corners you voted on yesterday.
Still, there are good memories
aplenty among the Packers’ linebackers. Who’s your choice for the best linebacker of the 2000s so far?
The linebacker nominees
Na’il Diggs (2000-05)
390 tackles (49 for loss), seven sacks, four interceptions
84 games played (80 starts)
A fourth round pick in 2000, Diggs was a starter essentially from the get-go and would go on to start virtually every game for which he was healthy until injuries piled up in the 2005 season. Diggs was never a Pro Bowler or All-Pro in Green Bay, but he was a very solid player, recording four interceptions and seven sacks to go with a boatload of tackles across his Packers career. His best season came in 2002, when he logged three sacks and two interceptions to go with his 85 total tackles, which included 12 tackles for loss, the second-most on the team.
Nick Barnett (2003-10)
1x second-team All-Pro
789 tackles (52 for loss), 15.5 sacks, nine interceptions
107 games played (107 starts)
Another instant starter, Barnett was a tackling machine over his eight years with the Packers, surpassing 100 total takedowns in every season for which he was healthy. At his peak, Barnett stuffed the stat sheet with the best of them, contributing in every part of the defensive effort. He recorded at least three sacks in three of his seasons with the Packers, at least two interceptions in three seasons, and recovered at least one fumble in five seasons. He also took an interception back 95 yards for a touchdown against the Saints in 2005, easily the most impressive single play of his career. His best season came in 2007, when Barnett recorded 131 total tackles, 3.5 sacks, and two interceptions, earning a second-team All-Pro nod.
A.J. Hawk (2006-14)
1x Pro Bowl
922 tackles (55 for loss), 19 sacks, nine interceptions
142 games played, 136 starts
Before A.J. Hawk was a stoic, cigar-smoking TV show cohost, the 2006 fifth overall pick was a long-tenured member of the Green Bay Packers. Though he’s probably mostly remembered for rarely keeping his helmet on, giving his own sideline the finger, and being victimized on a crucial fake field goal in the 2014 NFC Championship game (I’ll spare you the link on that one), Hawk also was a solid, durable linebacker for most of his tenure. He missed just two games in his Packers’ career, breaking the 100-tackle threshold six times. His 19 sacks are the most of any linebacker on this list.
De’Vondre Campbell (2021-23)
1x All-Pro
317 tackles (15 for loss), two sacks, four interceptions
40 games played (40 starts)
The very definition of lightning in a bottle, De’Vondre Campbell was marvelous in 2021. He was everywhere in first-year defensive coordinator Joe Barry’s defense, earning first-team All-Pro honors while helming a unit that was stronger than just about anyone could have anticipated. But, like Barry, Campbell’s contributions in Green Bay waned. Despite signing a lucrative contract in the 2022 offseason, Campbell would play fewer and fewer games each of the next two seasons as injuries mounted. The Packers moved on after the 2023 season, and Campbell did a speedrun of the same arc in San Francisco, earning a late-season dismissal after holding down the fort for Dre Greenlaw. His pick-6 against Washington in 2022 was pretty neat, though.
Desmond Bishop (2007-12)
294 tackles (16 for loss), nine sacks, one interception
69 games played (26 starts)
Dubbed Mr. August early in his career for his outstanding preseason play, Bishop finally ascended to the starting lineup in 2010. He immediately paid back the Packers’ faith, recording a season-high 13 tackles and a sack in his first start and returning his only career interception 32 yards for a touchdown two weeks later — spoiling Brett Favre’s second trip to Lambeau Field in a Vikings uniform in the process. That same season, Bishop would recover a fumble forced by Clay Matthews on the famous “spill it!” play in Super Bowl XLV. Bishop would return to the starting lineup in 2011, recording a team-leading 115 tackles, but a bad hamstring injury prior to the 2012 season scuttled that season and ended his Packers career.
Brady Poppinga (2005-10)
182 tackles (12 for loss), five sacks, two interceptions
81 games played (44 starts)
A fourth round pick in the same draft that produced Aaron Rodgers and Nick Collins, Poppinga was a full-time (or close to full-time) starter in three of his six seasons in Green Bay. More of a role player than others on this list, Poppinga never finished higher than third on the team in tackles in a given season. He was, however, usually a core special teams player and contributed there throughout his career.
Quay Walker (2022-present)
341 tackles (21 for loss) 6.5 sacks, one interception
44 games played (43 starts)
Walker has produced solid stats throughout his Packers career (100+ tackles in each of his three seasons so far), but questions remain about the extent to which he’s been able to put it all together on the field. He’s had a couple of embarrassing ejections, and hasn’t yet fully harnessed the elite physical abilities that drew the Packers to him in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft. Still, his Week 1 pick-6 against the Bears in 2023 was awesome; there’s no disputing that.
More from acmepackingcompany.com:
- Black and Blue News: This Week in the NFC North for July 6, 2014
- Cheese Curds: Green Bay Packers News and Links for July 7, 2014
- Packers 2013 Top Plays Recap: Top Ten Best Plays of the Year
- Packers Featured Heavily in NFL's Top 20 Games of 2013
- Packers' 2014 Roster Preview: Returning Quarterbacks
- Packers' 90-Man Roster Countdown: Players 5-1
