We have our offense set. Our project to define the Green Bay Packers’ All-Quarter Century team rolls on today as we shift our focus to the defense, where we will start up front and in the middle.
First up is the defensive line, where we will be selecting two tackles. For the purposes of this exercise, we’re going to look at interior defensive linemen all together. That means 4-3 defensive tackles and all 3-4 defensive linemen will get lumped into this group, and we will be picking the top two. The same will go for edge rushers (4-3 ends and 3-4 outside linebackers), which will start up later today, and then off-ball linebackers next week.
In addition to two each at those positions, we will have one bonus “front seven flex” spot, with nominees coming from the members of the defensive tackle, edge, and linebacker groups who earned votes but did not quite make the cut.
Of course, the Packers have plenty of options to choose from on the line, but there are surely a few who will rise to the top of the list. Let’s take a look at the nominees.
Interior Defensive Linemen Nominees
Cletidus Hunt (2000-04)
Regular season stats: 74 games played, 59 starts; 157 total tackles (109 solo, 48 assisted), 32 TFLs, 16.5 sacks, 14 pass defenses, 2 forced fumbles, 4 fumble recoveries
Postseason stats: 6 games played/started; 23 total tackles (17 solo, 6 assisted), 5 TFLs, 1.0 sack, 3 pass defenses, 1 forced fumble
The earliest nominee on our list is a 1999 draft pick, drafted in the third round that year. Hunt was in and out of the starting lineup early in his career, but he settled into a starting role by 2002. A solid interior pass-rusher, Hunt had at least four sacks in three different seasons, serving as the more athletic tackle next to the likes of Grady Jackson and a late-career Gilbert Brown on the nose.
Cullen Jenkins (2004-10)
Regular season stats: 93 games played, 66 starts; 194 total tackles (130 solo, 64 assisted), 40 TFLs, 29.0 sacks, 16 pass defenses, 5 forced fumbles, 4 fumble recoveries, 1 interception
Postseason stats: 8 games played, 3 starts; 15 total tackles (11 solo, 4 assisted), 5 TFLs, 2.0 sacks, 1 pass defensed
The lesser-known Jenkins brother (Kris was a 2nd-round pick in 2001 and a two-time All-Pro), Cullen signed as an undrafted free agent in 2003. He did not make the team out of training camp, but re-signed after that season and was on the roster to start the 2004 campaign. That season, he played every game, starting six contests and recording 4.5 sacks.
Jenkins bounced in and out of the starting lineup for a few seasons while moving back and forth from tackle to end, but he remained an important piece of the defensive line rotation. In 2007, he started 15 games at defensive end in base defenses with Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila relegated to a designated pass-rusher role, but often he would shift in to tackle in passing situations. An injury cost him all but four games of the Packers’ 2008 season, but he returned in 2009 to a new position in Dom Capers’ 3-4 defense.
As a 3-4 end, Jenkins was a rare force as a pass-rusher. He started every game in 2009, recording 4.5 sacks, then set a career-high with 7 sacks in 2010 despite playing only 11 games. He missed the final four games of the regular season with a calf injury, but returned in time for the postseason and a long Super Bowl run. Jenkins did not start any of the four playoff games that year but he still made a major impact, recording a half-sack (in the NFC Championship Game against Chicago) and three total TFLs in that playoff run. He signed with the Philadelphia Eagles as a free agent in the 2011 offseason and bounced around the NFC East for another six seasons before retiring after the 2016 season.
Ryan Pickett (2006-13)
Regular season stats: 119 games played, 113 starts; 319 total tackles (198 solo, 121 assisted), 18 TFLs, 3.5 sacks, 18 pass defenses, 2 fumble recoveries
Postseason stats: 11 games played, 10 starts; 33 total tackles (28 solo, 5 assisted), 2 TFLs
One of the Packers’ two big free agent acquisitions during the 2006 offseason, Pickett came in to replace Grady Jackson at nose tackle and bolster the interior of the defensive line. He was a solid player for five seasons with the St. Louis Rams prior to signing a 4-year, $14 million deal with the Packers early on in free agency, and he continued that type of play for the Packers, first as a 4-3 tackle, then as a 3-4 nose tackle and later as a 3-4 end.
Pickett was never a big-play type of tackle for the Packers, as his sack and TFL numbers show, instead serving as an excellent anchor against the run who could occupy multiple gaps. However, he helped provide a critical momentum-changing play in Super Bowl XLV when he combined with Clay Matthews to force a fumble out of Reshard Mendenhall on the first play of the fourth quarter. He responded to Matthews’ alert “Spill it, Pickett!” call before the play, penetrating into the backfield and getting a hand on the running back just as Matthews came in from the edge and helping to deliver a huge turnover at a critical juncture in the game.
Pickett played three more seasons in Green Bay after that, then signed with the Texans for one season in 2014 before retiring.
Johnny Jolly (2006-13)
Regular season stats: 61 games played, 47 starts; 135 total tackles (89 solo, 46 assisted), 17 TFLs, 3.0 sacks, 18 pass defenses, 5 fumble recoveries, 1 interception
Postseason stats: 1 game played/started; 2 solo tackles
While Pickett was a steady, consistent player, Jolly showed flashes of greatness during a somewhat tumultuous tenure in Green Bay. A 6th-round pick in 2006, he barely played as a rookie but became a part-time starter in 2007. He was the starting right defensive tackle in 2008, then moved to end with the team’s switch to a 3-4 for the 2009 season, with Jenkins on the other side and Pickett at the nose.
One of Jolly’s best traits was watching the quarterback while rushing the passer. He was known for getting his hands up and batting passes at the line of scrimmage and recorded 10 pass defenses in 2009 alone, but perhaps his best highlight is a hilarious interception of a Jay Cutler screen pass in Cutler’s Bears debut.
Unfortunately, Jolly had been dealing with an addiction to codeine for years, and the NFL eventually suspended him indefinitely before the 2010 season for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. Jolly would eventually spend six months in prison, but he used that time to get sober and worked his way back to rejoin the Packers in 2013.
Jolly played in 13 games in his comeback season, posting six TFLs and a sack before landing on injured reserve late in the year with a neck injury. Although he was medically cleared the following summer, no teams signed him and he retired.
B.J. Raji (2009-15)
1x Pro Bowl
Regular season stats: 91 games played, 78 starts; 151 total tackles (103 solo, 48 assisted), 24 TFLs, 11.0 sacks, 10 pass defenses, 1 fumble recovery
Postseason stats: 11 games played, 10 starts; 15 total tackles (12 solo, 3 assisted), 4 TFLs, 1.0 sack, 2 pass defenses, 1 interception (returned for a touchdown)
A first-round pick out of Boston College in 2009, Raji was intended to beef up the interior of the Packers’ defensive line amid their switch to a 3-4 scheme. He rotated in with Pickett at the nose as a rookie, then took over the position in his second season. Showing a rare ability to both occupy blockers and collapse the pocket, Raji recorded 6.5 sacks during the 2010 regular season and made the Pro Bowl after an excellent 2011 campaign.
Of course, Raji’s biggest highlight will always be his pick-six (and the ensuing dance) in the 2010 NFC Championship Game, when Dom Capers dropped him into coverage on a zone blitz.
Raji continued to play reasonably well for a few more years, though he never quite lived up to the pass-rushing promise he showed early in his career. He unfortunately suffered a torn biceps and missed the entire 2014 season, then played one more year in 2015 before abruptly and surprisingly stepping away from football at the age of 29, saying he was taking a hiatus from the game. Raji never chose to return and has been out of the public eye ever since.
Mike Daniels (2012-18)
1x Pro Bowl
Regular season stats: 102 games played, 72 starts; 225 total tackles (154 solo, 71 assisted), 47 TFLs, 29.0 sacks, 5 pass defenses, 2 forced fumbles, 3 fumble recoveries (1 returned for a TD), 1 interception
Postseason stats: 10 games played, 8 starts; 27 total tackles (17 solo, 10 assisted), 2 TFLs, 2.5 sacks
The Packers had a remarkable run of success with 4th-round draft picks under Ted Thompson, and Daniels was perhaps the best of those who played on the defensive side of the football. An undersized pass-rushing tackle out of Iowa, the 6-foot Daniels made a splash as a rookie with a long fumble return for a touchdown, then broke out with 6.5 sacks in a rotational role as a second-year pro in 2013.
With Raji on the shelf and Pickett departed in 2014, Daniels took over a starting job and posted another 5.5 sacks while bringing a hard-nosed, tough-guy attitude to the Packers’ defensive front. Daniels posted at least four sacks in five straight seasons with the Packers and earned a Pro Bowl appearance in 2017.
He dealt with some injuries in 2018 that limited him to ten games, but that would be the end of his Packers tenure. After reportedly trying to trade him during the 2019 offseason, Green Bay ended up releasing him just before the start of training camp. He quickly signed with the Detroit Lions, but in three more seasons with Detroit and CIncinnati, he recorded just one sack in 22 games.
Kenny Clark (2016-24)
3x Pro Bowl
Regular season stats: 140 games played, 126 starts; 417 total tackles (236 solo, 181 assist), 51 TFLs, 35.0 sacks, 12 pass defenses, 7 forced fumbles, 8 fumble recoveries
Postseason stats: 11 games played, 8 starts; 41 total tackles (26 solo, 15 assist), 7 TFLs, 5.0 sacks
No Packers defensive lineman this century has made more Pro Bowls than Clark, the team’s first-round pick in 2016. Clark came slowly as a rookie, when he debuted at 20 years old and finally turned 21 in October, but began to show some flashes late that season and into the playoffs. He would take hold of the starting nose tackle job in 2017 and never looked back.
Clark’s consistency as a pass-rusher from the nose is truly rare, as he has posted at least 4 sacks in six different seasons, with a high of 7.5 in 2023. He also has come up with some big performances in the postseason, racking up five sacks in just 11 career playoff games.
One of Clark’s biggest attributes has been his durability. Clark has historically logged a heavy snap load while barely missing any time, being active and starting in all but eight possible games in the last eight years. His snap counts consistently remain in the 75-80 percent range of total defensive snaps, and only once in the last eight years has he played fewer than 680 snaps.
The 2024 season was supposed to be a good opportunity for Clark to build on a strong 2023 campaign, thanks to a switch back to a 4-3 defense, but he quietly dealt with a toe injury that took place in the team’s week one loss to the Eagles in Brazil. That injury resulted in him playing the lowest percentage of team defensive snaps (63%) in recent memory.
Somehow, Clark has yet to turn 30, despite being the Packers’ elder statesman as a nine-year veteran.
Dean Lowry (2016-22)
Regular season stats: 111 games played, 80 starts; 252 total tackles (139 solo, 113 assisted), 23 TFLs, 15.5 sacks, 7 pass defenses, 1 forced fumble, 4 fumble recoveries (1 returned for a TD), 1 interception
Postseason stats: 8 games played, 5 starts; 15 total tackles (7 solo, 8 assisted), 1 pass defense
Drafted three rounds after Clark in 2016, Lowry had the ideal height and bulk for a 5-technique 3-4 end, if not the arm length. He spent seven seasons with the Packers, largely starting at end for six of those before signing with the Vikings as a free agent in 2023.
Lowry’s best season came in 2021, when he recorded career highs with five sacks, nine QB hits, and four pass breakups. Though never a flashy player, Lowry consistently was on the field for about 60 percent of the Packers’ snaps and missed only three games in a Packers uniform.
Poll
Who is the Packers’ best interior defensive lineman of the 2000s so far?
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Cletidus Hunt
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Cullen Jenkins
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Ryan Pickett
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Johnny Jolly
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B.J. Raji
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Mike Daniels
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Kenny Clark
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Dean Lowry
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0 votes total Vote Now