Packers All-Decade Team: Aaron Rodgers leads the way

Defensive line

For the defense, I am going to stick with 3-4 types as the Packers ran some form of that base the entire decade. One area the Packers spent a lot of capital, both draft and free agency, was on the defensive line.

During the 2010s, the Packers spent four first- or second-round picks on the defensive line and signed three players in free agency. They spent more on defense than anywhere else. Yet that side of the ball was constantly playing catch-up to the offense. If these players could have all played at the same time, that story would be quite different.

Ryan Pickett (2010-2013)

One player often overlooked in Packers lore in Ryan Pickett. It’s probably because Pickett wasn’t a stats guy. Big Grease, as he was known by his teammates, was the true definition of a space eater. Pickett never had more than two sacks in any year and had not recorded a sack since 2010.

Pickett was still the heart of the defensive line being the elder statesmen and moved back and forth from nose tackle to end. Pickett was as quiet and unassuming as there was, but he was tough to move and occupied two blockers more often than not. He was the dirty work guy. Pickett’s glory was others making plays because the offensive linemen never got to their area.

B.J. Raji (2010-2015)

When the Packers decided to move from a 4-3 to a 3-4 base front, they knew they would need to add different body types. The only player they had that fit a true 3-4 position was Pickett. Then, the Packers drafted B.J. Raji with the ninth overall pick in the 2009 draft.

At the start of the decade, Raji entered as the starting nose tackle and began a pretty good career inside for the Packers. Like Pickett, Raji would move back and forth from nose tackle and end. Unlike Pickett, Raji could get a few sacks. Raji’s numbers are modest at 10 during this time span, but he was a more than a space eater. He was a disrupter.

Raji also had one of the most memorable plays in Packers playoff history when he picked off Caleb Hanne and returned the ball for a pick-six, securing the lead and eventually the 2010 NFC Championship for the Green Bay Packers.

Mike Daniels (2012-2018)

Mike Daniels was not supposed to fit in the Packers defense. A 3-4 defensive lineman is supposed to be six-foot-four or better and have the length to eat up blockers and hold the point. Daniels was neither of those things but still served the same purpose.

To say he was undersized might be an understatement. Daniels stood only six-foot tall in a position where six-foot-three is thought to be small for the position. Daniels was another one of Ted Thompson’s fourth-round gems, giving the Packers 29 sacks during his seven-year career in Green Bay. Daniels was surprisingly let go at the end of training camp this year and signed on with the rival Detroit Lions.

Kenny Clark (2016-Present)

The Packers have swung and mostly missed with their high-round defensive line draft picks. Jerel Worthy proved to be a bust, Datone Jones never got a second contract, Mike Neal fizzled out after a promising start and position switch. Kenny Clark does not fall into that category.

Clark has been everything the Packers could have asked for and more since being drafted in the first round of 2016 draft. Clark has a thing for December and seems to pick up his play when the weather turns cold, recording nine of his 15.5 sacks in that month. Clark has All-Pro written all over him and is still only 24 years old.