Throughout the offseason, GM Brian Gutekunst has prioritized speed and versatility at the linebacker position for the Green Bay Packers, rather than putting players into specific buckets as the Mike, Will, and Sam linebackers.
And with that approach, he’s also built a unit that has a lot of ability to get after the quarterback.
As the 2023 season progressed, Quay Walker saw more opportunities to get after the quarterback, which included, at times, lined up as an edge rusher, and he finished the year with 16 pressures and three sacks, with seven of those pressures occurring in the final four games.
“I know Quay,” said defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, “he can rush off the edge, he can blitz on the inside, he can run games and he can play linebacker and he has man-coverage ability, so he gives you a lot of versatility in that regard.”
Third-round pick Ty’Ron Hopper had 212 pass rush snaps during his final two seasons at Missouri, totaling 49 pressures and seven sacks. In 2022, Hopper ranked second among all linebackers in PFF’s pass rush grade.
Edgerrin Cooper, who the Packers took in the second round, really found his stride as a pass rusher as the 2023 season progressed and totaled an impressive eight sacks, leading all linebackers, along with 27 pressures. His 17 tackles for loss were also tied for the ninth-most.
“I just think he’s an explosive player,” said linebacker coach Anthony Campanile about Cooper. “He has a lot of explosive traits physically. And he’s got a really good get-off. So there’s some stuff there where you look at that and that definitely jumps out off the tape.
“If you watch those reps, he’s got the ability to run people down—and he does that in pass coverage as well. so to me, he’s just kind of got a well-rounded foundation in terms of his skill set, what he’s able to do, and usually that does translate into being a good pass-rusher.”
At Boston College, Hafley’s defenses didn’t rank all that highly in blitz rate, finishing ninth in the 14 team ACC in blitz rate on passing plays in 2023. Instead, he relied more heavily on his defensive fronts to cause the disruption.
However, on third downs, Boston College did turn the heat up, ranking second in blitz rate on third-down passes at 55.5 percent of the time, which included six-man pressures as well.
It’s not as if the Packers didn’t ever blitz their linebackers under Joe Barry, Walker did see some opportunities with his 76 attempts in 2023 ranking 28th among all linebackers. Isaiah McDuffie, however, who was second on the team with 29 pass rush attempts from the linebacker position, ranked 72nd overall.
As Gutekunst has mentioned a few times this offseason, it’s a nickel league, meaning only 20-25 percent of the Packers defensive snaps will come with three linebackers on the field, and that is why he’s stressed versatility.
With multiple linebackers who can wear a variety of hats, it adds a layer of unpredictability to the defense, with offenses not easily able to decipher who has what responsiblity just based on where they are lined up.
Given the skill sets that the Packers have at linebacker, it’s hard to envision blitzing from the linebacker position not being an element in some capacity. But with that said, don’t expect this to be the blitz-heavy Chiefs or Vikings, either.
Blitzing is a piece of the puzzle that opponents will have to account for, but it’s not the entire picture.
“If a guy’s got a good explosive first step,” said Campanile about pressuring the quarterback, “to me, just in general, the get-off is probably the biggest part of pass rush for anybody, and I’ve been fortunate enough to be around some guys who’ve done a great job with that and some other guys who’ve done a great job coaching that.
“To me, it’s really those first four steps of the rush, not that first step—the relentlessness to get to the point of attack and get to the junction point with the tackle and doing a good job reading the snap of the ball and then obviously reading the set of the offensive lineman. So there’s a lot that goes into it, but he’s got really a good foundation to start there.”