This is the sixth in a series of 13 previews leading up to the Green Bay Packers' July 26 start of camp.
Rating (1-to-10 scale): 6
Projected starters: B.J. Raji (5th season), Datone Jones (rookie), C.J. Wilson (4th season)
Backups (asterisks indicate players expected to make the roster): *Josh Boyd, *Mike Daniels, *Mike Neal, *Jerel Worthy, *Ryan Pickett, Johnny Jolly, Jordan Miller, Gilbert Pena
The breakdown:
Over the past two drafts, Packers general manager Ted Thompson has attempted to remake Green Bay's defensive line. It started in 2012 with Jerel Worthy being selected in the second round and Mike Daniels getting drafted in the fourth round. This year, Thompson used the Packers' first-round pick on Datone Jones and the fifth-round pick on Josh Boyd. It was necessary for Green Bay to not only add depth but to also add playmakers. The depth is now there. Defensive coordinator Dom Capers has enough big bodies at the position to keep B.J. Raji from overworking again. The talent part of the equation remains to be seen, as Worthy had a disappointing rookie season and is now recovering from an ACL tear, and Daniels doesn't seem like an every-down type of player.
Jones could be the real difference-maker and give the Packers what they've been missing since Thompson let Cullen Jenkins depart in free agency two years ago. Jones has yet to play a single down in the NFL, but he profiles as a versatile defensive lineman who can put pressure on the quarterback and stop the run. The work that Jones did in a nearly identical UCLA defense should give him the experience to step in and have meaningful contributions right away. If Jones struggles early on in the season, Capers will be right back where he has in 2012 when he had to mix and match defensive linemen while attempting to guess if it would be a run or a pass.
That's been one of the problems in recent years with Green Bay's defense. The group of defensive linemen has been mostly one-dimensional. C.J. Wilson is a good run-stopper but doesn't have much success as a pass-rusher. Mike Neal can get to the quarterback but can't stop the run well enough. Only Raji has shown the ability to do both, but that's part of the reason that his snap count had been too high.
With the Packers depending on an unproven Nick Perry at one outside linebacker spot and turning to Brad Jones and A.J. Hawk as the starting inside linebackers, Green Bay's group upfront has to have an impactful season. If the push isn't there along the defensive line, the Packers' defense won't have an opportunity to improve as a whole.
Best position battle:
How many defensive linemen end up making the 53-man roster? Raji is a lock to make the team, as are Jones and Daniels. Worthy almost certainly won't be ready by Week 1 of the regular season, but he'll eventually be back. Wilson is valuable and likely isn't going anywhere, while Green Bay will give a spot to Boyd to develop. Ryan Pickett is the oldest player on the team but is coming off a very productive 2012 season, so it's difficult to see him not playing at least this one last season with the Packers.
That's six -- or seven, if you count Worthy -- right there. Last season, Green Bay started the year with six defensive linemen, which includes Phillip Merling but does not include Mike Neal, who was suspended for the first four games. If the Packers keep six this season and don't worry about Worthy until he's further along in his recovery, that might be the group. Otherwise, if coach Mike McCarthy and his staff opt to keep more than six defensive linemen, what other position do they cut back on?
There are two major question marks on Green Bay's defensive line. First, is Neal going to actually play outside linebacker when the season begins? Is Neal even going to make the team? Neal's upside and pass-rushing talent are undeniable, but his frequent injuries are something that Thompson has shown increasingly less patience for. The second wild card is Johnny Jolly. A few years ago, before Jolly was indefinitely suspended by the NFL and spent time in jail, he was a good player. Now 30 years old after being away from the league since 2009, can Jolly recapture what was once a blossoming career?
Ranking against the rest of the NFC North:
1. Lions; 2. Bears; 3. Vikings; 4. Packers
Ezekiel Ansah was the fifth-overall pick in this year's draft because he's the type of player who could change everything for Detroit's defense. Lining up next to Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley, the Lions have a dangerous defensive line but one that has to live up to the talent of its individual pieces. In Chicago, Julius Peppers is now 33 years old, but even in his early 30s he's been racking up double-digit sack seasons. Add in Henry Melton, who will be playing on the Bears' franchise tag, and Chicago has a good defensive line. Minnesota's Jared Allen had 10 fewer sacks in 2012 than he did in 2011, but, hey, when a player has 22 sacks in one year like Allen did in 2011, there's only one way to go from there. Green Bay is ranked last here, but Jones and an energized Raji could quickly elevate the Packers up this divisional list.
Raji says:
"Obviously I don't think I played my best football, and that's the beauty of it, and that's why I'm so excited about the future, is that I played some good ball in the past and I had some success, but I feel like my best ball is ahead of me. Everything in life, just like in football, it's a learning experience. I think that the more experience I get, the better I'll be going forward. Just having great players around me obviously helps, too. I don't have to do it alone. That's the beauty of playing on this team."
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