Beware NFC North quarterbacks, the Packers have a pair of USC sackmasters ready to wreak havoc.
Green Bay runs a base 3-4 defense with Clay Matthews as the outside linebacker rushing the quarterback from the front side. In 2010, he tallied 13.5 sacks, but with increased attention in 2011, his production dipped to 6 sacks for the season.
Enter Nick Perry with the No. 28 overall pick…
The Packers wanted a pass rush threat to terrorize the quarterbacks’ blind side. Perry, who usually played with his hand in the ground as a 4-3 defensive end at USC, will be slotted as a stand-up linebacker opposite Matthews.
“I’ll be glad to be across from Clay, create problems with him and be a force on the other side,” Perry said last night. “I will do whatever it takes.”
#USCtotheNFL 2012
- OT Matt Kalil
- DE Nick Perry
- TE/FB Rhett Ellison
NFL Draftee: OT Matt Kalil
- Round Selected (Overall ): 1st (4)
- Team: Minnesota Vikings
- Trojans on the Vikings: DE Everson Griffen and OL Butch Lewis
Kalil Facts…
- He is the 76th NFL first round draft pick out of USC, which is more than any other school.
- He is the 22nd Trojan offensive lineman selected in the NFL first round since 1968, which averages out to one every other year.
- The Vikings previously selected USC offensive tackles Ron Yary (1st overall in 1968) and Steve Riley (25th in 1974) in the first round.
- He is the third member of the Kalil family to be drafted by the NFL joining his brother Ryan, an All-Pro center for the Carolina Panthers, and his father Frank, drafted by the Buffalo Bills in 1982.
- Kalil joins a fraternity of 20 USC offensive tackles to be selected in the NFL Draft.
- Round Selected (Overall): 1st (28)
- Team: Green Bay Packers
- Trojans on the Packers: LB Clay Matthews
- He is USC’s 77th NFL first round draft pick, which is more than any other college program.
- He is the 475th NFL draftee out of USC, which is more than any other school.
- He is the fifth Trojan defensive lineman selected in the first round since 2004 joining Sedrick Ellis and Lawrence Jackson (2008), Mike Patterson (2005) and Kenechi Udeze (2004).
- Perry and Matt Kalil are the first USC duo to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft since the Trojans trio of 2009 (Mark Sanchez, Brian Cushing and Clay Matthews).
- The versatile Perry will likely play outside linebacker in the Packers 3-4 scheme opposite fellow Trojan sackmaster Clay Matthews.
- The Michigan native will be close to home in Wisconsin.
- Round Selected: 4th
- Team: Minnesota Vikings
- Trojans on the Vikings: LT Matt Kalil, DE Everson Griffen and OL Butch Lewis
- He is projected as a fullback at the professional level, but played mostly tight end at USC until switching to the backfield in the spring of 2011.
- His father Riki Ellison was drafted in the 5th round of the 1983 NFL Draft by the 49ers. He won two Super Bowls in San Francisco.
- Renowned for his work ethic, Rhett Ellison had the Trojan Way Leadership award named in his honor at the annual USC football banquet.
- Ellison joins Matt Kalil as the second Trojan taken by the Vikings in the 2012 NFL Draft.
