Dulak
  • Dulak
  • Veteran Member Topic Starter
15 years ago
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/ic/blogs/insider/index.shtml 



On the roster: DE Justin Harrell, DE Johnny Jolly, DE Cullen Jenkins, DE Michael Montgomery, DE Ronald Talley, DE Alfred Malone, DE Jarius Wynn, NT Brian Soi, NT B.J. Raji, NT Anthony Toribio, NT Ryan Pickett, NT/DE Dean Muhtadi.

How many theyll keep: 6 or 7.

Best guess (*=starter): LDE Pickett*, NT Raji*, RDE Jenkins*, Jolly, Harrell, Montgomery.

Breakdown: The switch to the 3-4 means the Packers will keep fewer defensive linemen than in past years. With Aaron Kampman and other outside linebackers taking away snaps at end in subpackages, keeping more than six linemen maybe seven if there are injury concerns would be superfluous.

Pickett, Raji, Jenkins and Jolly figure to be in the rotation; how theyre used will be determined in the coming months. Coach Mike McCarthy has said Pickett (6-2, 330) has a chance to win the starting nose tackle job, but the ninth overall draft pick Raji (6-2, 337) is the long-term plan at the position. With Pickett about to hit age 30 and entering a contract year, the torch could be passed sooner than later. Either way, Pickett and Raji both figure to play some left end and nose tackle in the base defense, and Rajis pass-rushing acumen makes him a good bet to play inside in nickel, too.

Jenkins (6-2, 305) is the favorite to start at right end and play inside in nickel, provided he avoids a setback with the torn pec that ended his 2008 season and adjusts well to the new scheme.

Jolly (6-3, 320) was impactful (line-high 82 tackles, five batted passes) but wildly inconsistent last season. He could factor at several spots, including end in base. Beyond those four, nothing is certain.

Harrell (6-4, 320) was the 16th overall pick in 2007 but has played in only 13 games because of a variety of injuries. Hes due $460,000 in base salary, plus a little less than $300,000 in bonuses, so hes not an expensive player to keep if hes healthy but thats a gigantic if. It no longer is too soon for the Packers to cut their losses if his back or something else sidelines him for a chunk of camp.

Montgomery (6-5, 273) received only tepid interest in free agency and returned for a two-year, $2.85 million deal even though he seems a poor fit for the new scheme. His strength is playing the run (71 tackles last season), so hell try to pack on pounds and play end.

Like Montgomery, Wynn (6-3, 277) is on the small side for a 3-4 end, but the Packers selected him in the sixth round out of Georgia because they feel he has the frame to put on weight and fit in the scheme. He only played two seasons of major-college ball and wasnt particularly productive (seven starts, 33 tackles in 26 games), so the Packers might get away with stashing him on the practice squad if he doesnt light it up in training camp.

Malone (6-4, 312) has played in eight games over four NFL seasons with two teams and already is 27 years old; Soi (6-3, 334) and Toribio (6-1, 304) also have spent time with multiple teams, but neither has appeared in a game. All three probably need injuries elsewhere to have a shot at the roster. The same goes for the two undrafted free agents, Delawares Talley (6-3, 282) and Marylands Muhtadi (6-3, 295), a try-hard guy who earned a contract offer with a standout showing at rookie camp.

"packers gazzette.com" wrote:

Dulak
  • Dulak
  • Veteran Member Topic Starter
15 years ago
Even thou there is another thread about the defensive line; this article talks specfically about whom we will keep for our roster.

The D-line is the key ingredient for our 3-4 defense. Especially the middle.

My main question before we get started is how big do the DE's need to be to be able to play?

Seems we have a few guys even a newly drafted guy that is underweight for what we need. (a big fat guy). Or is having a guy that is 280-285 still ok for a DE in the 3-4?

Pickett and raji are shoe-ins; jenkins too (still wondering how his surgery is doing), jolly is another great DE (did pretty good last season) - although he has legal troubles, then there is busting harrell (if anything is a big fat guy that can take up space and give some rest to the other big guys),

last 1-2 spots seems iffy

montgomery again appears to have a job because of his contract but I'm just not sure how he will do. We have some other guys to fill the need.

Whats your take
dannychau22
15 years ago
i wonder if the nickel/dime line is gonna be Matthews/Raji/Jenkins/Kampman
that'd be a sick pass rush line
blank
bozz_2006
15 years ago
Dulak - your prototype 3-4 DE is between 6'1" and 6'3" weighing 305 to 315 pounds. Jenkins fits the mold perfectly. I have been a huge supporter of him for years, and I'm ready to see him break down some O-linemen at the point of attack!

I think this year, again, we will be razor thin along the D-line. We have capable starters, but after that, the production falls pretty flat in a hurry. If Jolly can play (which I don't think he will, and I don't think he should get to) and if Harrell can stay healthy would be a huge help, but there are a lot of contingencies in that plan!
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Rockmolder
15 years ago

i wonder if the nickel/dime line is gonna be Matthews/Raji/Jenkins/Kampman
that'd be a sick pass rush line

"dannychau22" wrote:



I don't know if Matthews is a 4-3 DE. He's not a pass-rusher like Kampman, Merriman or Porter, he's more of an OLB, in either scheme. That he has some pass rushing abilities, does come in quite handy, so we won't get one dimensional. I think we'll see him blitzing pretty often, but no an DE-like amount of times.

What I do wonder about is why we'd have to play with a four man front when in the nickel. Why not go with the 3-man front and sub one ILB out. I know that we're going to play with a 4-man front pretty often, buy why would we always do that out of a Nickel or Dime package?

Anyway, if we do get into the Nickel or Dime on obvious passing downs, I see something like this.

          Matthews                  Hawk
Jenkins          Raji     Pickett         Kampman

Raji has some great pass-rushing abilities for a DT, Pickett can clear two blockers and both Kampman and Jenkins can get to the QB quite fast. Just think of how amazing our D-line would be if Bustin' would be healthy. I'm really rooting for that to happen.

Hopefully Jeremy Thompson is coming along like he should aswell, because he was on the board as a 2nd round pick for a lot of teams a year ago. Maybe even move Jenkins inside and put Thompson at RE. The possibilities are endless if these guys work out like they should.
zombieslayer
15 years ago

Dulak - your prototype 3-4 DE is between 6'1" and 6'3" weighing 305 to 315 pounds. Jenkins fits the mold perfectly. I have been a huge supporter of him for years, and I'm ready to see him break down some O-linemen at the point of attack!

"bozz_2006" wrote:



Me too. I said in '08 Jenkins will be in the Pro Bowl. Then he got hurt. :(

Here's to hoping he's healthy for the season. If so, he will excel.
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Dulak
  • Dulak
  • Veteran Member Topic Starter
15 years ago


Me too. I said in '08 Jenkins will be in the Pro Bowl. Then he got hurt. :(

Here's to hoping he's healthy for the season. If so, he will excel.

"zombieslayer" wrote:



I'm still worried about his pec - last I heard it was still affecting him and also barnett's knee.

Ya he was quite the Lineman ... be a killer line with raji pickett and jenkins there.
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