Jerel Worthy

Jerel Worthy (born April 26, 1990) is an American football defensive end for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Michigan State University, and was recognized as an All-American. The Packers selected him in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft.

Early years
Worthy was born in Huber Heights, Ohio. He originally attended Chaminade-Julienne High School in Dayton, Ohio but then transferred to Wayne High School in Huber Heights, where he played high school football for the Wayne Warriors. As a senior for the Warriors, Worthy recorded 50 tackles, 10.5 sacks and 12 hurries. Worthy was also responsible for seven pass breakups and two fumble recoveries

Worthy's performance earned him a spot on the Superprep and Prepstars Midwest Teams.

Recruiting
Coming out of High School, Worthy was ranked the 53rd Best Defensive Tackle by Rivals.com, 78th by Scout.com, and 93rd by Scouts Inc. He was also invited to play June 14 Big 33 Football Classic. Worthy received scholarship offers from Michigan State, Akron, Cincinnati, Marshall, Nebraska, and Ohio. He was six foot two inches, 288 pounds, ran the 40-yard dash in 4.9 seconds who bench pressed a maximum of 335 pounds and squatted a maximum of 470 pounds. He had a 2.8 Grade-point average.

Michigan State
Worthy attended Michigan State University, where he played for the Michigan State Spartans football team from 2009 to 2011. Worthy was Redshirted for his freshman year but was still named the Scout team defensive player of the week versus Eastern Michigan. Coming on to the scene in 2009, he started 11 of 13 games and ranked second on the team for tackles for loss and sacks. He was named a midseason All-Big Ten All American by Phil Steele. At the end of the season, he was named as a freshman All-American

As a Sophomore, Worthy started all 13 games at defensive tackle and lead the linemen with 40 tackles, eight of which went for a loss. He also had a team best four sacks. He was a collegefootballnews.com All-Sophomore second team selection, honorable mention Big-Ten selection by the coaches and media, and was presented Michigan State's Outstanding Underclassman Award.

For what turned out to be his final season at Michigan State, Worthy had 30 tackles (10.5 for loss), 3.5 sacks, 10 Quarterback Hurries, and 14 hits during the regular season. He was named a consensus first-team All-American honors by the Associated Press. He was also an All-Big ten selection from the coaches and media. Worthy became the first Defensive Tackle since Ronald Curl in 1971 to be named an All-American at Michigan State.

On January 4, 2012 Worthy announced he would forgo his senior season and enter the 2012 NFL Draft

Draft
Worthy was predicted to be a late first round to second round draft pick. Scouts talked about his size and called him thick and powerful. They also stated that he had enough speed to "shoot through the gap" Scouts also discussed his inconsistency and that his reputation was better than his actual production. It was also stated that he struggled in space and could not translate his weight enough to make tackles on the ball carrier.

Green Bay Packers
During the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft the Green Bay Packers traded the 59th overall pick and a fourth round selection to move up in the draft and select Worthy with the 51st overall pick.