Jake Ryan, 2015 Fourth Round Pick

[Carolina_Packer]

Since he's not a top 5 pick, maybe people won't flame the kid. If he plays as well as Hawk, you'd hope he'll get better in Year 2.
Hey, they needed somebody at ILB.

+1

[Carolina_Packer]

i would be happier, if he was the second ILB we had taken

stephone anthony in the first would look damn good with the rest of this draft imo

and the idea that TT and M3 think we are "ok" at ILB, is shocker. these are the same people that thought we were "just fine" there last year

I heard pundits saying that the Saints reached for Anthony at 31. What do you think?

[call_me_ishmael]

I heard pundits saying that the Saints reached for Anthony at 31. What do you think?

I think so, yes. Unless they are a truly special player like the kid Baltimore took last year from Alabama, ILBs aren't worth a one. How many in the past 12 years have been? Off the top of my head... Brian Urlacher, Pat Willis, Ray Lewis, Luke Kuechly, The other USC ILB from Clay's class, and maybe a few others.

[red]

I heard pundits saying that the Saints reached for Anthony at 31. What do you think?

well, at worst he was a second rounder. so at pick #30, i wouldn't have had a problem with it. the guy we took, was more of a reach in most peoples mind, then anthony was

i honestly, would have been fine with anthony, kendricks, perryman or mckinny at pick #30

[HarveyWallbangers]

well, at worst he was a second rounder. so at pick #30, i wouldn't have had a problem with it. the guy we took, was more of a reach in most peoples mind, then anthony was

i honestly, would have been fine with anthony, kendricks, perryman or mckinny at pick #30

Not really. Almost all of the rankings that I saw had Randall higher.

CBS had Randall at #37 and Anthony at #72.
Scouts Inc. had Randall #38 and Anthony at #50.
USA Today had Randall #36 and Anthony at #43.
Kiper had Randall at #31 and Anthony at #57.
McGinn had Randall mocked going #20 and Anthony not in the first round.

[smuggler]

the guy we took, was more of a reach in most peoples mind, then anthony was

This is pretty much overtly untrue if most media scouting is to be believed. I have not seen one big board posted where Anthony was ranked ahead of Randall. Clearly Green Bay felt Randall was at least an equal to Anthony, or they would have drafted Anthony or another from the field.

[Bretsky]

I heard pundits saying that the Saints reached for Anthony at 31. What do you think?

I wish we would have reached for him at 30

[3irty1]

Passing on Alec Ogletree in 2013 had to have been a lot harder for Ted than passing on any of the ILB talent in this draft.

Its not the sexy madden move you'd drool over but there's no ILB at pick #30 I like better than Jack Ryan at #129. Part of the collective groan in this thread is that fans can already tell he's going to easily take the job and boringly make the routine stuff look routine. If we're being honest with ourselves we're all annoyed because we can just see him clogging up the next decade being that guy you'd love to upgrade but somehow always finds a way to win his job every year. There's certainly no corner at #129 who I'd trust to not lose games so in that respect I think this turned out rather nicely. I just wish we could have gotten one or two more guys like Jack to injury proof the position so we can keep Clay outside where he has a chance of being worth his paycheck.

And while there is nothing about Jack that's boner worthy there is some stuff to get excited about. He seems to find the ball quicker than Hawk ever did at ILB. You never see running plays go through his gap a la Poppinga. Best of all, the man's tough as shit which we're going to need after losing Hawk. He tore is ACL in the spring and was back playing football in October. That's insane. Also he's old for a rookie at 23 so a decade of reliable mediocrity is probably pushing it.

[Rutnstrut]

First thing I thought with this pick was he will be another Hawk. If he has AJ's durability and work ethic, he's a great pick. Everyone always wants a superstar with every pick. But a team needs it's lunchpail players also.

[Carolina_Packer]

well, at worst he was a second rounder. so at pick #30, i wouldn't have had a problem with it. the guy we took, was more of a reach in most peoples mind, then anthony was

i honestly, would have been fine with anthony, kendricks, perryman or mckinny at pick #30

I was expecting ILB in either rounds 1 or 2 as well. When they picked Randall at 30, I was sure they would get an ILB in the 2nd, but with the run on the top-shelf guys, and most likely TT's reluctance to move up and get one, it was not meant to be. Picking Dawson at the end of the 2nd just to get an ILB would have been a reach. I'm guessing Joe Thomas and Carl Bradford are looking impressive enough as ILB prospects for TT to have uttered that phrase you so love.

[yetisnowman]

He looks serviceable at best. I think he will get pushed around and be caught off balance quite a bit at the next level. I will echo everyone's sentiments about him being a crappier version of Hawk. The question is, will he be be a little less crappy than Hawk or a lot crappier than Hawk? i'm not sure I can stomach the latter.

[Patler]

I don't know why, but I think he will be just fine in GB. (Maybe we will find out once and for all if my endorsement is the kiss-of-death only for O-linemen, or if it is more broadly applicable.)

[vince]

Passing on Alec Ogletree in 2013 had to have been a lot harder for Ted than passing on any of the ILB talent in this draft.

Its not the sexy madden move you'd drool over but there's no ILB at pick #30 I like better than Jack Ryan at #129. Part of the collective groan in this thread is that fans can already tell he's going to easily take the job and boringly make the routine stuff look routine. If we're being honest with ourselves we're all annoyed because we can just see him clogging up the next decade being that guy you'd love to upgrade but somehow always finds a way to win his job every year. There's certainly no corner at #129 who I'd trust to not lose games so in that respect I think this turned out rather nicely. I just wish we could have gotten one or two more guys like Jack to injury proof the position so we can keep Clay outside where he has a chance of being worth his paycheck.

And while there is nothing about Jack that's boner worthy there is some stuff to get excited about. He seems to find the ball quicker than Hawk ever did at ILB. You never see running plays go through his gap a la Poppinga. Best of all, the man's tough as shit which we're going to need after losing Hawk. He tore is ACL in the spring and was back playing football in October. That's insane. Also he's old for a rookie at 23 so a decade of reliable mediocrity is probably pushing it.

Good post as usual 3irty1. He doesn't look like the sideline-to-sideline playmaker many of us were hoping for (and the Packers don't appear to have) but he'll help improve the position and that may well be all they need. I'm coming around quickly on how scheme can mesh with the personnel.

In nickel/dime situations, which we know is a majority of snaps, they'll only have one of the group of ILB's on the field anyway. Hyde, Burnett, Dix, and quite possibly even Richardson, Rollins, et al can play in the box and cover better than any ILB while holding their own against the run, draws, screens, etc.

[pbmax]

I'll bet he was good at getting his teammates lined up correctly too.

"He just loves the game. I don't know if there was ever a day, and I had him for four years, there was never a time when he didn't come to meetings excited. He played hard all the time. You never had to get on him about the things that you had to with some guys.

"That's why it's the perfect fit for the kind of organization that Green Bay is."

from http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/po...gan-linebacker

[pbmax]

On the plus side, same article above rom Demovsky mentions he did his ACL rehab in 6.5 months. So that might argue for his not being fully up to speed in his first year post-surgery.