The Green Bay Packers need to make adjustments on the defensive side of the football entering the 2024 season. They will be switching from a 3-4 scheme to a 4-3 defensive scheme this season. We will see how it benefits the Packers in the long run.
For the Packers to make a run at the Super Bowl this season, they will have to be much better on defense in critical situations than they have been in years past. There are still weaknesses on the roster on defense and offense.
Green Bay Packers Urged To Sign Former Defensive Rookie Of The Year Shaquille Leonard
In 2018, Leonard won the Defensive Rookie of the Year Award with the Indianapolis Colts. He was with the Colts from 2018-2023 and also played for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2023. A season ago, Shaquille Leonard recorded 88 tackles and recorded one sack.
He is a tackling machine and the Green Bay Packers could use him. Leonard has 637 career tackles and 16 sacks throughout his NFL career so far. Sayre Bedinger of dairylandexpress.com thinks the Packers should sign him before the mandatory mini-camp begins. He said:
“It’s been a quest all offseason to figure out exactly which players were going to make up the Green Bay Packers’ linebacker unit.
With new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley coming in from Boston College, the Packers will be transitioning to a base 4-3 defense. That’s why we saw them go after Texas A&M linebacker Edgerrin Cooper in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft and then Missouri’s Ty’Ron Hopper in the third round.
Although the Packers will likely roll with their young players, it’s possible that one of Cooper or Hopper isn’t going to be ready to make that jump to the NFL immediately, and therefore they could use someone like the veteran Shaq Leonard.”
The projected starting linebackers at the moment for the Packers are Quay Walker, Edgerrin Cooper, and Isaiah McDuffie. Cooper has a chance to shine as a rookie for Green Bay, but it would not hurt to add a veteran presence like Leonard to help him develop at the linebacker position.
Eric Wilson and Ty’Ron Hopper will be two other linebackers to watch for on the Packers roster during training camp. They are projected to be some of the other backups on the roster. It is a surprise that Shaquille Leonard is still an NFL-free agent. Leonard also brings leadership to a locker room and it is something the Green Bay Packers could also use on defense.
