It appears as though the Green Bay Packers will soon be posting one of the league’s elite defenses after last week’s NFL Draft.
They have star players and young talent at every level. Defensive coordinator Joe Barry has to be fired up about what he has to work with going into the 2022 season.
On the defensive line, starting in the interior, Green Bay is extremely deep.
Defensive line
Multi-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kenny Clark is the leader of this position group. He will be going into his seventh season in the NFL and is still just 26 years old.
Clark is not the only bully. The Packers signed free agent Jarran Reed this offseason.
Reed’s career-high in sacks is 10.5, in 2018 with the Seattle Seahawks. Standing at 6-foot-3 and weighing 315 pounds, Reed is an absolute force.
In the first round of last week’s draft, GM Brian Gutekunst drafted Georgia’s Devonte Wyatt.
Wyatt is one of the quicker prospects at his position and according to his old/new teammate Quay Walker, his motor never turns off. At 6-foot-3, 305 pounds, Wyatt ran a 4.7 at the NFL Scouting Combine.
His athleticism, youth, and energy will be huge for Green Bay.
Seven-year veteran Dean Lowry brings experience like Clark. He set a career high in sacks last season.
Second-year T.J. Slaton is looking to take a big step in 2020. Slaton, who is 6-foot-4, 330 pounds, is a massive human being up front. He has the ability to plug up holes, block field goals, and get to the quarterback.
But he is hoping for more production in 2022.
Clark and Reed are looking like the starters, but Wyatt, Lowry, and Slaton will be very strong rotational pieces for Joe Barry’s defense.
This is the deepest defensive line the Packers have had under head coach Matt LaFleur.
Edge rusher
On the edges, Green Bay has two solid starters in Preston Smith and Rashan Gary.
Smith signed a new four-year deal with the Packers after a much-improved season in 2021. His career high in sacks is 12.0, which he set in his first season in Green Bay in 2019.
Gary is looking like a Defensive Player of the Year candidate.
He has improved in tackles, tackles for loss, QB hits, and sacks each season in Green Bay. He is a stud.
Smith and Gary lacked depth behind them at the beginning of the offseason, especially after All-Pro Za’Darius Smith left to sign with the rival-Minnesota Vikings.
Brian Gutekunst addressed that depth by selecting South Carolina’s Kingsley Enagbare. At the very least, Enagbare will compete with Jonathan Garvin and Randy Ramsey for the No. 3 edge-rushing spot behind Smith and Gary.
The team could still sign a veteran pass-rusher like Justin Houston to round out the unit. There are still plenty of options on the table in case the team feels like the addition of Enagbare isn’t enough.
Inside linebacker
In the middle of the defense, the inside linebacker room appears to be much more solid than it was last season.
The Packers selected Quay Walker out of Georgia in the first round.
Walker started all 15 games for the national-champion Georgia Bulldogs. His elite instinctiveness and recognition will go a long way to his success in Green Bay.
Oh, there is also a first-team All-Pro named De’Vondre Campbell, who signed a new five-year deal with the Packers this offseason. He is quietly one of the more elite defensive players in the game.
Walker’s talent combined with Campbell’s elite play will a form a dominant duo in the NFC North for years to come.
Third-year Krys Barnes will provide good depth behind those two considering he improved in tackles, games started, and opponent QB passer rating against.
With veteran Oren Burks leaving for San Francisco in free agency, defensive coordinator Joe Barry will look to Ty Summers, second-year Isaiah McDuffie, and sixth-round pick and hybrid linebacker/safety Tariq Carpenter to help provide good depth.
Secondary
The backend of this Packers defense might be the most talented part of the team.
At cornerback, Jaire Alexander is an All-Pro. Rasul Douglas, who should’ve been starting in the Pro Bowl, signed a new three-year deal this offseason after having a storybook 2021.
Talented second-year corner Eric Stokes led the team in pass break-ups (14) and ranked eighth in the NFL for completion percentage against (49.5%), per Pro Football Reference.
The Packers have the best trio of cornerbacks in the league.
At safety, the Packers have a very good duo in Adrian Amos and Darnell Savage.
Amos finished with a career-high 93 tackles in 2021 and also tied a career-high with two interceptions. He is an absolute wrecking ball when it comes to blitzing and blowing up plays in the backfield. He will be going into his eighth career season.
Savage, who is going into his fourth year, is a ball-hawk.
He has recorded at least two interceptions in each of his first three seasons. He set a career high in snaps played in 2021 with 1,038. He is one of the better ball-trackers in the game at his position.
Behind those two, the Packers lack experience. Shawn Davis, Innes Gaines, and Vernon Scott are all coming off of their rookie seasons. They haven’t had much experience, but look for them to get plenty of playing time in the preseason, which should give them more comfortability in Joe Barry’s defensive system.
Barry’s defense was already a top-10 unit before this offseason. But they have added three impact players via free agency and the draft in DT Jarran Reed, DT Devonte Wyatt, and ILB Quay Walker.
They were also able to re-sign stars De’Vondre Campbell, Preston Smith, and Rasul Douglas.
This side of the ball has All-Pros, Pro-Bowlers, and talent on every single level.
Aside from a few concerns at positions that need more experienced depth (EDGE, linebacker, safety), which could be resolved this summer, the Packers have an elite defense.
Barry is a motivated, positive, and excited defensive coordinator. The players will respond to him as they will to the leaders of the defense like Kenny Clark, Preston Smith, Rashan Gary, De’Vondre Campbell, and Adrian Amos.
This defense is even more elite and more talented heading into 2022…and Aaron Rodgers is their quarterback. That is exciting stuff.