5 Reasons for Optimism with 2022 Green Bay Packers
By Paul Bretl
This Green Bay Packers Defense
From front to back, there doesn’t appear to be a weak point among the starters on this Green Bay Packers defensive unit.
The interior defensive line rotation led by Kenny Clark will be the deepest it has been in years. At edge rusher, Rashan Gary and Preston Smith were both top10 in total pressures created in 2021.
With De’Vondre Campbell and Quay Walker at linebacker, both have the ability to play the run as well as the pass–which will allow Green Bay to stay in their base defense more often, thus making it more difficult for the offense to know what to expect schematically. Lastly, this secondary could very well be the best in all of football.
As a whole, and on paper anyways, this Packers defense certainly has top-5 potential. It’s also important to remember that we could also see improvement from the simple fact that this group is entering its second season under Joe Barry.
Players will be far more comfortable with the system and responsibilities compared to last year, which often results in improved play. Although it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison, look at the improvement the Green Bay offense made in Year 2 under LaFleur.
With the offense potentially not able to put up points as quickly as they did in previous years — or at least that may be the case early on — the defense is going to play a much bigger role in determining the outcomes of these games.
Now, if there is some concern, it is around the depth at several of these positions, most notably edge rusher, cornerback, and safety. With that said, that’s not abnormal either–teams can only pay so many top-level players.