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

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In the middle of nowhere
Replacing Pickett proves difficult
By TOM SILVERSTEIN
[email protected]
Posted: Aug. 25, 2008

Green Bay - If it were simply a matter of replacing his girth, the Green Bay Packers could come up with someone to fill in for nose tackle Ryan Pickett.

But finding someone who uses his 330 pounds (the figure the club loosely estimates his weight to be) the way the 6-foot-2 Pickett does is another matter entirely. The man known as ?Grease? to his teammates plays the game low to the ground and with as much gracefulness as can be expected when trying to hold up against 600 pounds of force on most running downs.

If there?s one thing the Packers have found this summer, it?s that if Pickett isn?t in the lineup, the run defense isn?t very good. In the three exhibition games the Packers have played without the injured Pickett, they?ve allowed opponents 372 yards rushing and a 3.9-yard average.

Those aren?t horrible numbers, but starting running backs such as Kenny Watson, Frank Gore and Selvin Young have combined for 100 yards in 18 carries (5.6 average) against the Packers? No. 1 defensive unit. Against Denver on Friday night, the middle of the defense was the primary reason the Broncos rushed 28 times for 131 yards (4.7).

?The other day we had too many times where we were not disciplined in our gap control,? defensive tackles coach Robert Nunn said. ?We have to be fundamentally sound there.?

Pickett, who has a hamstring injury, will be back at some point, probably in time for the opener against the Minnesota Vikings, but his absence provided a glimpse of how things might be when he is rested or if he gets hurt again. Last year, the Packers were able to plug Corey Williams inside, but in the off-season he was traded to Cleveland for a second-round choice used to select quarterback Brian Brohm.
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JS Online: In the middle of nowhere
 
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DT Pickett returns to boost Packers run defense
The Associated PressPublished: September 3, 2008

GREEN BAY, Wis.: Ryan Pickett got to skip training camp and the preseason because of a nagging hamstring injury, though the Green Bay Packers didn't exactly allow him to live a country club lifestyle during his recovery.

When the big run-stuffing defensive tackle did emerge from the Packers' indoor practice facility to watch his teammates go through drills during camp, his jersey often was soaked through with sweat ? a sign that his coaches weren't taking it easy on him.

Pickett said he would rather have been practicing.

"It was SO boring," Pickett said. "It was the worst. They had me locked up in the (facility) and had me running the whole time. I would come out ? I'd run half the practice, basically, and do all the kind of training and stuff and just get my leg right. They made sure they conditioned me pretty good, so I'm in better shape than I've probably been in in a long time."

Pickett returned to practice this week, pronouncing himself ready to reclaim his starting role in the season opener against Minnesota on Monday night. And the Packers will be leaning heavily on Pickett, one of only three healthy defensive tackles on their roster.

Pickett ? who is listed at 330 pounds ? even has surprised himself with his level of conditioning in practice this week.

"It's holding up, man," Pickett said. "It's surprising. I thought I'd go out there about to die. I've been doing pretty good as far as my wind is concerned and stuff like that. I did a lot of cardio and stuff in the past month, running, so I'm in real good shape."
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DT Pickett returns to boost Packers run defense - International Herald Tribune
 
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Pickett's Presence Imperative Vs. Peterson
Now Playing: DT Ryan Pickett - Sept. 4: Locker Room
by Mike Spofford, Packers.com
posted 09/04/2008

The timing of defensive tackle Ryan Pickett's return to the Packers' lineup couldn't be better, and not just because this week is the regular-season opener.

On Monday night at Lambeau Field, the Packers' run defense will face one of its toughest challenges of the season in Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson, and having Pickett in there to plug the middle will be a key to the defense's overall performance.

"He's a big part of what we do," defensive tackles coach Robert Nunn said of Pickett, who missed all of the preseason with a hamstring injury. "He's a guy that does a good job of not getting washed around in there, can anchor down in the middle.

"He has a lot of pride in not letting people run when he's in there. He plays double teams in there and plays smash-mouth ball about as good as anybody in the league, in my opinion. He makes a big difference. He's hard to move out."

Pickett's 330-plus pounds generally take up two blockers in the trenches, allowing the linebackers more freedom to run to the ball. For a back like Peterson, who was named the 2007 Offensive Rookie of the Year after he led the NFC with 1,341 rushing yards, a gaudy 5.6-yard average, and 12 rushing touchdowns, it takes only a little daylight to create a big play. So the more space Pickett occupies in the middle, the better off the defense is, even if it's not Pickett himself making the tackle.

"It takes 11 guys to stop it, especially when you're playing against Adrian Peterson," Pickett said. "He's not just going to run in the middle, he's everywhere. You definitely need to be sound up front and hold that up, because that's the worst kind of running, when they run it right down the middle. That kind of destroys the heart of a defense whenever a team does that."
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Packers.com » News » Stories » September 4, 2008: Pickett's Presence Imperative Vs. Peterson
 
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Smooth Man's Back in Action

Updated: Sep 8, 2008
By Michelle Tuckner

Reigning Rookie of the Year Adrian Peterson was slowed down in last year's game at Lambeau Field, gaining just 45 yards before leaving with an injury.

Monday night he looks to show what he can do against a Packers run defense that now has its run-stuffing nose tackle Ryan Pickett back in action just in time for the season opener.

Four-and-a-half weeks, 23 practices, five sets of two-a-days. That's how Pickett's teammates prepared for Monday's season opener. Pickett spent training camp sidelined with a hamstring injury.

"That's the hardest thing when you have to watch. Tough mentally, grind, wanted to push yourself. Hamstring injury, have to wait for it to heal," Pickett said.

Now he's not only playing but against Adrian Peterson. "Hamstring's definitely going to get tested."
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Pickett has grown into a key figure in the Packers defense and in the locker room. His teammates have carried over the nickname he inherited from his father.

"Comes from my old man -- I look just like him, gave me the name. When he was younger, he was 'Smooth Man,'" Pickett said.
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WBAY-TV Green Bay-Fox Cities-Northeast Wisconsin News: Smooth Man's Back in Action
 
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Green Bay Packers
Coaches Hope to Get Pickett Back in Action Soon

Updated: Oct 14, 2008 01:45 PM EDT
The Green Bay Packers have only three true defensive tackles on the roster, so any injury leaves them incredibly thin in the middle of the D-line.
Ryan Pickett suffered a triceps strain, and he'll be questionable for this weekend's game against the Colts.
Pickett injured his arm in the third quarter against the Seahawks and didn't return.
He underwant an MRI on Monday, and the Packers do not believe it's a season-ending injury. Rather, they hope they won't lose their top run stuffer for very long. Pickett has only missed two games in the last six seasons.


Continued...........
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Ryan joins Ricky with retired numberon October 27 2008 By Steve Lee, Sports Editor

ZEPHYRHILLS ? The 9-Mile War represents so much more than bragging rights in a longstanding rivalry between east-side county schools Pasco and Zephyrhills.
Many athletes have crossed city lines and switched schools while others have graduated and worked in opposite municipalities or coached against the team they played for.
The latest twist is retired jerseys.
Zephyrhills? Ryan Pickett (Class of 1998) became the county?s second football player to have his number retired. Following a 21-6 homecoming win over Wiregrass Ranch on Oct. 24 at Bulldog Stadium, Pickett also received the class ring and letter jacket he never got.

Continued...........
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Pickett facing shuffle
He will get chance to play end position
By Tom Silverstein of the Journal Sentinel
Posted: Apr. 25, 2009

Green Bay - It's unclear whether anyone has told veteran Ryan Pickett about it, but there's a very good chance he could be playing some defensive end for the Green Bay Packers this season.

The 330-pound Pickett isn't any smaller than the Packers' first-round pick, Boston College nose tackle B.J. Raji, but general manager Ted Thompson and defensive coordinator Dom Capers think he's athletic enough to play end in their defense. Pickett has been a nose tackle only with the Packers, but in Capers' 3-4 defense the ends line up over the tackle and focus on playing the run.

"I am excited about Ryan Pickett being able to play more than one position," Capers said. "The first thing you learn is if you run out of big guys, then you have to stunt these guys too much and are not successful."

Pickett is in the final year of his contract and it's possible the arrival of Raji will make it likely for the Packers to let him go next year, but Pickett has been a stalwart against the run and the possibility of playing two 330-pound guys next to each other on the defensive line leads them to believe they'll be able to stop the run a lot better this year.

Given the Packers acquired Raji on Saturday, it's questionable whether they have broached the subject of moving Pickett. The affable lineman did not answer his phone, so it's unclear if he knows the coaches are talking about moving him around the defensive line.

No one is giving Raji the starting job in the middle, but the Packers do expect him to be a factor right away.

"We think his addition gives us a little flexibility with Ryan," Thompson said. "Obviously, Ryan is our nose tackle and he does a great job at it. But he is also athletic enough that if we anted to move him around a little bit, that gives us some flexibility."

Pickett, who turns 30 in October, is in the final year of a four-year contract that pays him $2.975 million this year. The Packers definitely want him around this year not just because of his play on the field, but because he would be an excellent mentor to Raji.

Capers didn't deny that he would give Raji a chance to start this year.

"In my mind, nothing makes you better than competition for a position," he said. "So I think we just created competition and it will be interesting to see how this works out when we are out on the field and in the OTAs (organized team activities)."
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Pickett facing shuffle - JSOnline
 
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Raji, Pickett paired as run-stuffing tandem
By Pete Dougherty
[email protected]
June 22, 2009

The Green Bay Packers look like they?re planning to get Ryan Pickett and B.J. Raji on the field together as much as they can.

When the Packers drafted Raji with the No. 9 overall pick in April, they talked of moving one of the two behemoth defensive tackles to play some end in their new 3-4 defensive scheme, and in offseason practices they?ve done it. When both players have been present, they?ve lined up with the No. 1 base defense: Pickett exclusively at nose tackle and Raji at defensive end.

The Packers appear to want the two to be the core of a run defense that was a liability last season and ranked in the bottom quarter of the NFL (No. 26 overall) in rushing yards allowed and yards allowed per carry.

?It?s going to be tough to run the ball on us,? Pickett stated flatly Monday after the Packers? first practice of this week?s mandatory minicamp.
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Pickett?s job as a nose tackle is less as a playmaker than to control the center and command double teams so inside linebackers A.J. Hawk and Nick Barnett behind him have avenues to make tackles. Though he?s always been something of a plugger in the middle, Pickett was more used to playing gaps as a 4-3 tackle.

?You have to be quick, strong and fast,? Pickett said of nose tackle. ?You have to play front side (of the formation) from a head-up position (against the center), and I have to take on double teams at the same time. I just have to know what I?m doing. I?m not worried about being beaten up.?

Pickett, who turns 30 in October, says he?s as healthy as he was in 2006, his first season with the Packers, when he had 92 tackles. In 2007, he had a damaged nerve behind his knee that sidelined him for two games and hindered his play much of the year, and last year he had an elbow-triceps injury that limited his practice and playing time the final three months of the season.

He?s listed at 340 pounds but probably weighs more and said only that he needs to drop five or six more pounds by the start of the regular season.

?I?m 29, just a young man,? he said of entering his ninth season in a league of short careers. ?I feel great.?
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Raji, Pickett paired as run-stuffing tandem | greenbaypressgazette.com | Green Bay Press-Gazette
 
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Ryan Pickett, nose tackle: Here's the deal with Pickett. He's being asked to play nose tackle which, in Dom Capers' system, means doing all the dirty work and getting no glory. His job is to help make the linebackers look good. There aren't a lot of guys willing to do that, but he'll need to make that sacrifice if the Packers are to succeed.

Then there's his weight. The buffet line has always been his downfall and now that he turns 30 this season, his battle with his bulge becomes all the more critical. His body has endured a lot of beatings over the years, and he'll have to be willing to work even harder to prevent his play from slipping
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Mike Woods column: Packers have 10 guys who need to deliver | Postcrescent.com | Appleton Post-Crescent
 
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Pickett gives up glory in new scheme
In 3-4, his job is to occupy blockers, not make plays
By Rob Demovsky ? [email protected] ? September 1, 2009

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Until this year, Green Bay Packers nose tackle Ryan Pickett had never played a 3-4 defensive scheme. H. Marc Larson/Press-Gazette

Last season, Ryan Pickett?s job description was simple ? stuff running backs for as little gain as possible.

He did just that, finishing fifth on the Green Bay Packers ? and second among the team?s defensive linemen ? in tackles with 81 despite rarely playing on passing downs.

The switch to the 3-4 defense forced Pickett to move to from defensive tackle to nose tackle, a position foreign to him during his entire football life. Despite playing the equivalent of about five quarters of football in the first three preseason games combined, the ninth-year veteran hasn?t recorded a tackle. His name doesn?t appear anywhere on the preseason stat sheet.

Nevertheless, the Packers? coaches aren?t sounding the alarm bells.

A couple of factors go into Pickett?s relative anonymity so far:

♦ He hasn?t played as many snaps as expected because the Packers have used so much of their nickel package, in which an extra defensive back subs in for Pickett.

♦ He?s still adjusting to the new defense, in which his responsibilities are completely different.
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Pickett gives up glory in new scheme | greenbaypressgazette.com | Green Bay Press-Gazette
 
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