2015 Could Be Green Bay Packers Nose Tackle B.J. Raji's Best Season Yet

Forget approaching his 2010, career-best form; if he continues at his current clip, 2015 could prove to be the best season of Green Bay Packers nose tackle B.J. Raji's career. 

If you ask head coach Mike McCarthy, Raji's Week 2 showing against the Seattle Seahawks was certainly the best game of his career to date. 

"It's one of his best or was his best football game as a Green Bay Packer, in my opinion," McCarthy said after that game, per ESPN.com's Rob Demovsky. 

Sure, it's only been two games, and consistency is the ultimate marker of a successful season, sometimes even more so than eye-popping stats. 

Season	Position	Games	Comb Tackles	Tot Tackles	Sacks	Passes Def.
2015	NT	2	6	4	.5	0
2014	NT	IR	IR	IR	IR	IR
2013	DE	16	17	12	0	0
2012	DE	14	26	16	0	2
2011	NT	16	22	14	3	2
2010	NT	16	39	29	6.5	3
2009	NT	14	25	19	1	1

But Raji's improvement from the last time he took a snap in a game, on January 5, 2014, to his performance so far in 2015 is the result of stringent offseason conditioning as he rehabbed his way back from the biceps injury that kept him out the entire 2014 season. 

After Raji was cleared from his offseason biceps surgery, he began practicing yoga with Ryanne Cunningham at Flow Yoga Studio in De Pere, Wisconsin, to improve his range of motion and flexibility, as Weston Hodkiewicz of Press-Gazette media reported back in May.  

"I guess all that wear and tear kind of stiffened my muscles," Raji said this offseason, per Hodkiewicz. "So I noticed that my range of motion and my flexion weren't as good as when I first got here in '09. And even with our tests here. Some of my numbers weren't as good as when I was a rookie."

He continued his practice as he took up his offseason training in New Jersey.

Returning to the Packers for training camp, the difference in Raji's play was obvious. First of all, Raji reported to training camp at his lightest weight since college: a trim 327 pounds, per Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel—10 pounds lighter than his typical playing weight of 337 pounds from 2009-13. 

Mike Roemer/Associated Press

As he resumed his former nose tackle position during camp, which he played through 2009-11, Raji knew that the lost weight wouldn't inhibit his ability to anchor the line successfully. 

"To me, it's more about technique in the middle," Raji said during camp, per McGinn. "Every nose isn't humongous. There are small guys that play with good technique."

Indeed, Raji has appeared quicker, more nimble and more aggressive than he's looked in years to start the 2015 season. 

In his first regular-season game back, against Chicago in Week 1, Raji and Julius Peppers came up big to sack Bears quarterback Jay Cutler in the red zone to hold Chicago to three points. 

In Week 2 against the Seahawks, Raji just kept getting better. He was a huge part of the reason the Packers were able to shut down Seattle rusher Marshawn Lynch, allowing him just 41 yards on 15 carries, and he made two tackles for loss.

He also got three hurries on Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson, finishing the night ranked the Packers' No. 1 overall defender by Pro Football Focus—No. 4 against the run and No. 3 in the pass rush.  

"He was active. He got off blocks. He controlled his gap. I thought he did a nice job of being physical on the center, on their guards," defensive coordinator Dom Capers said about Raji's Week 2 performance, per Demovsky. "So that was encouraging. He was a big part of that, and that enabled us to limit Lynch."

While Raji's offseason training and conditioning have no doubt had a huge impact on his play this season, it's no coincidence that his improved play is coming at the nose position rather than as a defensive end, where he played in 2012 and 2013. 

Whether it was because he lost motivation when his job description didn't include as much license to shoot gaps or he was just not a natural block-eater, Raji's play declined at end. But when he returned to training camp in 2014, prior to tearing his biceps, he was looking closer to 2010 form.

Now, Raji is checking all the boxes.

He's in great physical shape, motivated and producing on the field. If he keeps it up, he could even surpass his 2010 Super Bowl-winning season for the best year of his career.