For years, the cries have gotten increasingly louder to give Aaron Rodgers more firepower on the offensive side of the ball. Last year, with the top-scoring offense in the league, the Packers still came up one game short of the Super Bowl. The MVP quarterback managed to produce plenty of yards and points with the weaponry at his disposal. Think about the last three NFC Championship game losses for the Pack. In 2016, Matt Ryan torched a depleted secondary, two years ago, the San Francisco 49ers ran all over the Green Bay defense and last January, a close game melted away with just a couple of suspect plays in the defensive backfield.
That convinced Head Coach Matt LaFleur to change direction with his defense, letting Mike Pettine go and bringing in Joe Barry as his new defensive coordinator. Will that bring with it a change in the type of defensive player the Packers are looking to draft this weekend?
General Manager Brian Gutekunst said that’s an important conversation on Monday, but it can’t be an overriding factor. He says teams can get caught trying to find “scheme specific” players. He’ll continue to draft versatile players who can adapt to any system and even multiple positions. Upgrading the overall talent is the goal.
The Packers have top-end players at each level of the defense in Kenny Clark up front, Za’Darius Smith on the edge and Jaire Alexander on the back end. Clark signed a lucrative extension last year, Smith has two years left on a rich, but restructured contract and Gutekunst confirmed Alexander is in line for the team’s fifth-year option as a former number one pick. That will guarantee the first time Pro Bowl corner a salary of around $13.3 million in 2022.
But Kevin King and Chandon Sullivan are coming back on one-year deals, Josh Jackson and Ka’dar Hollman haven’t shown much in their tenures.
Clark would certainly enjoy another difference-maker up front with workmanlike games coming from Dean Lowry and Tyler Lancaster.
Tuesday’s editions of my draft preview series focused on the defensive side of the ball, beginning with the defensive line.
As for the secondary, this year’s talent pool runs very deep with all sizes of corners including a couple who have a professional pedigree.
Beginning with Nick Perry in 2012, the Packers used their first choice on the defensive side of the ball for eight consecutive years until the Jordan Love pick last spring. Many of those high picks didn’t pan out like Jerel Worthy, the number 2 in 2012, Datone Jones, the top pick the following year, Damarious Randall and Quinton Rollins, the top two picks of 2015 flamed out quickly, Josh Jones never found a spot as a second-rounder in 2017.
Others showed promise but moved on in free agency like Casey Hayward and Micah Hyde.
Gutekunst will be tempted by the “get more weapons” crowd but he also has to be mindful of how the Packers have not been able to crash through the conference championship barrier too.
