If nose tackle B.J. Raji doesn't walk away from football in mid-March, the Green Bay Packers don't select Kenny Clark.

But with Raji now history, general manager Ted Thompson in his judgment chose the best replacement possible in the first round Thursday night in an NFL draft brimming with defensive tackles.

Clark, 6 foot 2½ and 315 pounds, will be asked to do exactly what Raji did for the Packers as their ninth pick in 2009.

That is, start from Day 1 nose tackle, stop the run and contribute when asked on selected passing downs.

They say you can't play a 3-4 defense without a good nose tackle. When the Packers moved from the 4-3 to the 3-4 seven years ago, Thompson helped defensive coordinator Dom Capers to no end by selecting Raji.

"You have to have a pretty good one to play in the NFL," Thompson said, referring to the behemoths that hunker down against double teams all day long. "Those are hard to find."

Continue reading @ JSOnline 

Bob McGinn wrote: