OTAs and minicamp give glimpse into Packers potential IDL rotations
By Paul Bretl
The interior defensive line position is one of the most heavily rotated in football. For the Green Bay Packers it’s also a position group with a lot of inexperience. Combine those two factors, and what exactly the rotations and alignments will be this season remains a bit of an unknown.
When it comes to roster spots or playing time, nothing is decided during the offseason programs. However, the open OTA and minicamp practices do provide us with some insight into where things may currently stand within a position group.
Based on what I saw during these open sessions, when the Packers are in their base 3-4 defense, the interior defensive front included Devonte Wyatt, TJ Slaton in the middle, and Kenny Clark, which shouldn’t come as a surprise, given that these are the three most experienced players on the roster. My guess is that when in this alignment and faced with an obvious passing situation, we could see Colby Wooden or Lukas Van Ness in for Slaton.
When the Packers were in their nickel defense, which included only two interior defenders, it was Slaton and Clark on the early down reps. Again, I’m going to guess that when faced with a third down or passing situation, we see Wyatt in place of Slaton. Karl Brooks spent most of his time with the second-team defense, and my expectation, at least right now, is that most of his playing time as a rookie comes as a pass rusher. Typically, young players are able to make a greater impact getting after the quarterback than as a run defender.
Of course, we all want Clark on the field as often as possible, but it’s not realistic to expect him to play 100% of the defensive snaps, either. As already mentioned, the interior defensive line is one of the most heavily rotated positions in the game, with four or five players seeing regular snaps each week. If the Packers want Clark on the field for passing situations, that means he is going to have to take some snaps off against the run, or vice versa.
So another early down alignment that I saw included Wooden lined up next to Wyatt and Slaton. A wildcard to contribute against the run is Jonathan Ford, who, at best right now, is the sixth interior defender on the depth chart but could clog up the middle with his 6’5″ – 338-pound frame—although it’s not a given that the Packers roster six defensive linemen.
Between Clark, Wyatt, Wooden, Brooks, and even Van Ness lining up inside, the Packers have plenty of options along the interior when it comes to getting after the quarterback. However, how they hold up against the run is the more critical question.
If this defense is going to play at the level that everyone hopes they can, it begins with being better against the run. It’s not a coincidence that this unit went from allowing over five yards per rush last season to 4.4 during the final few games of the year when the defense as a whole was playing its best football. When slowing the run, it puts the offense into more predictable second and third and long situations. This allows the defensive front to pin its ears back and the secondary to be more aggressive as well. Every player on that side of the ball benefits.
But, on the flip side, when the offense is picking up five or six yards on first or second down, it opens up the playbook for them, which puts the defense on its heels and often guessing. An example of all of this is how the Packers fared on third downs as a defense in 2022. The Green Bay defense had the eighth-best third down conversion rate in football, oftentimes because the offense was faced with a third and long situation. However, the problem was that the Packers faced the third-fewest third downs per game because opponents were able to move the chains on either first or second down, in large part due to their success on the ground.
Although adding to the receiver room has garnered a lot of attention, for the reasons mentioned, bolstering the interior defensive line depth in free agency is a bigger need. I go into greater detail here, but the Packers do have the cap space to make an addition, and there are still a few names available that make sense to sign.
I imagine that with as much inexperience that the Packers have at this position group – only Clark, Wyatt, and Slaton have any NFL snaps – we will see a lot of mixing and matching during training camp as Joe Barry searches for his ideal rotations. Nothing is set in stone at this time. But regardless of who is on the field during running downs – with Clark being the exception – there are still going to be some unknowns. Slaton will need to be more consistent. Clark said this offseason that one area of improvement for Wyatt is on his technique as a run defender, while Green Bay simply needs to be prepared to weather the storm that often comes with relying heavily on rookies.
With that said, improvement in this phase of the game is a must for this defense, especially with such a young offense, that may struggled to score regularly.