3 Packers Starters Who Will Be Benched this Season

3. Isaiah McDuffie/Eric Wilson, linebacker

With the Packers moving on from Joe Barry as defensive coordinator and transitioning to Jeff Hafley, one of the biggest and most notable changes is going from a 3-4 base defensive look to a 4-3 base.

Hafley, formerly the head coach at Boston College, needed the Packers to make some changes this offseason at linebacker, and they did exactly that. The Packers used multiple top-100 picks in the 2024 NFL Draft on linebackers Edgerrin Cooper (2nd round out of Texas A&M) and Ty'Ron Hopper (3rd round out of Missouri).

The Packers are at least giving the optics going into the start of the 2024 season that both Cooper and Hopper are going to have to earn their snaps as the season goes along. Next to former first-round pick Quay Walker in the Packers' initial depth chart are veterans Isaiah McDuffie and Eric Wilson.

Both Cooper and Hopper are listed with the Packers' second defensive unit.

At some point this season, we expect to see both Cooper and Hopper in the lineup. The Packers are certainly not averse to throwing young guys out there as we saw last season at just about every position group. But they're also not opposed to waiting. We saw 2023 first-round pick Lukas Van Ness play just 365 total defensive snaps last year.

Still, we expect to see both of these young linebackers at some point which means one or both of Isaiah McDuffie and Eric Wilson could end up being benched.

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