Cheesehead
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- Mar 19, 2019
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It’s a roundabout way of saying he must see the play to make the play, and to see the play in time to make it – to anticipate it – he has to be looking across the line of scrimmage in the right place.
That’s really the whole key to Burks becoming the player the Packers drafted him to be, when they traded up to select him in the third round out of Vanderbilt in 2018. Throughout the spring, he took the majority of the snaps next to Blake Martinez when the first-team defense had two inside linebackers on the field.
New position coach Kirk Olivadotti placed a big emphasis on his players’ eyes when he first arrived, Burks said. With new Head Coach Matt LaFleur’s offense employing a lot of shifts, motions and play-fakes, it’s easy for linebackers to get distracted. That’s the whole point of the window dressing to certain plays – getting defenders to miss their true keys.
OTAs and minicamp against quarterback Aaron Rodgers and LaFleur’s offense were valuable training for Olivadotti to keep his linebackers disciplined, and as the leader of the inside linebackers, Martinez is an important resource as Burks looks to take a step forward.
“He’s been the commander of the defense for the last couple years here,” Burks said. “(The emphasis on the eyes) just simplifies the game for you, knowing what reads to look for, and you’re able to play a lot faster.”
Martinez noted he’s seen as much improvement out of Burks as anyone on the defense this offseason and believes come training camp “he’ll show up.”