This offseason has been a roller coaster for Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Karl Brooks. A reserve on last year’s team who was thrust into a bigger role due to injury, Brooks scored an early win when Colby Wooden was traded to the Indianapolis Colts, but was quickly humbled when Green Bay signed Javon Hargrave a few days later.
In the Packers’ traditional 4-3 defensive scheme, that seemed to be like something that would keep him in a rotational role for 2026. But Green Bay’s transition to a 3-4 under Jonathan Gannon gave Brooks a new life as a down lineman, and he is likely to start next to Hargrave and Devonte Wyatt.
From there, it seems like Brooks could have a prominent role on the Packers’ defense. But the NFL draft is another information point that can alter the soon-to-be 26-year-old’s outlook. It makes his offseason showing more important than ever and could have him facing added competition when the draft concludes.
Green Bay’s Aggressive DT Search Sets Up Important Offseason for Karl Brooks
To confirm, Brooks is one of the biggest early winners of Green Bay’s shift to a 3-4 scheme. While he isn’t in the same tier as Hargrave and Wyatt, he has the upper hand on other incumbents, which include 2025 sixth-round pick Warren Brinson, UDFA Nazir Stackhouse, and waiver pickup Jonathan Ford. Ourlads also has Brooks listed as a starter, but that could change based on the Packers’ moves during the pre-draft process.
According to NFL Trade Rumors, the Packers had four defensive tackles among their top 30 visits. The list also includes some of the top prospects at the position, including Georgia’s Christen Miller, who is ranked 46th on the NFL Mock Draft Database’s consensus big board, and Texas Tech’s Lee Hunter, who ranks 49th. Southeastern Louisiana’s Kaleb Proctor (No. 113) and Georgia Tech’s Jordan van den Berg (No. 235) were also brought in for pre-draft visits, which virtually guarantees that Brooks will have competition.
With that being the case, Brooks needs to step up his game. He had a career-high with 28 total tackles and seven starts last season, but he only had one tackle for loss and 0.5 sacks despite the expanded playing time. Pro Football Focus also believed it was the worst overall season of his career, giving him a career-low 46.3 overall grade and a 6.9 percent pressure rate on 420 pass-rushing snaps.
Despite all that, the biggest issue was Brooks' performance against the run. While he’s never been a strong run defender (his career-high grade of 46.8 was posted in his rookie season in 2023), his 38.9 grade and 3.5 percent run stop rate came on 238 snaps last season, highlighting a major hole in his game.
For a player in his mid-20s, these are problems that can be corrected. But the book on Brooks at this moment is that the more he has to play, the bigger liability he becomes. That’s likely why the Packers have been so aggressive in pursuing interior linemen this offseason, and it could lead to an extremely important offseason program and training camp for Brooks to keep his roster spot in Green Bay.
More Green Bay Packers News & Rumors:
Add us as a preferred source on Google