Nick Perry (American football)

Nick Perry (born April 12, 1990) is an American football linebacker for the Green Bay Packers. He was drafted in the 1st round of the 2012 NFL Draft, 28th overall, by the Green Bay Packers.

Early years
Perry attended Mackenzie High School in Detroit Michigan for most of his high school career, but transferred to Martin Luther King High School for his senior year as the school was shut down. During his Junior year in 2006, Perry was named to the All-metro and All-city teams while getting 75 tackles and 11 sacks. His senior year also brought great success as he played defensive linemen, defensive end, and Tight End. He recorded 147 seven tackles and a Michigan Record 36 Sacks. He also caught 14 passes for 310 yards and eight touchdowns. He received numerous honors including being named to the USA today All-USA First Team, Scout.com All-American second team, Super Prep All-Midwest, Prep-Star All Midwest, All-State and Detroit News All-Detroit and the Dream Team “MVP.”

Recruitment
Perry was measured to be 6'4 and weigh 235 pounds coming out of King High School. He ran a 4.51 forty-yard dash, bench pressed 315 pounds, and squatted 400 pounds. He finished with a 3.3 Grade point average and received scholarship offers from Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, and the University of Southern California. He ultimately decided to play at USC.

2008
During his freshman year in 2008, Perry was redshirted as a Defensive End.

2009
Perry came on to the scene as mainly as a backup defensive end playing mostly in passing situations. He appeared in 13 games and made his first start against Stanford Cardinals in an embarrassing 55–21 defeat. He had 24 tackles, nine for a loss, with a team best nine sacks. His performance had him named to the 2009 Football Writers Freshman All-American first team.

2010
Perry started nine games in his sophomore season, and saw action as a backup in others. He appeared in a total of 12 games, but missed the opener against The Hawaii Warriors with a sprained ankle. During this season he had 25 tackles with 7.5 of them for a loss. He also recorded four sacks, forced two fumbles, and recovered one.

2011
During his final season as a Trojan, Perry recorded 54 tackles over 12 games, with 13 for a loss along with 8.5 sacks.

2012 NFL Draft
On December 16, 2011, it was announced that he would enter the 2012 NFL Draft. Perry was viewed to be a bit small to be a defensive end with a height of 6'3 and 250 pounds and was predicted to be moved to an outside linebacker in a 3-4 defense. He was stated to be an explosive player who can fire off the ball and get upfield in a hurry. He was also stated to have trouble with his lateral movement which will cause problems if he has to drop back in coverage as a linebacker. Perry's lack of bulk was also believed to make him an ineffective runstopper. Many scouts also believed that he was inconsistent. He was given a late first round grade. The teams that he was believed to be most likely to be selected by were the San Diego Chargers, the Cleveland Browns, Houston Texans, Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers, and New England Patriots.

Green Bay Packers
Perry was selected in the first round (28th overall) by the Green Bay Packers. Packers General Manager Ted Thompson commented that "“He’s got that kind of juice...", while Defensive coordinator Dom Capers stated “We think he can certainly fit into our nickel scheme, being an edge rusher there...Maybe we can move him around a little bit." Perry commented that “I’m ready to take it to the next level. It’s been a dream all my life. I’m taking my chance now.”.

2012

Perry played in six games in the 2012 season and recorded two sacks. He was put on injured reserve after he suffered a knee injury in week 6.