We have now hit on every position for the Green Bay Packers other than the front seven. I wanted to write up these players all together, because of A) the small sample size we have of Ted Thompson drafting since Dom Capers' defensive scheme impacted his pool of talent and B) because some of these players are a bit ambiguous.

We're going to go through these players in these steps:

1.                  defensive linemen (ends and tackles)

2.                  edge defenders (outside linebackers)

3.                  linebackers (inside linebackers)

First are the defensive linemen. These are the players who fit that mold under the Thompson/Capers duo, the longest general manager/defensive coordinator pairing in the NFL:

•                     2009 first-round pick B.J. Raji

•                     2013 first-round pick Datone Jones (bounced to outside linebacker also)

•                     2016 first-round pick Kenny Clark

•                     2010 second-round pick Mike Neal (bounced to outside linebacker also)

•                     2012 second-round pick Jerel Worthy

•                     2014 third-round pick Khyri Thornton

•                     2012 fourth-round pick Mike Daniels

•                     2016 fourth-round pick Dean Lowry

•                     2013 fifth-round pick Josh Boyd

•                     2009 sixth-round pick Jarius Wynn

•                     2015 sixth-round pick Christian Ringo

•                     2010 seventh-round pick C.J. Wilson

•                     2011 seventh-round pick Lawrence Guy

Before we talk about the trends, you need to remember what Capers' scheme is based off of. The goal of it is penetration forcing turnovers, meaning the defensive linemen who are best suited in the scheme, despite it being listed as a 3-4 defenses, are quick linemen, not run-stopping linemen. For example, Green Bay's nose tackles don't really two-gap like your traditional nose guard in a 3-4 defense. Mike Daniels isn't a five-technique end, either; He's a lot closer to your traditional under tackle/three-technique in your run of the mill 4-3 defense. For the most part, too, Green Bay is in nickel (2-4) defense, meaning that a “base end” is a rotational player more than a starter for the Packers. On long and late downs, Green Bay also throws out more fronts, with several standing pass-rushers, than any other team in the league.

Think about it this way: If you're a top end player for the Packers on the defensive interior, you're making your money generating pressure to force passes to your “ball skills” defensive backs or making tackles for a loss in the ground game.

This is the second thing I'll say about line of scrimmage defenders: They have more variety in their bodies than any other unit on the football field. You can have a 240-pound rusher (Clay Matthews) or a 337-pound nose tackle (B.J. Raji) on the line of scrimmage of a defense at the same time. Because of that, it's hard to come up with blank times that will fit every player. What you can do, though, is adjust for density (weight in pounds/height in feet.)

We're going to use Waldo's “Speed 40” and “Agility” numbers (essentially density-adjusted 40-yard dashes and density-adjusted three-cone times) as our decoder rings here. This is probably the trickiest position to follow for that reason, but when even the Packers' first-round defensive linemen have a range of about a 50-pound difference alone, the idea of trying to find one prototype is thrown out the window. You need to find linemen who can rush from the nose (Raji/Kenny Clark), as a base end (Datone Jones/Mike Neal/Dean Lowry) or as three-techniques (Jerel Worthy/Mike Daniels.)

Of the Packers' defensive line draft picks in the first four rounds under Capers (Raji, Jones, Clark, Neal, Worthy, Khyri Thornton, Daniels and Lowry), only one of them (Thornton) fell below the 0.07 number in the “Agility” category and “-0.29” in the Speed 40 category. Clark didn't have a registered three-cone time and Daniels doesn't have registered numbers on NFL Draft Scout, but there are numbers floating around the internet from his combine that would lead you to believe that he blows those numbers out of the water.

This draft class, out of 31 interior defensive linemen on NFL Draft Scout, only five of them were able to hit those marks. Four others have yet to have their profiles updated for their pro days, but this goes to tell you how truly bad this interior defensive line class is, and why Green Bay is so lucky to have landed Clark and Lowry last year when they did.

After the fourth round, the Packers pretty much take chances on anyone. The truth of the matter is this: At the line of scrimmage there is little doubt as to who is and isn't dominant. For the most part, the best players in the league at those positions are highly-athletic, early selections. Line of scrimmage defenders are quarterbacks in terms of draft position relative to talent. If you want to find a project star, you have to draft him top-40.

As far as the outside linebackers go, here are the names you need to know:

1.                  2009 first-round pick Clay Matthews III (bounced to inside linebacker also)

2.                  2012 first-round pick Nick Perry

3.                  2016 third-round pick Kyler Fackrell

4.                  2014 fourth-round pick Carl Bradford (bounced to inside linebacker also)

5.                  2011 sixth-round pick Ricky Elmore

6.                  2013 sixth-round pick Nate Palmer (bounced to inside linebacker also)

Outside linebackers are also premium players. Example: Jabaal Sheard is easily a top-four second-round pass-rusher in the last decade of the NFL, and he's hit the open market and lost his starting role twice in the last three years. What does that mean? In a decade of draft, there weren't even four pass-rushers worth being long-term staples of a franchise who were drafted in the second round. This is why Green Bay drafted the project Nick Perry and traded up for Clay Matthews. It's also why they paid Perry and hesitate to let Matthews walk.

In terms of size, Green Bay doesn't have much of a preference. Kyler Fackrell was 6'5”. Carl Bradford was 6'0” and change. Perry was 271 pounds. Matthews was 240 pounds. What they do seem to care about is athleticism relative to size, though, just like on the interior defensive line. Of the Packers' six pass-rusher selections in nine years, a relatively small number, four of the six hit at least -0.65 in the “Agility” category and -1.21 in the “40 Speed” category, with the outliers being Kyler Fackrell, a surprise selection for everyone, and Ricky Elmore, a sixth-round pick.

How rare are those numbers? Of the 44 edge defender prospects on NFL Draft Scout, only 13 of them fit the mold.

Now come the off the ball linebackers: last and least. In nine years, the Packers have only drafted five inside linebackers, despite it being a two-starter position. Think about this: from 2009 to 2014, Green Bay drafted as many outside linebackers (Matthews, Bradford and Palmer) and moved them to inside linebacker as they drafted actual linebackers (Terrell Manning, D.J. Smith and Sam Barrington.)

The team has still not taken a linebacker in the top-100 picks, despite having 23 attempts to do so since Capers came to down. The idea of a first-round linebacker is dead. The Packers view the position as an unfortunate reality. They want to blitz and play pattern-matching zone, and linebackers are caught up right in the middle where unless they are a Ryan Shazier-type, they aren't really a premier player in the scheme.

Here are the characters you're going to need to know:

•                     2015 fourth-round pick Jake Ryan

•                     2016 fourth-round pick Blake Martinez

•                     2012 fifth-round pick Terrell Manning

•                     2011 sixth-round pick D.J. Smith

•                     2013 seventh-round pick Sam Barrington

Of those five players, all of them were 237 pounds or heavier, three (including the only two drafted in the top 160 picks) had a short shuttle of at least 4.26 seconds and four (including the only three drafted in the top 185 picks) had a three-cone of at least 7.18 seconds. They want players who are built more like edge defenders than Will linebackers, but they still want them to move like Will linebackers. And they want them on Day 3.

The market for that is small. How small? Of all the off ball linebackers with draftable grades on NFL Draft Scout, there are only four, with three of them being Day 3 selections, who hit the 237-pound, 4.26-second short shuttle and 7.18-second three-cone numbers. As an alternative to wasting time talking about linebackers that the Packers will in all likelihood won't draft, here's an updated draft board, with only players who hit Green Bay's thresholds.

OFFENSE: (click image for larger version)

DEFENSE: (click image for larger version)

We'll update this list the week before the draft, just to make sure to get in all of NFL Draft Scout's late risers and players whose pro day numbers have yet to be added.

Previous installments of this series: