DL: Packers offseason by position

The good news:  To be fair, the role defensive linemen play in the Green Bay Packers defense is not the same as the one linemen play in, say, the New York Giants or Detroit Lions defenses. As line coach Mike Trgovac replied when asked about the lack of productivity from the line: “Do you know what we do on defense? We are a run team. We’re not going to get a lot of pass rush with a contain guy.… I don’t really care about sacks. If you look at our and teams that do similar to us, like Pittsburgh, I think you’ll find our sacks are very comparable to what those teams have.” That may be true, and the sack numbers posted by Raji (6.5) and Cullen Jenkins (seven) last year may have altered the perception of the line’s role, but at the same time, the group wasn’t very good at stopping the run (4.7 yards per carry allowed, seventh-worst in the NFL). The best news is that the Packers have an excellent coach overseeing the position in Trgovac. And if anyone can get the most out of Raji, it’s the straight-shooting Trgovac. “I’ve seen it 100 times where good players come in here and all of a sudden they forget what got them to be a good player,” Trgovac said at one point last season. “You see a lot of guys that have one, two good years, and then you never hear from them again because all of a sudden they’ve got all the bling-bling and they’ve got the new cars and all this stuff. And then you see a lot of other guys who come in and become great players because they realize what got them here and they keep doing it.”

The bad news:  While there was ample criticism of the Packers secondary during the 2011 season – and deservedly so – one could argue that there was no more disappointing area than the team’s defensive line. While Raji was selected to his first Pro Bowl, he likely was chosen because of how well he played in 2010. In 2011, his tackles, tackles for loss and quarterback pressures all dropped from the previous season. Then there was Neal. While general manager Ted Thompson has made almost all the right moves with personnel, letting Cullen Jenkins walk as a free agent – even when he found a soft market and signed a very affordable deal with Philadelphia – was a mistake. Clearly the team anticipated Neal, a 2010 second-round pick who’d flashed in a big way during his two-game cameo during an otherwise injury-wrecked rookie season, to be a major player for them. Instead, he suffered a knee injury in training camp, missed the first half of the season, played in eight games including the playoff loss to the New York Giants and was essentially invisible for 169 snaps (one quarterback hit and five pressures, according to ProFootballFocus.com).

The big question: While picking Green off the scrap heap in 2010 proved to be a savvy move by Thompson – remember Green’s hit on Ben Roethlisberger in Super Bowl XLV causing Nick Collins’ pick-six interception? – he’s 33 years old and was inactive against the Giants in the playoffs. He’s clearly not a high priority to re-sign. The bigger question is whether Neal will turn out to be Justin Harrell reincarnate, or if he’ll deliver on his vast potential. One of the reasons Jenkins was so valuable was he lined up on the opposite side of left outside linebacker Clay Matthews and forced opposing offensive coordinators to protect the passer from both sides. Can Neal do the same? If so, he – along with a more productive right outside linebacker – could make a world of difference for the Packers’ best defender.

Offseason outlook: It’s hard to imagine Thompson standing pat at the position. At this point, Wynn and Wilson haven’t been anything more than just guys. That doesn’t mean they can’t get better, but nothing indicates that either of the two low-round picks – Wynn was a sixth-rounder in ’09, Wilson a seventh-rounder in ’10 – is special. Whether the Packers use an early pick in the 2012 NFL Draft – the first round is April 26, second and third rounds April 27 and Rounds 4-7 April 28 – depends on how the board falls, but it’s a safe bet a lineman or two will be part of this year’s draft class. Meanwhile, Guy is an interesting prospect. He came out early last year and went in the seventh round; one scout said that had he stayed in school, he’d have been a mid-round pick this year. He flashed a few times at the start of camp before a concussion, and the Packers liked him enough to keep him around on injured reserve when the initial plan was to give him an injury settlement and let him go. He’s one player worth monitoring as the offseason program begins.

Next: Linebackers.

– Jason Wilde