GREEN BAY — The Green Bay Packers’ conversion from a 3-4 defense to a 4-3 won’t mean as much as we might think.
“I think it is more of a subtle shift,” new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley explained earlier this offseason. “Four down, 4-2-5, 4-3, whatever you want to call it. It is less change right now than (you may think) it would be. And we feel good about that.”
Sure, it means that the team’s edge rushers — Rashan Gary, Preston Smith, Lucas Van Ness, et al — will now be known as defensive ends instead of outside linebackers, perhaps putting their hand in the dirt more often but little else changing.
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And yes, it means the guys up front will be able to be in a scheme where each of them is only responsible for one gap in the run game, rather than having to guard two gaps and read and react to what they see.
But the most important change isn’t about how their positions are identified or what their responsibilities might be. Instead, it’s all about being more aggressive than they were in ex-defensive coordinator Joe Barry’s system, which was predicated on minimizing big plays and the back half of the defense keeping everything in front of it.
“It’s just a different mentality, really,” defensive tackle Kenny Clark said earlier this month, after meeting Hafley for the first time before the team’s annual Tailgate Tour bus left Lambeau Field. “(Hafley) is going to bring it. He’s going to challenge everybody. That’s what you want in a coach.
“This scheme, up front-wise, I think it’ll be good for us. It’s going to allow us to be way more disruptive.”
For players like Clark, T.J. Slaton and 2022 first-round pick Devonte Wyatt, the scheme change means their should have to think less, allowing them to be more aggressive.
For edge rushers like Gary, Smith and Van Ness, they will still be tasked with outside containment against the run but will have the benefit of blitzers coming from new angles in the pass rush.
“I think there's down and distances where you’ve got to get exotic and you have to get after people and you have to pressure the quarterback,” Hafley explained. “You’ve got to get guys that can rush and you’ve got to get guys that can cover, but you have to get after the quarterback.
“I think there's situations where (you want) not as much pressure, but when you get a chance to get after the quarterback, you have to.
“There's a very fine line of that, and as we build this thing, I think you're going to see some things that look a little bit more exotic. Then there'll be some times we look simpler. I think that's the key to all of this.”
Depth chart
No. | Name | Height | Weight | Age | Experience | College |
52 | Rashan Gary (E) | 6-foot-5 | 277 pounds | 26 | 6 years | Michigan |
97 | Kenny Clark (DT) | 6-3 | 314 | 28 | 9 | UCLA |
93 | T.J. Slaton (DT) | 6-4 | 330 | 25 | 4 | Florida |
91 | Preston Smith (E) | 6-5 | 265 | 31 | 10 | Miss. State |
95 | Devonte Wyatt (DT) | 6-3 | 304 | 26 | 3 | Georgia |
94 | Karl Brooks (DT) | 6-3 | 296 | 23 | 2 | Bowl. Green |
96 | Colby Wooden (DT) | 6-4 | 273 | 23 | 2 | Auburn |
99 | Jonathan Ford (DT) | 6-5 | 338 | 25 | 2 | Miami |
90 | Lukas Van Ness (E) | 6-5 | 272 | 22 | 2 | Iowa |
55 | King. Enagbare (E) | 6-4 | 258 | 24 | 3 | S. Carolina |
57 | Brent. Cox Jr. (E) | 6-4 | 250 | 24 | 2 | Florida |
56 | Ken. Odumegwu (E) | 6-6 | 259 | 23 | 1 | NFL Int'l. |
49 | Deslin Alexandre (E) | 6-3 | 264 | 25 | 1 | Pittsburgh |
51 | Keshawn Banks (E) | 6-3 | 251 | 24 | 1 | San Diego St. |
47 | Deandre Johnson (E) | 6-3 | 252 | 24 | R | Miami |
Best in class
Byron Murphy II, DT, Texas
Murphy only started one season for the Longhorns, but his rare combination of power (despite being short at 6-foot-1 and 306 pounds), athleticism, explosiveness and abilities to both stuff the run and get after the quarterback make him a likely top-20 pick and possibly the first interior defensive lineman off the board.
Whether he’s available when the Packers go on the clock at No. 25 — barring a trade up — remains to be seen, but he did say at the NFL scouting combine in February that he’d met with the Packers and that he looks up to Clark, whose game is similar to his own.
“(It’s) the mindset of just being, ‘Can’t be stopped, won’t be stopped.’ And just doing my best just to try to be disruptive at all times,” Murphy said. “I watched Aaron Donald a lot. Also guys like Ed Oliver, Kenny Clark, guys like that. I try to model my game after them guys. I just like the way they play. … (Clark) is just a disruptor, he just has that mindset of being the most dominant (guy) out there.”
Dallas Turner, EDGE, Alabama
A two-year starter for the Tide after playing behind (and with) his close friend Will Anderson Jr. (a first-round pick by the Houston Texans last year), Turner’s numbers don’t pop off the stat sheet — 23.5 sacks in three seasons, with a career-best and SEC-leading 11 last year following Anderson’s departure.
“Honestly, we’re close off the field and have a lot of fun, but we learn off each other,” Turner explained. “Just the culture (at Alabama), I feel like going into this professional level, it probably won’t be nothing new for me because we train as professionals.”
Best of the rest
Johnny Newton, DT, Illinois; Kris Jenkins, DT, Michigan; Ruke Orhorhoro, DT, Clemson; Mike Hall Jr., DT, Ohio State; Maason Smith, DT, LSU.
Jared Verse, EDGE, Florida State; Laiatu Latu, EDGE, UCLA; Chop Robinson, EDGE, Penn State; Darius Robinson, EDGE, Missouri.
Picks to click
Khristian Boyd, DT, Northern Iowa
Boyd, Smith and Hall all visited Lambeau Field as part of the Packers’ 30 allotted pre-draft in-person visits, and while Hall and Smith are projected to be second- or third-round picks, Boyd is projected to go on Day 3.
Historically, a pre-draft visit for a Day 3 prospect has been a strong indicator that general manager Brian Gutekunst will take him if he’s available.
Boyd played five seasons at Northern Iowa, and while some of his dominating performances came against lesser competition, he has piqued more than the Packers’ interest. He also visited Pittsburgh and Kansas City.
“(Scouts) love my get off, my power that I play with, my leverage, my hands and of course my strength,” Boyd told the Cedar Rapids Gazette. “They said I could definitely improve on my pass rushing. They think I’m very versatile, too.”
Marshawn Kneeland, EDGE, Western Michigan
Like Boyd, Kneeland reportedly visited the Packers earlier this month on a top-30 visit. He, too, spent five years in college at a non-Power 5 school, where he was a three-year starter and team captain but tallied only 13 sacks over five seasons.
Viewed as a late first-, early second-round pick, Kneeland has more potential than production, and he’s viewed as more adept setting the edge against the run than getting after the quarterback. He’ll need to develop his pass-rush repertoire, but with his best football still in front of him, there’s a lot to like.
“I would definitely say that I play with a high motor,” he said in advance of the Senior Bowl. “I’m always trying to find my way to the ball. I’m very heavy-handed. I love hitting other players. I’m explosive with a good get-off.”
History lesson
General managers Ted Thompson and Gutekunst have gone defensive tackle four times with their last 18 first-round draft picks: Tennessee’s Justin Harrell in 2007 (No. 16 overall); Boston College’s B.J. Raji in 2009 (No. 9 overall); UCLA’s Clark in 2016 (No. 27 overall); and Wyatt in 2022 (No. 28 overall).
Harrell was a colossal, injury-addled bust, while Raji played a vital part in the 2010 Packers’ Super Bowl XLV title, (he intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown in their NFC Championship Game victory over the Chicago Bears) and Clark was named to his third Pro Bowl team last season. It’s too early to tell if Wyatt will eventually be more than just a guy.
On the edge, though, they’ve invested heavily, from Southern Cal's Clay Matthews in 2009 (No. 26 overall); to USC’s Nick Perry in 2012 (No. 28 overall); to UCLA’s Datone Jones in 2013 (No. 26 overall); to Michigan’s Gary in 2019 (No. 12 overall); to Van Ness last year (No. 13 overall).