Green Bay Packers: 3 Big Questions Surrounding 53-Man Roster
By Paul Bretl
Do the Green Bay Packers need to add an ILB before Week 1?
As training camp was unfolding, I slowly started to feel a little better about the inside linebacker position. Christian Kirksey, if healthy, looks as if he can provide an upgrade over Blake Martinez with his ability to work in space. While Kamal Martin emerged as a legitimate ILB2 option.
However, with Martin’s injury and him being sidelined for 6-8 weeks, this unit is all of a sudden extremely thin.
As I just mentioned, Kirksey’s health is in question as he has only played nine games over the last two seasons combined. If he gets injured and the Packers defense has to rely on Oren Burks or Ty Summers, they could be in some serious trouble.
Burks once again had similar issues in camp that have plagued him in the past. Meanwhile, Summers still has to prove that he is more than just a special teams player.
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Now, something going in their favor is that under Mike Pettine, Green Bay played over 50 percent of their defensive snaps in 2019 from the dime formation, which requires just one linebacker. This does make it easier to hide the fact that they lack depth at the position, but that doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t add someone prior to Week 1.
As we’ve seen in the past, injuries happen.