Raji sees himself in young D-linemen
Posted by on August 21, 2012 – 3:36 pm
A lot has been said already about second-round draft pick Jerel Worthy and fourth-rounder Mike Daniels and what they could mean to the Packers’ defensive line in 2012.
Both players have flashed in practice, but there has yet to be much to shout about during the preseason games. They’re hoping to change that Thursday in Cincinnati, obviously, and veteran D-lineman B.J. Raji believes it should only be a matter of time, because both youngsters entered the NFL with the right approach.
“The thing I like about them, I see a lot of myself in them,” Raji said. “Jerel was a high pick, but he was willing to learn. He didn’t come in with the idea that he knew everything. He came in asking questions. Mike’s the same way.
“Anytime a guy comes in asking questions, you really don’t hesitate to help them, because they see the need, that they need to improve. They need to do certain things to be successful. Both of those guys are competitive, they want to win, and they want to do everything they can to help this defense.”
Raji added that there will be some tough decisions at cutdown time for the roster within his position group.
“This is probably the youngest and deepest D-line I’ve been a part of since I’ve been here,” he said. “This is the game where you want to come out and show you can play within this defense.”
Tags: b.j. raji, defense, jerel worthy, mike daniels
Posted in Packers.com Blog, Training Camp | 18 Comments »
18 Responses
to “Raji sees himself in young D-linemen”
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By pricecoprice on Aug 21, 2012 | Reply
It will be interesting to see who makes the 53 man roster. It will also be interesting to see if Hargrove has a spot when his suspension is over.
By dety ernie on Aug 21, 2012 | Reply
I watched Worthy at MS and he took a lot of plays off.
When he wants to dominate he can but the problem is he saves his strength for those big plays. I have both him and Perry as bust. There is a reason all 31 teams passed on these two. I wouldd be worried, very worried for the Packers.
By DapackerFan on Aug 21, 2012 | Reply
In case you were wondering…Dikta is able to waste 2hours of his life typing nonsensical comments because he has no life beyond this….sad.
By Erik on Aug 21, 2012 | Reply
Only thing to say to “ditka’….. How far into the playoffs did the bears get last season? How many times did they beat the Packers last season? Heck, they barely beat minnesota in week 16 just to GET to 8-8.
Back to the topic….
Our Dline is going to be BEAST this season! Can’t wait to see the younger guys develop!!! I wanna see who can fight CJ Wilson for the start!
By brent on Aug 22, 2012 | Reply
uh… all 31 teams didnt pass on perry or worthy
perry was drafted 28th with the browns and pats drafting twice thats 26 teams that passed on him and the saints didnt get to draft until round 3 so your wrong about worthy too
on the nontechnical note: so are everyone who is not drafted in the top 25 going to be busts then? no one drafted outside of that can be good huh?
By thrindelsev on Aug 22, 2012 | Reply
Right, and Aaron Rodgers turned out to be a bust after he fell to 24th in the draft — all the teams that could have drafted him passed over him. Surely he was a bust… Good logic, Dety Ernie. *sarcasm*
By Cannonball on Aug 22, 2012 | Reply
It is nice to see that Ditka benefited from a fine Illinois education. He can successfully spell one two letter word. Is “Ha” a word?
By BIG CHEESE on Aug 22, 2012 | Reply
I never thought it would be possible to make the original Packer Blog pest, who calls himself Ditka, look more stupid, but this new screen name rip-off artist has now earned the title of the biggest moron who has ever entered this site. At least the original Ditka knew a little bit about football, was somewhat creative, and had a sense of humor.
I think we’re going to see a completely different defense this season! ! ! Go Pack Go….
By Andrew on Aug 22, 2012 | Reply
Thank goodness Dety Ernie isn’t a GM. Plus, if anybody already forgot, CM3 wasn’t a full-time starter until around week 5. Who was he playing behind? Brady Poppinga. There’s something to think about. These guys don’t have to be ultra superstars by week 1.
patience, grasshopper.
PS. don’t feed the troll. When the Packers sweep the Bares AGAIN this year, that’s enough in itself.
By Smokey Joe on Aug 22, 2012 | Reply
My biggest concern for the defense going forward is the lack of the hard-nose veteran that can teach the young players how to play at a higher level the way Ray Lewis has done with the Baltimore linebacker corp. Having that one big time playmaker there to teach the up-n-comers intensity, instinct and attitude I believe is huge. A defenses attitude has a massive effect on performance. I always looked at the best defenses as having a persona for each position that they carry with them, such as the D-line are your brawlers and cage fighters who are there to beat the offensive line into submission. the linebackers are a group of hunters who stalk the field and take out their prey with lethal efficiency, and your secondary who are a group of theives that roam the feld waiting for an opportunity to rob the other team blind and make them pay for it. Thats what I see in great defenses, the Packers have the secondary doing the job I believe due to Woodsons presence and expetise. The LB corp has Matthews but I think his abilities are speific to him and isn’t something you can teach to others. The D-line doesn’t have that Warren Sapp like person there to help them improve the way they should.
By underwaterman on Aug 22, 2012 | Reply
It’s obvious Ditka is without a job.But then again so is everybody else in that failed state of Illinois.He probably has to stay in his house because there is a conflict on the streets of chicago.Somebody should invite him to a Packer game so he can see how normal good people behave.
By boxman on Aug 22, 2012 | Reply
And let’s not forget the huge 7th round bust named Donald Driver..Alcorn state. All kidding aside;
There are no garentees about 1st or 7th round players.
However I think TT & MM can stand by a very good record over the last several years of drafting good value, and can back it up with some nice hardware. And at least weve not started 8 different Qb’s in the last 7 seasons, including Brian Greise and Todd Collins… nice picks and pick ups Chicago.
Go Pack
By Matt on Aug 22, 2012 | Reply
Gotta love that conclusion, remember how much of a bust Arian Foster was when he was picked up undrafted? Those idiots who didn’t draft him with the first 32 picks.
By NYCheesehead on Aug 23, 2012 | Reply
Really……..did we just learn how to use the Ctrl-V shortcut on our computer?
By ATLPackrfan on Aug 23, 2012 | Reply
@dety ernie…how could every team have passed on Perry when he was drafted in the 28th overall by the Packers? Last time I checked there are 32 picks in each round of the draft. In the limited time he’s been on the field in the first two preseason games, Perry already has 1 sack to go along with a few more pressures. I think he’s played to the expectation level that we should all have for him. You can’t expect him to come in as a rookie and register double-digit sacks. Those types of guys only come along every so often.
Worthy was never touted to be a first round pick so it makes sense that most teams passed on him with their first pick.
By Rodell on Aug 23, 2012 | Reply
I pray that the d-line can generate consistent pressure that’s all i can ask from them at this point. I neverwant to see a defensive effort like the one from last year smh.
By packerhunter on Aug 26, 2012 | Reply
The young guns will win the starting line . Picket will be let go .He is too old too slow and often hurt
By New York Packer Fan on Aug 26, 2012 | Reply
the only thing our defence lacked last year was a dicient pass rush but we were number one in takeaways so on that note “WHO THE HELL CAN STOP US?”…………….
NO ONE THATS WHO!
Bring on the San Francisco Fourtywhiners……..cause we got it better than you.