Packers Showcasing Added Emphasis on Special Teams this Offseason

I don’t feel the need to dive into the details as we are all well aware that the Green Bay Packers special teams unit from a season ago was ranked the worst in the league as rarely a week went by without some kind of blunder. And eventually, it was those blunders that played a massive role in ending Green Bay’s season.

Unfortunately, it’s not as if the 2021 season was the first time this unit has struggled or even been ranked last. In fact, over the last decade-plus, poor special teams play has been the norm here in Green Bay–although the 2021 unit may take the cake as the worst of the bunch.

For this third phase of the game to turn around, there is no one answer. Rather it’s going to take an organizational shift in how the Green Bay Packers view special teams, which based on the on-the-field performance, has been an afterthought.

However, while I’m not going to sit here and say that I know for certain that this group is going to be much better in 2022, it is encouraging to see that the Packers appear to be putting more of an emphasis on it this offseason.

The first move was hiring Rich Bisaccia, a well-respected coach who has an abundance of special teams experience, having been a special teams coordinator in the NFL since 2002. He even led Las Vegas to the playoffs last season as the interim head coach, with the team rallying around him.

Last season, the Raiders would rank 11th in Rick Gosselin’s special teams rankings — the same rankings in which the Packers finished 32nd — and during Bisaccia’s four-year tenure, the team would finish with an average ranking of 17th. Although that ranking may not leap off the page, this is only one metric, and if we are being honest, the Packers finishing 17th in the special teams rankings with a near top-10 upside would be incredible, given their performances over the last 10 years.

Bisaccia is also bringing a more high-intensity approach, with LaFleur calling him a “fiery dude,” along with an emphasis on accountability and creating urgency as the special teams unit has only one play to make an impact.

"“But when they get on the field, they have a job to do, and they’re accountable to the guy next to them, in front of them, behind them, and so on, and in our one-play mentality,” said Bisaccia via SI. “You can look around and there’s a lot of plays that devastate your game, and there’s a lot of plays that propel your offense or your defense in a game. I think once we can all understand the one-play mentality, what we’re trying to get across to them, how they can affect the game positively and negatively, I think maybe we’ll start to accomplish something here.”"

It would also appear that the Green Bay Packers have given Bisaccia a voice when it comes to building out this special teams unit. Punter Pat O’Donnell, who was signed this offseason in free agency, is someone that Bisaccia has spoken highly of and had his eye on for some time. Keisean Nixon, another free agent addition, played under Bisaccia for three seasons with Las Vegas and has over 700 career special teams snaps, according to PFF ($$).

Kicker Dominik Eberle also spent time with Bisaccia as well with the Raiders–not to mention that Green Bay is churning the roster in an effort to upgrade this unit with their top-3 special teams contributors from 2021 — Oren Burks, Henry Black, and Isaac Yiadom — all playing elsewhere.

While I can’t say with certainty, I’m not so sure that these special teams specific free agent additions are moves that the Green Bay Packers would have made in the past–which again, is another step in the right direction.

Several members of this year’s draft class could also end up being key contributors as well. Quay Walker and Tariq Carpenter bring athleticism and experience, Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs could provide the return units with a jolt, while Zach Tom, Sean Rhyan, Rasheed Walker, Jonathan Ford, and Samori Toure could all carve out roles as well.

"“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 recently via Packers.com. “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.”"

We’ve also heard LaFleur and Bisaccia discuss utilizing starters more often on the special teams unit in an effort to raise the level of play. Typically, the bulk of the special teams snaps have been reserved for back-end of the roster players and backups–and while that will still be the case, we could see more offensive and defensive contributors with larger special teams roles this season.

So far, through the few OTA and minicamp practices that have been available to reporters, we’ve heard of Adrian Amos, De’Vondre Campbell, Aaron Jones, and Josh Myers all taking special teams snaps–and I imagine there are others. Bisaccia would also tell reporters that it’s not out of the question to see a player like David Bakhtiari helping out as well.

Now, of course, there are injury risks that come with this and have to be weighed in the decision-making, and I’m not suggesting that each of those players just mentioned will be on the field for 200-plus snaps. But the fact that these conversations are being had and that these snaps are taking place in practice, is once again something that appears to be quite different than in previous seasons.

As I mentioned at the beginning of all of this, none of this guarantees that this unit is going to have a major turnaround. When it comes to the Green Bay Packers special teams unit, we need to see progress before we can believe it’s actually taking place.

However, with that said, throughout the offseason, there does appear to be a different approach and added emphasis on the third phase of the game. Whether that translates on the field remains to be seen, but nonetheless, it’s a positive start.