Packers Ryan Pickett: 2012 Player Evaluation and Report Card

ALLGBP.com All Green Bay Packers All the Time

1) Introduction: With BJ Raji spending more time at defensive end and Jerel Worthy and Mike Neal being higher on the DL pecking order in the nickel formation, Ryan Pickett mostly played as the nose tackle while occasionally appearing as a defensive end, usually on running downs.  While this might be considered a downgrade by some, really it catered towards Pickett’s strengths, namely being his strength and his ability to eat up blockers.

2) Profile:

Ryan Lamont Pickett

  • Age: 33
  • Born: 10/08/1979, in Zephyrhills, FL
  • Height: 6’2″
  • Weight: 338
  • College: Ohio State
  • Rookie Year: 2001
  • NFL Experience: 12 years

 

Career Stats and more:

 

3) Expectations coming into the season: Moderate.  As one of the Packers better run defenders and “block eaters” Pickett’s role is understated but no less important.  Pickett was expected to do much of the dirty work of taking on interior blockers and letting his fellow linemen and outsider linebackers go out and make plays.  While Pickett rarely collapsed the pocket, he rarely broke containment.

4) Player’s highlights/low-lights: Pickett’s best performance was in week 3 against the Seahawks where Pickett was responsible for 6 tackles, 3 assists and 3 negative offensive plays.  Pickett’s lowlight was probably week 1 against the 49ers where he played the majority of snaps but only managed one assisted tackle.

5) Player’s contribution to the overall team success: While very hard to quantify, Pickett provided stability and leadership in a very young defensive line rotation as well as taking on double teams.  Nose tackles aren’t as important to 3-4 defenses as they used to be but Pickett was certainly not a liability.

6) Player’s contributions in the playoffs: Pickett perhaps played the best of all the defensive linemen in both games, and was generally not responsible for losing containment on Colin Kaepernick (which was usually a rollout/designed outside running play).  Still, he certainly wasn’t a dominant force in either game.

 

Season Report Card:

(C) Level of expectations met during the season

(C+) Contributions to team’s overall success.

(C+) Contributions to team during the playoffs

Overall Grade: C+

——————

Thomas Hobbes is a staff writer for Jersey Al’s AllGreenBayPackers.com.

——————

17 thoughts on “Packers Ryan Pickett: 2012 Player Evaluation and Report Card

  1. he has good character too. he doesn’t take plays off like raji, but then they rest him more too.

  2. Thank God that Hobbes isn’t a coach. Pickett did exactly what he is supposed to do and he did it well. If the Packers had any quality depth on the D-line, they wouldn’t have rode Pickett like a rented mule and played him out. We need more talent and depth on that line so that the 3-4 can perform as designed. I would give Pickett a B+ and only because the rest of the lesser talent around him drags the whole defense down.

    1. I think you’re right. There’s fundamentally something wrong with the evaluation scale when the only way to earn a high grade is not to do your job well or be valuable to the team, but to far exceed what anyone expects of you. If this is the case, prepare for a C-/D+ from ARod because everyone is expecting 2011 stats (or better) from him every year.

  3. So you give Pickett a grade just one notch above Crosby’s? And Masthay and Goode both get A’s? Sorry, but you’ve lost me already.

    1. I will say my rationale is that I split the overall grade between the three grades, and to an extent the DL got screwed by the playoffs. Crosby made all of his kicks in the playoffs, while the DL and linebackers were held responsible for Colin Kaepernick. Also there’s no real way to be consistent in grading between vastly different positions since their expectations and performances are so wildly different. For kickers its not screwing up, for DL it’s a lot more than just not screwing up, you have to make plays

      1. Raji was tossed around like a rag in the playoffs. I’m not sure Pickett should be dinged.

      2. You should be grading in a way that takes each players expectations into account and whether or not they’re meeting those expectations. If they met them safisfactorily the get a C. If them met or exceeded the exectations the vast majority of the time they get a B. If they exceeded expectations they get an A. Don’t know what system your using, but it doesn’t seem to make much sense, sorry to say.

  4. Agree w mojo. Grades need more consistency. Also Pickett deserves bit higher grade B or B+. He’s a very good run stopper. If he had any pass rush he would get an A.

  5. I think it’s obvious that the Packers need more help on that d line. I’ve noticed that a lot of Packers fans tend to agree on that. Pickett and Raji tend to get worn down by the end of the season imo. C’mon TT, get those big boys some help.

  6. Wow…a C+ grade…then Wilson,Worthy,Neal,Daniels,Raji are all getting D+’s or C-‘s…right?

  7. Also, I’d highlight a different game, I believe it was against Detroit? He didn’t get any stats out of it, but was consistently in the backfield, disrupting the play and rushing the passer. He clearly got the better of the man matched up with and was a force in that game!

  8. Pickett was the most consistant D-Lineman on the team. His job is to stop the run, and be in position. Both of which he does very well. Right there that makes him better than anyone else on that line! So nobody should get a higher or equal grade.

  9. level of expecatations met during the season- C??? Were you expecting Picket to sack the QB or drop into coverage? I don’t mean to be a jerk but the only reason this guy makes $7 million a year is because he’s a force against the run. Picket did exactly what we paid him to do and did really well. Gotta give him a B for the season, B minus at the least.

  10. hell, in my day i paid cledius hunt, steve warren, james lee, joe johnson and donnell washington millions each and got nothing. Picket might make a lot of cash but at least he shows up, is consistant, and makes the players around him better. None of the guys i mentioned in the first sentence ever did any of those things. i blame the packers tho, they made the terrible decision of giving me GM duties!

  11. Picket is the heart of the D-line. When he wasn’t in there, runners had a field day. May not be a star but at least a B+. Best lineman we have on either side of the ball.

  12. I would say at least a B for Pickett. If everyone on the D- line played at Picketts level we would probably have a game this weekend. In any case I’m confused about this grading system. Maybe it will become clearer as we continue but right now it is as inconsistent as the play if our D-line.
    Thanks, Since ’61

  13. I think Pickett deserves a better grade also!He can’t be held responsible for the QB runs in the Frisco playoff game,when the QB ran outside the tackle where Walden should have held the edge but didn’t!

Comments are closed.