I think leaking this news might be a message to Jolly sitting out because he won't sign his tender.

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I agree pack93z...this should give us a much more pronounced interior push. I love Pickett's game, but he is more of an occupying force in that he ties people up. Raji has the ability not only to occupy 1 or 2 guys, but also push them into the backfield.

I thought Raji showed really nice flashes of that last year once the anke injury cleared up a bit.

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anybody got the video of Raji stuffing Kevin Smith?

or gettin Alex Smith?

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ahhh this makes sense ...

something to make jolly sign his tender (not chicken tender either); forgot he didnt sign yet.

ya Im hoping if we get a more solid Dline going well get in some more sacks this year even with the same LBers ...

Interestingly, I thought this was a way to possibly improve our OUTSIDE rush.

Pickett lines up on the left side at left end. Let's be real, it's likely you are going to see Pickett get double teamed - he is big and strong, and most times it'll be necessary to have him doubled team.

Who else plays on the left side? The LOLB. If we are going to get more of a pass rush, we also need to improve the production that comes from that spot. One way to do it is to create more match-up difficulties on the left side, at least that is how I see it. Rushing while lining behind Pickett, in theory, seems to provide some benefit. Perhaps this is aimed at making things a little easier for Brad Jones...?

Either way, I see this move at the very least improving our inside pass-rush. If nothing else, we see Jolly in the game fresher, and that is a positive itself.

This is a risky move, though. Raji is strong, but last year he was nothing more than okay at NT. Pickett, though, was really good. You have to think the coaches saw something in Raji that made them willing to go with this move.

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I guess in my view, it's not nearly as complicated as that. Pickett will be 32 in October. He's not getting any younger, and Raji is the starting NT of the future. Why not play him there now? It's his natural position and I think his ceiling is higher than Pickett's. He's got to learn to play there sooner or later. And by doing this you get your best linemen on the field, allowing each to focus on one position, not counting sub-packages.

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http://twitter.com/Greg_A_Bedard/status/14320495492 

^ Well, that'll go over well with Packer fans [/sarcasm].

Seriously though, interesting move. It certainly looks like we'll head into TC with more talent at safety than we have the past couple of years.

Blackmon is athletic, and you think with his speed he'd have some range. Interesting move, but very unexpected.

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I like the switch.

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Is this perhaps another leak designed to target a tender holdout?

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