Jake Ryan to Green Bay: Full Draft-Pick Breakdown

It finally happened. After nearly four full rounds of the draft, the Green Bay Packers took an inside linebacker. For years, the squad has been hampered by the inside tandem of A.J. Hawk and Brad Jones. Last season, Jones was replaced as a starter by Sam Barrington, then a second-year player.

Spending 2014 as a pressure-package middle linebacker, Jones was cut in 2015, eventually finding a spot in Philadelphia. Hawk, too, was let go. He's now in Cincinnati after starting nine seasons with the Packers.

Sure, Green Bay was taking a step toward the future by letting those linebackers go, but it didn't have options behind them. Barrington is slated to start in 2015, but there are really only two other bodies on the roster who make sense to see time on paper.

The first is Carl Bradford, who was last year's fourth-round pick. At Arizona State, Bradford was a flexible edge-rusher, but before the final preseason game of 2014, he was moved to inside linebacker, as it was obvious that he was going to be buried in the depth chart as an outside linebacker. He saw virtually no time on defense in 2014.

The other possibility is Clay Matthews III, who is the Packers' top pass-rusher. Moving him from outside linebacker, especially at his salary, would be a poor use of assets.

It was obvious: Green Bay needed to draft an inside linebacker early.

With the 129th pick in the class, Michigan linebacker Jake Ryan was told he was going to wear green and gold as a professional. Coming from the Al Davis scouting tree, via Ron Wolf, there's no surprise that general manager Ted Thompson loves athletic players, especially on defense. Ryan is very athletic for a middle-round off-the-ball linebacker.

When looking at his athletic fingerprint on Mock Draftable, one of his top comparisons is James Laurinaitis, the longtime starter in St. Louis. At inside linebacker, Ryan's 40-yard dash time of 4.65 ranks in the top 18 percent of the position since 1999.

What's interesting is that the squad apparently had him at an even higher pace. According to Ryan Wood of the Green Bay Press-Gazette, director of player personnel Eliot Wolf stated the team had him at 4.61.

Part of the reason for his athleticism is that he played a more athletically demanding position earlier on in his career. For the most part, the closer to the edge of the field, the more athletic you're supposed to be. As a redshirt freshman, Ryan was a starting hybrid defensive end.

By his sophomore season, he led the team in sacks as an outside linebacker. His junior year, he suffered an injury, which slightly changed his style of play. For his senior campaign, he switched positions for a second time, moving to middle linebacker in the Michigan 4-3 scheme.

According to Zach Kruse of Bleacher Report, NFL.com even compared Ryan to former Packers starting inside linebacker Desmond Bishop. Many in the draft community believed this to be a value pick. As Packerpedia notes, Mel Kiper and Bill Polian of ESPN had high praise of the selection. 

Ryan should be able to press Bradford for a starting role during his rookie season. If he isn't able to win it, at least Green Bay added another flexible piece to its defense, a player who can contribute to special teams rather than being a healthy scratch.