As disappointing as the 2022 season was for the Green Bay Packers, the defensive side of the ball has been equally, if not more, disappointing for almost a decade. There have been great defensive players that have played for the Packers during this time: Charles Woodson, Clay Matthews, Sam Shields, Tramon Williams, etc. Even now, there are plenty of talented players on the defense whose full potential has yet to be unleashed on the league.
Of course, the reason that so many good players’ best years have been/are being wasted is due to the defensive scheme. From Dom Capers to Mike Pettine to Joe Barry, no defensive coordinator has been able to (or, for some reason, blatantly refused to) use the players’ strengths as the basis for the defensive scheme.
Well, there was something different about the Packers defense this preseason. And while only preseason, it had fans excited:
This preseason I’m seeing a lot of ‘Designed Disruption’ from this Packers Defense
T/Ts, T/Es, Slant/Scrapes… Lots of post snap movement – which you can see below, causes chaos (when executed properly). Tough to play a ‘passive’ defensive style in 2023. pic.twitter.com/PhEJeUrU5w
— Ben Fennell (@BenFennell_NFL) August 30, 2023
As seen in the video above, there is a great deal of movement on the defense. Instead of playing passive as they have in the past, the preseason was attacking the ball. Even after the initial defender reached the ball carrier, other defenders continued their pursuit.
These schematic changes and the overall talent on the defensive side of the ball has led PFF to make an insanely bold prediction about where Green Bay’s defense will rank by the end of the season.
PFF Predicts the Green Bay Packers Will Have a Top-10 Defense
Best 2022 01 (Packers News)
By the end of the 2023 NFL preseason, the Packers had the highest overall graded defense in the league. PFF gave the team an overall grade of 77.8. The second-highest graded team was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a grade of 75.1.
In their recent article listing three bold predictions for each team in the NFL, PFF predicts that the Packers will finish the 2023 season with a top-10 defense:
“A season ago, expectations were that it would be the best Packers defense that Aaron Rodgers had ever played with. Instead, the team finished 21st in expected points added per play allowed and 26th in yards per play. The underlying reasons for optimism are still there, however, and there’s every chance that the unit dramatically outperforms the results from a season ago. The Packers have multiple capable edge rushers, cornerbacks and linebackers and can make impacts against the run and the pass. This is a unit that has top-10 potential.”
The potential that this team has is an understatement. With eight former first round picks, one would expect it to be an above-average unit. The sad fact of the matter is that they have not been. However, the above schematic changes and defensive coordinator Joe Barry’s move to a booth above the field seem to have led to some great improvements.
Again, it is only preseason and these games will only tell so much. That being said, it has been years since we have seen this kind of movement by the Packers defense. If that is really what it will look like in the regular season, it could be an excellent year for Green Bay.
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