The Green Bay Packers will have high expectations for their defense going into 2024. That feeling is nothing new as the defense has had major pre-season expectations for years now. However, under Joe Barry the defense has issues with consistency.
New defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley has Packers fans excited for a change and a different mindset. Hafley already has a few hoops to jump though as one young defender is lining up at a different position.
Green Bay Packers Force 23-Year-Old To Practice At New Position On Defense
Bill Huber of Packers Central highlighted why Colby Wooden is now lining up at a new position on defense:
Playing with a new physique, Colby Wooden moved into a new but familiar role at Green Bay Packers OTAs on Wednesday.
With starting ends Rashan Gary and Preston Smith not present for the voluntary practice and with Lukas Van Ness sidelined by a broken thumb, Wooden moved from defensive tackle to defensive end.
“Nothing out of the ordinary,” Wooden said.
That’s because Wooden played a lot on the edge at Auburn. During his final three collegiate seasons, Wooden according to Pro Football Focus played 663 snaps outside the offensive tackle, including 253 in 2022.
“This week, we’re down a couple guys,” Wooden said. “I’ve played it before so it’s nothing out of the ordinary. I had to get back to different rules, obviously, but I like it.”
A fourth-round pick last year, Wooden didn’t make much of an impact as an undersized rookie defensive lineman. This offseason, there was some speculation on whether Wooden would move to end in the 4-3 scheme being installed by new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley. That speculation intensified a bit when the Packers didn’t add an edge defender in this year’s draft.
The Packers Have A Ton Of Potential On The Defensive Line This Season
Rashan Gary, Lukas Van Ness, Preston Smith, Kenny Clark, and Devonte Wyatt have the potential to be one of the best defensive lines in the NFL. When healthy, those five players can be game wreckers on their own.
Hafley is expected to implement new and exotic blitz packages that the defensive line will benefit greatly from.
In the absence of Green Bay’s three primary defensive ends, Kingsley Enagbare and Brenton Cox formed the No. 1 defensive end pair. Wooden rotated in on the defensive line.
Not only will the Packers have multiple bonafide starters, the depth players are getting plenty of reps as well.
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