Packers Draft Class Hopefully Helps with Special Teams Turnaround
By Paul Bretl
If it could have gone wrong last season, then chances are that it did for the Green Bay Packers special teams unit.
There were missed field goals, poor snaps, questionable holds, and missed blocks. We also saw a punt return allowed for a touchdown — the only in the NFL — and overall, a lack of playmaking on kick and punt returns, among many other issues.
Green Bay’s special teams unit would deservedly so, finish last season ranked 32nd in the NFL, and as we all know, this phase of the game was a major contributor to the Packers’ playoff loss to San Francisco.
With the hopes of turning this unit around, the Green Bay Packers brought in long-time special teams coordinator, Rich Bisaccia, whose experience and leadership will hopefully provide some stability to the special teams. We’ve also seen Brian Gutekunst bring in players like Keisean Nixon, who played under Bisaccia in Las Vegas, and punter Pat O’Donnell, who Bisaccia has wanted on his team for some time.
As I wrote about following the season, there is no quick fix–in order for the Packers’ special teams unit to turn around, it’s going to take an organizational shift in how they view the third phase of the game and a greater commitment towards it.
While ultimately, the results are what matter, hiring Bisaccia and giving him some say in who is a part of special teams is a good step in the right direction. There also needs to be an added emphasis on this part of the game over the summer and in practices.
Another contributing factor to what hopefully becomes a much better special teams unit is this year’s rookie draft. As Bisaccia told reporters recently, especially among the skill-position players, there is a lot of special teams experience, which hopefully means early contributions.
"“Well, I think this draft class, in particular, the skill players have played a lot of special teams at their respective schools, so we’re expecting them all to contribute in some way,” Bisaccia told reporters on Tuesday. “And we’ve only had our hands on them for a couple of days, but we’re seeing some things again, effort-wise, retention-wise of the system, we’re hoping they can all contribute in some way.”"
Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs could solve the Green Bay Packers’ lack of playmaking ability at the kick and punt return positions. Watson was an All-American kick returner at North Dakota State, averaging 26.4 yards per return on 26 career attempts. Meanwhile, Doubs had 37 career punt return attempts at Nevada, with one touchdown and an impressive average of 12.4 yards per return.
Tariq Carpenter was on the field for over 400 special teams snaps during his time at Georgia Tech, according to PFF ($$), and as a player, he is an impressive mix of size and speed, measuring in at 6’3″ – 230 pounds while running a 4.52-second 40-yard dash. And speaking of size and speed, first-round pick Quay Walker was on the field for 464 special teams snaps during his Georgia career.
Another seventh-round pick, Samori Toure, was an effective gunner during his 2021 season with Nebraska. With Zach Tom, Sean Rhyan, and Rasheed Walker potentially providing more reliable blocking, while Jonathan Ford and his 6’5″ – 333 pound frame could be used on the field goal block and field goal kick units, just as TJ Slaton was last season–not to mention that the athletic Devonte Wyatt could fill a similar role as well if the Packers choose to use him in that capacity.
As fans of the Green Bay Packers, we should always be a bit cautious when it comes to getting our hopes up for the special teams unit because it wasn’t just last season that was bad, but on several occasions over the last decade or so, the special teams unit has been among the worst in football.
With that said, even if they are just incremental steps, things do appear to be heading in a positive direction with the hiring of Bisaccia, a few free agent additions specifically meant to help on special teams, and a draft class that brings quite a bit of experience and several potential upgrades over what we saw on the field in 2021.