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Packers Must Bench Struggling Veteran to Save Defense as Playoffs Approach

One struggling Packers defender has an obvious upgrade available, and that means he should be benched before it's too late.

By Jason Schandl

Dec 31, 2023; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Green Bay Packers linebacker Quay Walker (7) walks off the field after the game against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images
Dec 31, 2023; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Green Bay Packers linebacker Quay Walker (7) walks off the field after the game against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images / Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images
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With the new concerning injury on Edgerrin Cooper, the Green Bay Packers defense will need to rely even more heavily on Quay Walker and Isaiah McDuffie against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 12. The problem with that, of course, is that Quay has been one of the biggest disappointments of the season in Green Bay.

Walker was outright terrible to start the season, and while things have improved somewhat recently, he's still yet to even manage to string together back-to-back solid performances. Since returning from injury, PFF has given him grades of 50.4 and 62.6 in his last two games.

That brings him up to a brutal 49.5 grade on the season, struggling in both run defense (54.1) and coverage (47.8). And while PFF certainly isn't the only way to evaluate a player, you're not going to find many Packers fans disagreeing with their having him ranked 74th among 82 graded linebackers on the year.

Sometimes teams have to play a struggling starter because there are simply no better options on the roster. But that isn't the case here, at all. Walker's replacement option is crystal clear, and the Packers need to bench Walker and make the swap now.

Eric Wilson has been one of the biggest revelations of the season for this Green Bay defense. Nobody expected the 30-year-old to suddenly have a breakout season after spending his first seven years in the NFL as a journeyman. But the breakout has been real, and it has been sustained.

He looked great in limited action early in the year, but what really proved how capable he is was his play when Walker was hurt. Wilson played 57 snaps each in Weeks 7 and 8, finishing with a combined 15 tackles (11 solo), 2.0 sacks and 5 TFLs across those games.

In contrast to Walker, PFF has Wilson graded out at 78.9 on the season, and those two 57-snap games were two of his best of the year (82.7 and 81.1 defensive grades).

The Packers defense has struggled this season, and while Quay obviously doesn't take the full blame, his struggles in the middle while playing every single snap in most games are clearly a big part of it. There's an obvious upgrade available, and if the Packers act now there will be plenty of runway for Wilson and the rest of the starters to build the chemistry needed to be firing on all cylinders down the stretch of the regular season and into the postseason.

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