June 6, 2011 | Brandon Benson | www.acmepackingcompany.com
4 months ago: ARLINGTON TX - FEBRUARY 06: Desmond Bishop #55 of the Green Bay Packers recovers his fumble against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLV at Cowboys Stadium on February 6 2011 in Arlington Texas. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
For those that have closely watched the player formerly known as Mr. August, it probably came as no surprise that Green Bay Packers LB Desmond Bishop had an outstanding 2010 season when given an opportunity to start. I had no doubt that he’s a solid tackler and good against the run, but he quickly ended my concerns I had about him in pass coverage with a great pass defense he made in his second start against the Dolphins. He seemed like a completely different player from the one I watched get torched by the Cowboys back in 2008.
He’s a bit of a thankless player who doesn’t make too many big plays (4 sacks, 1 INT on the season) but rarely, if ever, is beaten on a play. That type of performance, nothing but positive plays, got the attention of the stats gurus at Pro Football Focus:
Bishop was rewarded with a new contract and a starting job in 2011. Exactly how good is he after just one year as a starter? Only he and James Farrior had ratings above +4.0 in each defensive category: run defense, pass rush, and pass coverage. His play has pushed Nick Barnett to the backup spot heading into 2011, despite Barnett being one of the league’s best inside linebackers in 2009.
That’s a brief excerpt of a glowing article on Bishop. Follow the link to read the entire post. While the picture I included here is what Pro Football Focus called his “best known” play of the season, his biggest play of the season was the sack of Michael Vick on the very first play in the Wildcard game. That one really set the tone for the entire game.
