Rookie linebacker Krys Barnes had a breakout performance against the Panthers. We dig into the tape to show more.
We’ve seen the flashes, but Green Bay Packers undrafted rookie Krys Barnes is now arguably the team’s best inside linebacker and an emerging difference-maker on defense.
Christian Kirksey was supposed to be a formidable replacement for Blake Martinez, but for every good play he makes, there are two bad ones to follow. Meanwhile, Barnes has seemingly come out of nowhere as an undrafted free agent from UCLA and has been a solid contributor. His Week 15 performance against the Carolina Panthers provided even more evidence to show why he might be the best option they have at inside linebacker.
In many ways, the Packers now face the tough decision of getting the most out of their veteran in Kirksey or playing an inexperienced Barnes, who is having a promising start to his young career.
Barnes exited the Carolina game with an eye injury during the third quarter. However, that was more than enough time for him to make his presence felt, including a game-changing forced fumble on the 1-yard line. For the game, Barnes totaled just 31 snaps on defense but had six tackles, one tackle for loss, and a forced fumble.
For this week’s film review, we are going to look at Barnes’ game against the Panthers and what he brings to the table at the inside linebacker position.
On the surface, this play doesn’t look like much, but it really speaks to Barnes’ physicality and play strength. He knocks Curtis Samuel off his route, which completely takes him away from Teddy Bridgewater as an option to throw to. Barnes avoids an illegal contact penalty because he “chucks” Samuel within five yards of the line of scrimmage and also in the chest. Again, there’s not much to look at on this play, but it’s refreshing for Green Bay to have a linebacker with Barnes’ athleticism and tenacity.
Here is a play with Barnes defending the run. He doesn’t get the tackle, but it was impressive how he got in position to potentially make the stop. Guard John Miller is looking to engage at the second level, but Barnes executes a nice chop move so Miller can’t get good hand placement. This was a nice display of Barnes’ lateral quickness and technique against the run and also showed some underrated agility that wasn’t obvious before the draft.
This isn’t really a negative play against Barnes, but it shows where he can grow as a player. The defense is in man coverage, and it appears that he is being asked to spy Bridgewater. He’s got good depth with his eyes locked on the quarterback. An elite linebacker might be able to get a hand on the ball or take the slant away, but Barnes is too keyed in on Bridgewater to step into the passing lane.
The forced fumble by Barnes altered the course of the game. Carolina was threatening to score and cut into a 14-3 lead. In the play above, Barnes is lined up in the A gap to take away a possible QB sneak, which is exactly what the Panthers run. Instead of going low, Bridgewater goes high to try and extend the ball across the goal line. Barnes shows great awareness and ball skills to punch the ball out and create a momentum-shifting turnover.
In 11 games that have included eight starts, Barnes has shown he is a capable linebacker in coverage. This has been a problem area at linebacker for the Packers for what feels like forever. However, Barnes could be part of the solution. He could use a little more knee bend in his drop back to add some explosiveness off the ball. Once he gets a better understanding of opposing offenses and route tendencies, this will be a throw he negates.
For the final play, we’ll take a look at the screen he blew up at the start of the third quarter. Carolina calls a slip screen on 2nd-and-10 to try and gain some momentum on their first drive of the second half. It looks like Green Bay is in Cover 2, which leaves Barnes underneath to cover the curl. However, he recognizes that screen even before it develops. This allows Barnes to beat all of the offensive linemen and stuff the running back for a 6-yard loss. Great mental processing by Barnes led to a 3rd-and-long and an eventual punt.
The jury is still out on what type of player Barnes will become, but when you consider his size, mindset, and athleticism, there’s a ton of hope for the future. He’s already taking snaps away from Kirksey, and when you factor in the development of Kamal Martin, the Packers could have two inexpensive solutions at the inside linebacker spot for years to come.
