Year 2 w/ Joe Barry Could Provide Boost for Packers Defense as well

On paper, there are very few weaknesses on this Green Bay Packers defense–or at least among the starters, anyways.

From front to back, this is a well-put-together group, with what is easily the deepest interior defensive line room that the Packers have had in years. The edge rusher pairing of Preston Smith and Rashan Gary was one of the most productive last season, while the Green Bay secondary as a whole could be the best in football. Then at linebacker is All-Pro De’Vondre Campbell and first-round pick Quay Walker.

For that reason alone, we should see improvement from this unit–they made some key additions in the draft, re-signed Campbell and Rasul Douglas, and will also have Jaire Alexander back, who missed most of last season. This group has the potential to be one of the best in football in 2022.

However, another factor that this Packers’ defense has going for them is that they will be entering their second season under defensive coordinator Joe Barry.

As should have been expected with any first-year coordinator implementing a new system, there were ups and downs. They allowed over 30 points on five occasions during the regular season, struggled to get stops in the red zone and on third downs, and their run defense could still be problematic.

With that said, this group had a fantastic stretch from Weeks 4 through 10, where they didn’t allow more than 22 points in a single game, and there was also their stellar performance in the playoffs against San Francisco. Green Bay would also finish eighth in total turnovers generated.

In Year 2 of Barry’s system, there is going to be a much greater familiarity with it and the responsibilities that come with each role–not only for the individual player but also in knowing what their teammates are doing as well. Instead of implementing the basics this summer, Barry can dive deeper into the playbook.

It’s difficult to quantify what this actually means on the football field, but if we look at the Packers’ offense in Year 2 under Matt LaFleur, which isn’t exactly an apples-to-apples comparison, we saw Green Bay take a massive step forward in 2020.

Whether it be points per game scored, red zone efficiency, or you name it–chances are the Packers ranked first in 2020 or, at the very least, were close to it, after ranking 10th in points per game and 18th in red zone success rate in 2019.

This, of course, isn’t me saying that Green Bay’s defense will be the best in football, and there certainly were other factors in the offense’s success that year, but this does help illustrate the importance of having a deep understanding of the offensive or defensive scheme.

If we look around the NFL at recent examples of new defensive coordinators stepping in, we, for the most part, see improvements from Year 1 to Year 2.

In Joe Woods’ first season with Cleveland, the Browns ranked 25th by DVOA–an all-encompassing metric. This past season, they would rank 11th. Miami under Josh Boyer would find success right away and maintain that in his second season, ranking 11th in DVOA in 2020 and then 10th in 2021. Lastly, Phil Snow in Carolina would take the Panthers from ranking 24th in DVOA during his first year as coordinator to 15th in 2021.

For some added context, the Green Bay Packers would rank 22nd by DVOA last season.

Now, I’ll once again reiterate that there are dozens of other factors that contributed to these improvements for these teams, and it’s not as if being under a coordinator for a second season guarantees success either. But steady to fairly big improvements aren’t uncommon either.

So while Green Bay could improve this season defensively simply because they improved their personnel, another key component is the defensive scheme and their understanding of it–which will put them ahead of where they were in 2021 based on their experience alone.