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DT Ryan "Big Grease" Pickett (Super Bowl Champion)

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Pickett vs. Davis
Pair of top-ranked linemen ready to rumble
By BOB McGINN
[email protected]
Posted: Nov. 27, 2007

"Pickett is one of the strongest defensive linemen in football," the personnel man said. "But he isn't even close to Davis. I'd match that up in favor of Davis. If you try and match strength with him, you'll lose."

That's news to Pickett, who has played against Davis several times in the past and expects to win.

"I guess my strengths play to his," Pickett said Tuesday. "I think I'm pretty strong and I got a lot more leverage than him. I think I match up real well with him."
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Pickett's numbers
Pickett stands 6-2, is listed at 322 and looks more like 350, an observation with which he quibbled.

"I'm not three and a half," he said with mock indignation. "Uh-uh. I ain't that heavy. C'mon."

Whatever Pickett weighs, it's more than enough for the task at hand. Pickett views it as a matter of using leverage and staying square, which he has done to a T since arriving as an unrestricted free agent (four years, $14 million) in March 2006.

Robert Nunn, his position coach, says Pickett would get more Pro Bowl consideration if he had more than one pressure in 11 games.

"I have hopes for it but I'm not basing my career on it," Pickett said. "I'm just happy to be on a great defense. For a while I was on some bad defenses."
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JS Online: Pickett vs. Davis
 
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'Big Grease': Pickett Tackles Quarterbacks, Double-Teams And Fatherhood
by Sam Kasan, Packers.com
posted 12/02/2007

"He makes some great plays and sometimes they go unnoticed," said defensive end Aaron Kampman, who lines up next to Pickett. "He brings a lot of energy to the defensive line. He's going to give you everything he's got on every snap. He's a guy that should get a lot of credit for what he's doing."

"He's a little on the underrated side," Nunn said. "He's a guy that does a lot of hidden things for our defense. As far as I'm concerned, from what I've seen of him, he's off to the best start of his career."

Pickett, who is entering his seventh NFL season, signed with Green Bay as a free agent in 2006 after spending five years in St. Louis. The former first-round pick out of Ohio State is a key cog in the Green Bay defense. The entire scheme starts up front with the four down linemen. The Packers prefer using their front four to create most of the pressure on the quarterback rather than blitzing.

Pickett's job is to consume two offensive linemen, leaving his teammates in a more winnable one-on-one situation.

"Even if he doesn't make a tackle, his push, fundamentally staying square, not allowing others to cut back, he's an integral part of what we do," Kampman said.

But, as Nunn pointed out, Pickett's strength isn't just handling two blockers, but also being able to make a play himself.

"One thing Ryan does have is the ability to come off (of blocks) and make plays and finish plays," Nunn said. "Some run-stoppers don't have that ability. Guys can't stay on double teams very long so if they don't get that initial movement, he anchors and he can come off and make a play."
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Packers.com » News » Stories » December 2, 2007: 'Big Grease': Pickett Tackles Quarterbacks, Double-Teams And Fatherhood
 
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Pickett Pumped for St. Louis Return
By Jay Sorgi
Story Created: Dec 14, 2007

GREEN BAY, Wis. - Former Rams player Ryan Pickett said he's excited to return to St. Louis on Sunday.

Pickett, who signed with the Packers as a free agent before the 2006 season, said he didn't necessarily have any idea at the time that the Packers were a team on the rise and the Rams were headed for a fall.

"I didn't see that," Pickett said. "I didn't know they were going to be a bad team. I just know I liked the opportunity here better, what they were going to allow me to do on the defense. It's more my role, and the city. I just like the organization. It's not a knock against them, but I just like this organization better."
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Pickett Pumped for St. Louis Return | Newsradio 620 - Milwaukee, Wisconsin News, Talk, Sports, Weather | Sports
 
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Rams face consequences of Packers taking Pickett
By Jim Thomas
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
12/16/2007

When it comes to defensive tackle Ryan ?Big Grease? Pickett, the Rams? loss has been Green Bay?s gain. In one of the franchise?s biggest free-agent mistakes since the move to St. Louis, the Rams let Pickett walk as an unrestricted free agent after the 2005 season.

The club decided it was time for Jimmy Kennedy to take over at nose tackle. Meanwhile, Pickett signed a relatively modest contract with the Packers. Oops!

?He?s definitely a joy to work with,? Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. ?He has been extremely consistent for us both last year and this year. He?s having another great season. He?s one of our anchors in our run defense.?

Still only 28, Pickett was a first-round draft pick by the Rams in 2001. Very active for an inside run defender, Pickett was surpassed in tackles by only Green Bay?s Aaron Kampman and Tennessee?s Kyle Vanden Bosch over the 2005 and 2006 seasons.

Pickett is up to his old tricks this season. Although he doesn?t bring much as a pass rusher, he remains durable, productive and a beast at the point of attack. Entering Sunday?s game with the Rams, Pickett is fifth among the Packers in tackles, with 54.

?Big Grease is playing his butt off,? Rams wide receiver Torry Holt said. ?I wish we still had him here.?

This is Pickett?s second contest against the Rams since signing with Green Bay; the teams played last season at Lambeau Field.

?This is one of those games that he has probably circled year in and year out,? Rams running back Steven Jackson said. ?He had a good game against us last year, and we have to make sure that we don?t let him do that a second year in a row.?
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STLtoday - Sports - Rams
 
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Might have been here but maybe slept/hibernated through it.

It is great to see so many former tOSU players playing key (if unheralded)roles in the NFL. We surely are in another golden age of Buckeye sports. (Go Bucks soccer, by the way)
 
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Packers' anchor, DT Pickett, game-time decision against Bears
By Colin Fly, AP Sports Writer

GREEN BAY, Wis. ? The Packers might have to face the rival Chicago Bears on Sunday without Ryan Pickett, a key member of their defense.
The defensive tackle hurt his groin in the Packers' 33-14 victory over the Rams last week and only took part in a limited portion of practice on Friday. He was listed as questionable for Sunday's game.

Packers coach Mike McCarthy said Pickett, who has started all 30 games since joining the Packers before last season, is one of their top defenders and a central part of their run defense.

"He's clearly the anchor," McCarthy said. "You talk about staying square, all the basic fundamentals and techniques that are important playing defensive tackle, particularly in the run game; I think Ryan Pickett is the perfect fit for our system and has played at a very consistent level for us."
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Packers' anchor, DT Pickett, game-time decision against Bears - USATODAY.com
 
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Filling The Pack's Gaps

By ANWAR S. RICHARDSON, The Tampa Tribune
Published: January 10, 2008

TAMPA - Green Bay defensive tackle Ryan Pickett once carried doubt and uncertainty around like it was his helmet and shoulder pads.

Pickett, a former Zephyrhills High School standout, did not know what to make of his new team last year. After five outstanding years with St. Louis, including a Super Bowl appearance during the 2001 season, Pickett signed a four-year deal with Green Bay worth a reported $14 million in 2006. He was expected to improve Green Bay's struggling defense, which was 21st in the league the season before, with his superb run-stopping ability.

However, the Packers finished 8-8 and their defense was ranked 21st again, which was not the enhancement Pickett hoped for.

"We had a young team," Pickett said. "We had these young boys and last year it was more about learning, but it was rough."
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Pickett (6-foot-2, 322 pounds) started 14 games and finished with 63 tackles on the NFL's 11th-best defense. Green Bay was ranked 14th against the run, and Pickett's pressure up the middle enabled defensive end Aaron Kampman to record 12 sacks and 91 tackles.

"This year at the end of the season, I was like 'We finally got it,'" Pickett said. "It started clicking and jelling. I wasn't surprised we had a good year, but 13-3? I didn't know we would be 13-3 and on a roll like we are.

"It's rewarding to be a part of a good defense. My numbers are good, but they are nothing compared to what I had in St. Louis. At the same time, I'm on a better defense. That's the great part about being up here."

It is also the best part of Pickett's evolution into a dominant NFL player.

Pickett, a former Ohio State standout, began his career as a first-round draft pick (29th overall) by St. Louis in 2001 and was primarily a special teams player. He started 14 games in 2002 and had 107 tackles and remained in the starting lineup.

In Pickett's five seasons with St. Louis, he finished with 408 tackles while plugging the middle. Pickett had a career-high 115 tackles during his final season (2005) with the Rams, but left St. Louis carrying a personal regret.

"It was hard because I left there as a first-round pick with goals I never got. That was the hardest part," Pickett said. "I left there on a great season, but a low note. We lost. We had a bad rep reputation on defense. I didn't want to leave with our defense having a bad rep. I wanted to make some kind of positive out of the whole situation."
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Filling The Pack's Gaps
 
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MON., JAN 14, 2008 - 8:38 PM
Packers: Taking notice of Pickett's quiet work
By JASON WILDE
608-252-6176
[email protected]

GREEN BAY ? To understand how happy Ryan Pickett is these days, all you had to do was hear how he was bragging about his exciting Friday night in the big city a few weeks back: Shopping at the local Target for a few last-minute Christmas items for wife Jennifer and daughters Jill and Abigail.

"That's me. I was just going to get something for my little girls and my baby," the Green Bay Packers run-stuffing defensive tackle said, laughing. "That's why I love it here. I wish I could've played all my years here."

And he says this despite a role that's hardly glamorous. In the Packers' two-gap defense, his responsibility is to take up as many double-teams as possible, allowing the linebackers behind him and his linemates around him to make tackles.

It's a dirty job that pays very few statistical dividends, since there's no "blockers occupied" column on the weekly stat packet.
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WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL

Ryan Pickett's Family At Lambeau Field
Charles Benson
Katie DeLong

GREEN BAY ? Saturday?s Packers game was a real thrill for the players? families.

TODAY?S TMJ4?s Charles Benson caught up with Ryan Pickett?s family at Lambeau Field.

Every fan has their favorite player, but imagine if that player is your son, your husband or your dad.

?We?re so excited, so excited. We have so much family in town,? Ryan Pickett?s wife, Jennifer, said.

It was easy to spot Ryan Pickett?s family in the crowd. They were all wearing his jersey number?even Ryan Pickett Jr.
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Ryan Pickett's Family At Lambeau Field | Today's TMJ4 - Milwaukee, Wisconsin News, Weather, Sports, WTMJ | Local News
 
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Posted January 18, 2008

Pickett-Jacobs matchup packs a huge punch

By Mike Woods
Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers

There are a lot of people you're happy to run into. Ryan Pickett, however, would not be one of them.


Unless, of course, your favorite colors are black and blue.


The return of Green Bay's favorite sequoia helped the Packers' run defense nearly pitch a shutout in their playoff-opening victory last week against Seattle, holding the Seahawks to a meager 28 yards on 18 attempts for a 1.6-yard average per carry.


Now comes a much larger test, both literally and figuratively.


In one corner this week will be the 6-foot-2, 322-pound Pickett. In the other, 6-4, 264-pound New York Giants running back Brandon Jacobs.


It's a meeting everyone wants to watch ? from a distance.


"Ooh, I don't know. I can't tell you,'' said Pickett, quizzed on what kind of impact that may make. "I know it's going to be just like tackling a guard. They can't run fast, though. It's definitely going to be different. He's a big, physical running back, good feet, so we've got to do our best to stop him.''


OK, how?


"Of course, hit him low,'' Pickett said. "Normally, guys that tall and big, they don't like being hit low, so you definitely gotta hit him low. And somebody like Brandon Jacobs, you've got to get him before he gets started downhill, because once he starts downhill, he'll fall forward for 6, 7 yards.''
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PackersNews.com - Pickett-Jacobs matchup packs a huge punch
 
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