WTF: Packers and Raji Close to One Year Deal?

[bobblehead]

This also adds fuel to speculation that Raji went into a midseason funk. Not because Rodgers got hurt, but because his money evaporated.

So then I am left to wonder who the malingerer McCarthy was talking about.

McMillan? I mean, they did cut him midseason while he was still relatively young.

[bobblehead]

Rapoport is smoking something. Raji hasn't played DE since 2010. Does he mean 3 tech DT?

Ian Rapoport @RapSheet
If BJ Raji stays with #Pack, he’d move back to nose tackle from defensive end. That’s what he’d want. If that’s the best deal, he’ll take it

If Raji IS moving to NT full time, what does this mean for Pickett?

To most casual observers (which rapo should NOT be) if you are not the NT in a 3-4 you are a DE.

[bobblehead]

Let's call a spade a spade

The only way Raji signs a deal is if nobody else wants him and values him as being worth it

Raji was near worthless last year

Rather than throwing 4MIL his way, if the market is going to be soft for DL....why don't we spend 2-3MIL more a year on somebody who might really help us ?

Just another train of though

I'm ok to take him back at 4MIL a Year; hell we pay junk that. But much more......I'lll be happy with somebody else

For instance give Randy Starks a 4 year 28 million deal and get me some rice in the process.

[bobblehead]

Spraypainted Hair commits 2 guys to stopping the run, 2!! Usually Raji and Pickett. As I've pointed out, it's not even 2-gapping, it's 2 on 5... and then behind them, we have 2 of the worst starting ILB's in the league, neither of whom can take on a block and shed.

What do you expect of Raji and Pickett?? Capers is asking them to do the impossible, and when they fail, you guys act like it's their fault?? You can't evaluate any of the defensive players, b/c Capers does not put them in positons to be successful - that's the bottom line. Everyone on our defense is a mess.

the 2-4 is legit if you have 2, 2 gap monsters who can collapse the pocket on passing downs...but then if you do that, you better hope your DB's can flood the zones because you sacrifice pass rush speed. I think the 2-4 is viable with the correct personnel, but said talent isn't what we have. As always its on the Dcoord to adapt to what he has, not to what he wishes to run.

[3irty1]

I'd take this one year deal with Raji over giving anything to Terrance Cody in a heartbeat. Raji has at least been productive in the past and has a chance to snap out of it in order to make some money next year. Cody is a worthless blob. Actually he doesn't have the stamina for that. He's a situational worthless blob.

[pbmax]

This is clearly stubbornness and EGO driven nonsense on behalf of Ted Thompson. Ted just cannot let go of a player he drafted so high and admit to "the bust label".

So maybe BJ Raji will be moved to NT and Ryan Pickett offered the vet minimum and he'll walk. Why B.J. Raji and NT?

He cannot eat up one block, moreso two blockers. A retention of this lump is more than wishful thinking and use as the Nose Tackle... as a two down DLman.

He has let plenty of his own draft picks go, including one mid-season last year. He has let them go before their contract was up and when the contract was up. Did I miss Justin Harrell on the roster?

The tell tale sign you are looking for is talent. Raji has played very well before, but not so recently. The hope is that he regains his form.

The other part of this is the number of lineman who are FAs. Someone has to get signed.

[red]

I'd take this one year deal with Raji over giving anything to Terrance Cody in a heartbeat. Raji has at least been productive in the past and has a chance to snap out of it in order to make some money next year. Cody is a worthless blob. Actually he doesn't have the stamina for that. He's a situational worthless blob.

cody might be a worthless often injured blob, but he can do what raji can't do, take on a double team

i'd argue raji is just as worthless of a blob, but can't take on a double team

and he would probably cost a third of what raji is gonna cost

[Teamcheez1]

I don't know, reading JSOnline this morning, they didn't make the Raji signing seem as if it was a done deal.

[red]

thank christ, we might just dodge the bullet here

from rotoworld and JSO

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports there are "indications" free agent B.J. Raji will decline the Packers' one-year offer.
According to reporters Tom Silverstein and Bob McGinn, the Pack offered Raji the "options of one- and two-year contracts." They confirm the one-year offer was worth roughly $4 million. Coming off an extremely disappointing season, there's no guarantee Raji will do better in free agency.
Source: Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

[mraynrand]

Spraypainted Hair commits 2 guys to stopping the run, 2!! Usually Raji and Pickett. As I've pointed out, it's not even 2-gapping, it's 2 on 5... and then behind them, we have 2 of the worst starting ILB's in the league, neither of whom can take on a block and shed.

this is untrue. Depending on the particular play, and the run fits, there are 6 or 7 guys playing the run. In the Raji-Picket-Neal 3-4 you have 2-3 Dl and 3-4LBs who are available to defend the run, depending on how you designate Neal. Whether they do it well is a separate issue

[Guiness]

To most casual observers (which rapo should NOT be) if you are not the NT in a 3-4 you are a DE.

Is it time for another 'read this and be smarter' article?

The difference is that if you're lining up 3-tech, you're considered a DT, 5 tech you're a DE, right?

[mraynrand]

the 2-4 is legit if you have 2, 2 gap monsters who can collapse the pocket on passing downs...but then if you do that, you better hope your DB's can flood the zones because you sacrifice pass rush speed. I think the 2-4 is viable with the correct personnel, but said talent isn't what we have. As always its on the Dcoord to adapt to what he has, not to what he wishes to run.

Packers rarely use the fatties in the 2-4 for pass rush. They might be in the largely run downs, but on obvious passing downs, the strategy was to have D. Jones and Neal as the 2 in the 2-4. Then you bring those two Matthews and Perry on the pass rush. The scheme worked reasonably well, but got blown up pretty early by injuries.

[mraynrand]

Is it time for another 'read this and be smarter' article?

The difference is that if you're lining up 3-tech, you're considered a DT, 5 tech you're a DE, right?

in a 3-4, if you are not the NT, you are a DE, by definition. You can then play any damn technique you want I suppose, except 0 or 1, depending on exactly where you line up!

[pbmax]

Is it time for another 'read this and be smarter' article?

The difference is that if you're lining up 3-tech, you're considered a DT, 5 tech you're a DE, right?

I can see how you get end from a 3-4 and not being the nose, but end also has a specific meaning: the end of the line. You have the edge or wide space to defend. Raji never did that. To call him an end is to make the situation more confusing.

Even JSO in the article Red cites says he played both tackle and end. I do not remember him at anything wider than a 3 tech. He was not on a O tackle that I remember.

The other puzzling thing is the move to nose. His isn't a nose tackle. The Packer run D suffered when he started at nose in 2010 (though compared to the last 3 years it was air tight) versus Pickett in 2009. He was specifically moved to that 3 tech in base to get him out from double teams.

However, in Rapoport's defense, Silverstein and McGinn both repeat that McCarthy could be putting Raji there with the expectation that they go lighter and more athletic at end (Jones, Daniels, Boyd, Worthy). So we might be seeing reporting backing up the idea of small, faster more athletic.

[Guiness]

I can see how you get end from a 3-4 and not being the nose, but end also has a specific meaning: the end of the line. You have the edge or wide space to defend. Raji never did that. To call him an end is to make the situation more confusing.

Even JSO in the article Red cites says he played both tackle and end. I do not remember him at anything wider than a 3 tech. He was not on a O tackle that I remember.

The other puzzling thing is the move to nose. His isn't a nose tackle. The Packer run D suffered when he started at nose in 2010 (though compared to the last 3 years it was air tight) versus Pickett in 2009. He was specifically moved to that 3 tech in base to get him out from double teams.

However, in Rapoport's defense, Silverstein and McGinn both repeat that McCarthy could be putting Raji there with the expectation that they go lighter and more athletic at end (Jones, Daniels, Boyd, Worthy). So we might be seeing reporting backing up the idea of small, faster more athletic.

For fear of sounding like Wist, going lighter and more athletic at end + moving a guy to nose who has less of an anchor than Pickett did sounds like a damn disaster.

When you talk about the 'end of the line' do you mean on the O side or D side? Would you automatically call a guy lining up at 3 tech a DT, or does there have to be an LB covering the edge?