texaspackerbacker
12 years ago

If the ZBS is more of a personnel thing and our guys are too small and mobile to run it, then why do you like EDS so much at center? Currently listed, he is the smallest out of the Packers starting offensive lineman. Jonathan Cooper is slightly (and I mean slightly) bigger than EDS but he is one of the best run blocking center/guards (considered a mauler, not finesse) in the draft and is also an exceptional pass blocker.

With the defense the Packers currently run, big fatties like Raji and Pickett are guys the Packers need. Star Lotulelei had to leave the combine early due to some tests that showed heart problems. Since then, his heart problems have been cleared...for good. Lotulelei comes from a 3-4 system so he has already proven he can play in it. He is quick and powerful and if I had to make a professional comparison I'd say he is a Cullen Jenkins-type of player.

That is my reasoning for moving up for these two players. They have incredible day 1 talent and if either of them slip into the teens, it would be great to move up and draft one of them.

I'm no expert though. 😄

Originally Posted by: Yerko 



Good for the Samoan Star if his heart is not a problem. Supposedly, however, he will be long gone by the time the Packers draft. Granted, Cooper might be the right type of center and slightly better than EDS - key word being slightly. However, I really think/hope there is no chance we draft a center in the first (or 2nd, 3rd, or 4th) round. We have a significantly greater need for a D Lineman. The only way we take any O Lineman early is if there is a strong lack of confidence in Sherrod or Bulaga or both - and then, of course, it would be an OT, probably one suitable for the ZBS. As for the "fatties", I commented on that elsewhere, but suffice it to say, Raji is a colossal disappointment to me. I hoped he would have real toughness stopping the run as well as a decent push up the middle in rushing the passer. He has been pathetically lacking in both areas IMO. I see him single-blocked; I see him chasing down plays he should have jammed up; And I don't see him getting anywhere near QBs or collapsing the pocket on them. Let's put up with Raji one more year, then NOT sign him to a big contract. Get some big tough journeyman for about 1/8 as much money who will play NT as good or better than Raji.
Expressing the Good Normal Views of Good Normal Americans.
If Anything I Say Smacks of Extremism, Please Tell Me EXACTLY What.
play2win
12 years ago

Maybe the grass just seems greener on the other side of the fence, but I recall Wilfork and Ngata being that kind of tough hard to push out of the way guy I hoped Raji would be. I don't remember that much about Warren and Seymour and those others, but I don't recall guts hanging over the belt like Raji and Pickett either. I agree with you about the 80% of the snaps. I'd like to see them rotate at NT for now. I dread the thought of Raji being paid big money at some point, though. The big lump has been a colossal disappointment from my perspective. We won the SB IN SPITE of Raji. Pickett played OK, but not the kind of game you expect from somebody with his body type. Green actually did show some toughness, as I recall. We should NOT re-sign Raji, but instead get somebody like Green for 1/5 to 1/10 as much.

Originally Posted by: texaspackerbacker 



texas, maybe you are forgetting...

BJ Raji, with Howard Green, Cullen jenkins and Ryan Pickett playing alongside him in 2010 had 7.5 sacks, 5 PDs and a pretty famous INT in the playoffs returned for a TD, the first DL in the history of the Packers to do so. That one play won the NFC Championship for us. Also was the elephant blocker for Kuhn's score at ATL in the playoffs.

We kiss Jenkins and Green goodbye, then don't replace them for 2 years, and you question Raji's production? Its called a 3-4 defense for a reason. We've essentially been playing 2-4 for two years now, as no one has picked up the slack of those two player losses, and we have zero depth to work a rotation. At least Neal flashed some last season in the 13 games he played in. But, it is clear we need more than that.

During that SB we won, the one you are so heavily criticizing him for, he played twice as many snaps as any other defensive lineman, 60 snaps. 2 assists, 4 QB pressures and a QB hit.

Bring some legit players into our DL and Raji's production will soar again, just like IT DID in 2010. Don't rewrite history.
PackerTraxx
12 years ago
p2w, I agree, it's puzzled me why so many are down on Raji. We would be in deep dodo without him. As you said, he's lost his supporting cast. We have no 3-4 DEs and our only hope right now is for Neal to break out. My #1 hope is that we can pick up one 3-4 DE that can contribute this year and two would be outstanding. Then if Worthy can effectively bulk up to 320-330 and play NT we would really have something going on our DL. I don't know if that's possible but it sure would be nice.
Why is Jerry Kramer not in the Hall of Fame?
wpr
  • wpr
  • Preferred Member
12 years ago
Raji is a good player but he is not the entire DL by himself. Give him some trench buddies and he will shine once again.
Personally I prefer him to be a DE and not NT.
UserPostedImage
Users browsing this topic
    Fan Shout
    dfosterf (2h) : Butt
    dfosterf (2h) : Kicked the world champion Green Bay Packers in 1963
    dfosterf (2h) : Lee Roy Jordon passed. Vince didn't like him, admired him. Anchored the Cowboys doomsday defense. Ice bowl, college all star team that...
    Zero2Cool (3h) : I think I'm gonna do the cut over to new site soon.
    dfosterf (3h) : The negotiations are ongoing but tough
    dfosterf (3h) : I heard Zero was going to offer his basement to Micah for his new podcast studio in exchange for him to be able to use it also if Micah buys
    Mucky Tundra (5h) : You are wrong! Good day to you sir!
    Mucky Tundra (5h) : @mattschneidman Packers announce Matthew Golden will wear No. 0.
    Zero2Cool (6h) : nope
    Zero2Cool (6h) : Golden changing to 0?
    packerfanoutwest (9h) : Micah Parsons will be first Packer to wear No. 1 since Curly Lambeau
    dfosterf (9h) : Probably win the league auto drafting from the 2 hole
    Zero2Cool (9h) : I tried few ways to reach Matt. He'll get auto drafted lol
    dfosterf (10h) : Don't know the significance of that, but do know porky better respond to the email you were able to send wtf Porky? Sign ze papers!
    Zero2Cool (10h) : burned up my emails with test account son new site, don't have one for test register now haha
    dfosterf (10h) : My boy Dant'e Thornton is looking like the WR1 for the raiders. Told ya Martha 🤪
    dfosterf (14h) : Lets offer a 4th for Kenny Clark. Jerry seems to be geezin' pretty badly
    wpr (20h) : yooper
    Zero2Cool (20h) : next is create topic from headline
    Zero2Cool (20h) : new site has recent topics and headlines now
    buckeyepackfan (20h) : Micah wearing #1, Packers offered it to him. Curly only one to wear #1
    Zero2Cool (21h) : Micah said he told Rasheed he's gonna get some practice. LT1 yeah?
    Zero2Cool (22h) : Patriots release Jabrill Peppers Before 2025 Season
    Mucky Tundra (22h) : yooper!
    Zero2Cool (29-Aug) : Never. But gonna be looking different in few days :D
    yooperfan (29-Aug) : Whew, I got it back. I was afraid that I lost this site for good.
    Zero2Cool (29-Aug) : Harrisburg Packers
    Mucky Tundra (29-Aug) : Yes
    Zero2Cool (29-Aug) : No.
    dfosterf (29-Aug) : The man carried us a lot of the time
    dfosterf (29-Aug) : I think a Kenny Clark tribute is in order
    Zero2Cool (29-Aug) : new site, text editor gooder even on phone
    beast (29-Aug) : Oh yes, sometimes they make using a cellphone tough. I just wanted to make sure it was the correct article, & thank you for pointing it out.
    jdlax (29-Aug) : I can't believe one of my teams went out and wablammo just up and acquired one of the best players in the world overnight
    dfosterf (29-Aug) : I do very much appreciate when Beast and others pick up my slack 😊
    dfosterf (29-Aug) : I accept Beast's admonishment regarding my failure to link stuff I reference. I simply never learned to link from my cell phone.
    beast (29-Aug) : That's not what your she said 😌, she said keep going 😏
    Mucky Tundra (29-Aug) : Anything over 4 hours means he needs to get to the hospital
    Mucky Tundra (29-Aug) : Someone might want to check on Hafley and make sure his erection has gone down
    Zero2Cool (28-Aug) : LaFleur texts "bleep me I cannot sit down"
    Zero2Cool (28-Aug) : YouTube has had me last hour or two lol
    Mucky Tundra (28-Aug) : Ugh this trade happened right as my shift started and it's killing me
    Zero2Cool (28-Aug) : Parsons wore 23 in high school.
    Zero2Cool (28-Aug) : Packers just cost Lions more money with Hutchinson too huh
    Zero2Cool (28-Aug) : That is fair by me.
    buckeyepackfan (28-Aug) : Kenny Clark is the player, 2 1st rnd picks
    Zero2Cool (28-Aug) : umm... what?
    wpr (28-Aug) : I am stunned
    Mucky Tundra (28-Aug) : RICKEY SCOOPS WAS RIGHT AGAIN!!!
    Mucky Tundra (28-Aug) : ITS HAPPENING
    Please sign in to use Fan Shout
    2025 Packers Schedule
    Sunday, Sep 7 @ 3:25 PM
    LIONS
    Thursday, Sep 11 @ 7:15 PM
    COMMANDERS
    Sunday, Sep 21 @ 12:00 PM
    Browns
    Sunday, Sep 28 @ 7:20 PM
    Cowboys
    Sunday, Oct 12 @ 3:25 PM
    BENGALS
    Sunday, Oct 19 @ 3:25 PM
    Cardinals
    Sunday, Oct 26 @ 7:20 PM
    Steelers
    Sunday, Nov 2 @ 12:00 PM
    PANTHERS
    Monday, Nov 10 @ 7:15 PM
    EAGLES
    Sunday, Nov 16 @ 12:00 PM
    Giants
    Sunday, Nov 23 @ 12:00 PM
    VIKINGS
    Thursday, Nov 27 @ 12:00 PM
    Lions
    Sunday, Dec 7 @ 12:00 PM
    BEARS
    Sunday, Dec 14 @ 3:25 PM
    Broncos
    Friday, Dec 19 @ 11:00 PM
    Bears
    Friday, Dec 26 @ 11:00 PM
    RAVENS
    Saturday, Jan 3 @ 11:00 PM
    Vikings
    Recent Topics
    45m / Green Bay Packers Talk / dfosterf

    1h / GameDay Threads / wpr

    1h / Random Babble / wpr

    2h / Fantasy Sports Talk / macbob

    20h / Green Bay Packers Talk / wpr

    29-Aug / Green Bay Packers Talk / dfosterf

    29-Aug / Green Bay Packers Talk / wpr

    29-Aug / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

    29-Aug / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

    28-Aug / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

    28-Aug / Green Bay Packers Talk / wpr

    28-Aug / Feedback, Suggestions and Issues / Zero2Cool

    27-Aug / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

    27-Aug / Green Bay Packers Talk / Cheesey

    26-Aug / Green Bay Packers Talk / wpr

    Headlines
    Copyright © 2006 - 2025 PackersHome.com™. All Rights Reserved.