TOP THREE DEFENSIVE NEEDS: #3

DEFENSIVE LINE

Now that the Packers will be making the switch to the 3-4 defense, they will need to look for much bigger bodies to play the defensive line. As of right now, Justin Harrell, Johnny Jolly and the recently injured Cullen Jenkins are expected to compete for two of the defensive end spots. Then in the middle, the Packers expect Ryan Pickett to be a more than adequate nose tackle. The first problem is that while I will not consider Justin Harrell a bust, he has missed significant time because of injury. So, he is definitely a question mark. Secondly, Pickett has been slowed down the past two years with knee injuries. You just wonder how his knees will hold up as a nose tackle, where he will be expected to take on two blockers at a time. And then there is Cullen Jenkins who is coming off a torn pectoral muscle.

At this point in time, there are some adequate solutions currently on the roster in Colin Cole who could possibly play nose tackle, and Michael Montgomery, a defensive end who saw his playing time increase as the Packers experienced more injuries along the line.

Therefore, the Packers will need to do one thing along the offensive line and that is add depth. Last year, reguardless of the system, the Packers experienced a lot of trouble on defense simply because they lacked the depth needed to stay competitive.