by GREG A. BEDARD, Staff, Packer Plus , Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Forget about rushing the passer. Forget about looking at sack numbers. Lose the pressures. You can keep the pass knockdowns. But other than that, the measurables are gone. Effectiveness will be judged by eyes and film.

In a big way, unselfishness is in now.

"You probably have to, prior to taking that player, you better explain what you're going to be asking him to do," said Pittsburgh Steelers director of football operations Kevin Colbert, who has been looking for 3-4 ends since he arrived in 2000. "And if he's a college kid you better understand his mental makeup, whether he'll be unselfish enough to be able to do that."

In a 4-3 defense, especially like the one employed by former coordinator Bob Sanders, the ends were the only consistent down-to-down pass rushers. If the Packers were going to bring the heat, it was going to come from Aaron Kampman, Cullen Jenkins or Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila. They pinned their ears back and sought out the quarterback.

Those players could be small. They could be big. It really didn't matter, as long as they got home.

In the 3-4 defense, the prototype is this: 6 feet 6, 300 pounds, 4.95 seconds in the 40-yard dash and strong as an ox. In other words, Richard Seymour, the New England Patriots' perennial Pro Bowler.

In the 3-4, the ends are charged with holding their ground and multiple blockers. They are there to occupy the offensive line so the four linebackers behind them can make plays.

"It's hard to find ends (for the 3-4)," Colbert said. "There are probably more defensive tackles in a college 4-3 that can make the transition only because of their size, rather than the defensive end, who is going to be a 6-4, 6-5 guy that weights 290. There aren't a lot of those kids playing college ball."

When the Packers go looking for college players to play end in their scheme, they will be looking mostly at tackles.

Several of the top candidates in this draft were primarily tackles in college, including, USC's Fili Moala and Kyle Moore, LSU's Ricky Jean-Francois, Stillman's Sammie Lee Hill and Stanford's Pannel Egboh.

Those players are already used to being asked to hold the point of attack. The transition will be easier for them.

But that's not to say there aren't 3-4 ends that already have experience playing on the outside. The two top-rated players at the position, LSU's Tyson Jackson and San Jose State's Jarron Gilbert, have a knack for rushing the passer. So does Nebraska's Zach Potter.

In the pros, that will be a bonus for their respective teams. The focus will be on the player doing their job so others can get the big plays. Some players might find that lack of quantifiable contribution troubling to deal with.

The same could be said for the 3-4 nose tackle. A player like B.J. Raji of Boston College has been trained to get up the field to take down the quarterback or the running back behind the line of scrimmage. In a scheme like Green Bay's, the team will want a player that can quickly shoot a gap at the snap. If they grab jersey, that's a bonus. The goal is to have that player distract the center, guard and maybe a chipping running back. On the backside, a linebacker or even a safety will be flying into the gap that has been exposed.

So for nose tackles, quickness is good. Strength and stamina are also a plus.

"That's going to be a transition (for the college players)," Colbert said. "And all our defensive linemen go through that when they come up."

The good thing for the ends or nose tackles the Packers pick is they'll have plenty of company when they learn a new position. The entire defensive unit is going through a rebirth, the ends and tackles especially.

It's a whole new ball game for them.

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