Green Bay Packers: TJ Slaton & Jack Heflin Should get More Snaps

Through two weeks, there has certainly been a learning curve — we will call it that — for this Green Bay Packers defense under Joe Barry. They currently rank 28th in defensive DVOA–if you’re unfamiliar with DVOA, that’s not good.

However, even with the ups and downs, you can find reasons for optimism with just about every defensive position group.

The pass rush will improve when Za’Darius Smith returns. Eric Stokes is seeing more snaps while Jaire Alexander continues to play lockdown defense. Despite what some think, De’Vondre Campbell and Krys Barnes have been solid at linebacker. Not to mention that Adrian Amos and Darnell Savage have the potential to form one of the better safety duos in football.

But then we get to the Green Bay Packers interior defensive line unit, and outside of Kenny Clark, there isn’t a whole lot to be excited about.

According to PFF ($$), of the ten pressures recorded by the interior defensive line group, Clark has eight of them. Of the 19 tackles, Clark has eight of them. And of the nine stops — or plays that end in a “loss” for the offense — Clark has six of them.

Dean Lowry has been okay doing the dirty work, but he isn’t someone who is going to flash very often. Meanwhile, both Tyler Lancaster and Kingsley Keke have played very poorly, to put it simply. In fact, of the 21 Green Bay Packers defenders who have registered a PFF grade this season, Lancaster ranks 17th, and Keke ranks 21st.

Through the first two games, this Green Bay Packers defensive line group has been bullied and pushed around for the most part.

Unfortunately, there is no magic fix either. Sure, Green Bay could explore free agency or even the trade market, but don’t get your hopes up that they are going to find a true difference-maker. Any major improvements are likely going to have to come internally.

So with that in mind, and I know we are only two games in, but why not give TJ Slaton and Jack Heflin more opportunities? I mean, what is the worst that could happen?

Slaton saw 16 snaps against New Orleans and then only six against Detroit, where he has logged three total tackles and a stop. As I’ve discussed in the past with Slaton, he is not someone who is going to fill the stat sheet.

Instead, he is a big body at 6’4″ – 340 pounds that occupies multiple defenders, eats up space, and should be someone who is difficult to move around–the type of player that this defense could benefit from.

Having Slaton on the field as a true nose tackle also affords Green Bay the flexibility to move Clark to 4-tech, where he should see more one-on-one opportunities–and that, of course, is always a good thing.

In Heflin’s case, he is yet to suit up and has been inactive for the first two games. As an undrafted rookie, he earned his way on the 53-man roster with his play during training camp and the preseason. While I can’t sit here and tell you that he’s going to play at a high level, I can tell you that he would bring high energy and effort to this defensive front–again, something I wouldn’t mind seeing more of.

With all that said, both Slaton and Heflin are rookies — a fifth-rounder and UDFA, to be exact — they aren’t going to magically turn this interior defensive line unit around, and they will most certainly take their lumps. But something needs to change upfront.

This week, the Green Bay Packers face a San Francisco 49ers team that relies heavily on the run game, even though they are short-handed at the running back position. As we saw in the 2019 NFC Championship Game, this is a Niners team under Kyle Shanahan that will continually pound the rock until the defense proves that they can stop it–which the Packers did not.

If the 49ers are able to consistently move the ball on the ground, sustain long drives, and keep Aaron Rodgers on the sidelines, that is not a recipe for success for Green Bay. As I’ve already mentioned, I’m not saying that Slaton and Heflin will prevent this from happening; I’m just ready for something different.