The Green Bay Packers’ defense will look slightly different in 2026, which they hope will put them in the right direction in the NFC North. Jonathan Gannon is taking over as defensive coordinator for Jeff Hafley, which will be a major change from the last two years.
And as for the roster, the Packers already have sent Rashan Gary and Nate Hobbs packing, while adding Zaire Franklin (trade) and Benjamin St-Juste. The roster isn’t complete, but it's off to a solid start. At the same time, the Packers have watched the other teams in the NFC North make massive changes on both sides of the ball, especially the Detroit Lions.
Heading into the legal tampering window on Monday, the Packers and the rest of the NFL knew that Detroit had to find its replacement for David Montgomery after trading him last week. The Lions found their new RB2 in Isiah Pacheco on Tuesday, per NFL Insider Jordan Schultz.
On paper, Pacheco seems like a solid replacement for Montgomery, based on traits and how he should fit in Detroit’s offense. But his recent production in Kansas City says otherwise, which is great news for the Packers’ defense.
Packers Just Watched Lions Choose an Ugly Downgrade at RB
Pacheco is coming off a less-than-spectacular 2025 season with the Chiefs, where he had 462 yards and a touchdown on 118 carries. He also added 19 receptions (26 targets) for 101 yards and a touchdown.
The hope was that Pacheco would bounce back after suffering a devastating leg injury early in the 2024 season, but he was clearly a shell of himself. In the five games post-injury during that season, Pacheco had 175 yards on 49 carries (3.6 yards per carry). He was also barely used in the passing game, totaling five receptions (eight targets) for 25 yards.
Things did not get better for Pacheco in the postseason, as he had 37 yards on 13 carries (2.8 yards per carry). The running back that we saw in 2022 and 2023, bowling defenders over, isn’t there anymore.
That could change this upcoming season in Detroit, but Pacheco isn’t Montgomery. Montgomery had more explosive runs (15) than Pacheco (10) in a down year, per StatRankings.com. And not to mention, Montgomery is a much more reliable weapon out of the backfield than Pacheco.
Now, Montgomery didn’t have a ton of success against the Packers’ defense in 2025 (57 yards and a TD on 19 carries, along with six receptions for 34 yards), but Green Bay still couldn’t overlook him.
Lions fans will say that they have the better running back tandem compared to the Packers, but Gibbs is doing a lot of the heavy lifting. And Josh Jacobs is considered a top-10 running back in the league. The Packers’ RB2 spot is still uncertain with Chris Brooks and MarShawn Lloyd, but don’t put it past them to add another option in the backfield.
Needless to say, the Lions' signing of Pacheco doesn’t move the needle and shouldn’t have the Packers’ defense concerned in 2026. If the Packers can add some solid depth to the interior of the defensive line, Pacheco won’t have much success on the ground next season when these two teams meet.