Tag: packers defense

How the Packers’ three new safeties will change their defense radically for the better

With Xavier McKinney, Javon Bullard, and Kitan Oladapo on board, the Packers’ safety group will change the defense for the better… radically.

While NFL teams like the Lions and Eagles chose to overhaul their cornerbacks this offseason, the Packers went safety first under new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley. First, there was the signing of former Giants star Xavier McKinney to a four-year, $67 million contract with $23 million guaranteed. Then in the draft, the Packers got Georgia’s Javon Bullard with the 58th overall pick in the second round. Then, the addition of Oregon State’s Kitan Oladapo with the 169th pick in the fifth round.

Packers nab former Giants DB Xavier McKinney to be the face of their pass defense

Necessary changes for a defense that ranked 27th in 2023, and 25th the year before, under Joe Barry. Moreover, all three players are fairly interchangeable in the defense. This is especially true of Bullard, who transitioned from a slot/box defender in 2022 to a free safety in 2023, and did it all without a hitch. Last season, Bullard allowed 14 catches on 26 targets for 119 yards, 68 yards after the catch, no touchdowns, two interceptions, five pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of

“I think probably his ability to maybe play more nickel than some of those guys,” assistant director of college scouting Patrick Moore said of Bullard’s attributes. “We felt like him at the second level, playing that slot and playing a little bit more nickel, with the ability to play safety as well was probably a strength. Just really we have a good feel for him and who he is and what he’s going to bring to our defense intangible-wise, too. That’s just where we had him stacked.”

“As far as my role, man, just being — really doing whatever the team needed me to do, man,” Bullard told reporters after he was drafted. “It was some cases where as far as my sophomore year at nickel, there were some cases where I was more involved in the run game and more involved in blitz packages and things like that and also more involved in man to man coverage, being able to cover slot receivers and things like that. As far as safety, we lost a great player in Chris Smith to the NFL, as well, so like I said, just being that versatile Swiss Army knife that the team needs, whatever they ask me to do, I will definitely do that and I try to do it at a high level.”

Bullard has already proven all of that.

Oladapo’s responsibilities didn’t change much over his last three seasons at Oregon State — he was about equally in the box, the slot, and the deep third. Last season, he gave up 21 completions on 36 targets for 212 yards, 58 yards after the catch, one touchdown, two interceptions, seven pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 61.3.

“He’s a little different body type than the other two [McKinney and Bullard], said Jon-Eric Sullivan, vice president of player personnel, of Oladapo. “He’s a big, 6-2, 216-pound kid. Long arms. Aggressive — when he hits you, you go down. He’s a very good athlete at that size. He can pedal, he can flip, he can turn. He’s versatile, more of a true safety but he can play that big nickel or will linebacker if you need him too. The playstyle. Very smart. Captain as well. One, good football player, and two, the kind of person we want to infuse in this locker room.”

Hafley has already said that he wants his cornerbacks to play more aggressively than they did under Barry, which is a pretty low bar. One thing we know for sure is that Hafley’s safeties will be athletic, smart, versatile, and deployed in all kinds of places opponents may not expect.

Packers’ recent defensive adjustments may have saved their season

The Packers’ defense has been a different (and better) animal over the last four weeks. Laurie Fitzpatrick dives into the tape to tell us why.

The Green Bay Packers went from a 4-8 record in the beginning of December to 8-8 and in control of their own destiny. If they can win their last game of the season against the Detroit Lions, they are onto the playoffs!

There are several factors that go into the Packers recent success: and no, it’s not Aaron Rodgers’ haircut.

On the offensive side of the ball, they have been handing it off more to their pair of tanks in the backfield, Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillion. But the biggest impact for the Packers has been on the defensive side of the ball.

Up until the Packers’ Week 14 bye, the defense had just 10 interceptions with six dropped interceptions. But over the last three weeks alone, they have seven interceptions with only one drop. From weeks 10-13, they went from a defensive DVOA of 17.2% which was 29th in the league. Since Week 15, they have the third-highest defensive DVOA at -24.2%..

There are several reasons for the sudden uptick in production from the Packers’ secondary. So let’s dive into the film to see where it began and what changes they’ve made over the last few weeks!

The Green Bay Packers flipped their defense, and saved their season

The Green Bay Packers made some much-needed defenses changes to fool Dak Prescott and the Cowboys in a season-saving win.

The Green Bay Packers were all too close to their season being over as they prepared to face the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. Through the first ten weeks of the season, the Packers experienced frustration on both sides of the ball. But in Green Bay’s 31-28 victory, when the offense finally came together, it was critical for the defense to step up and make plays, which  they did.

Prior to this week, the Packers overall defensive DVOA was ranked 18th with 1.3%. With key defenders Eric Stokes,  De’Vondre Campbell, and Rashan Gary out, it wasn’t looking good. Yet, that defense played its best game of the season on Sunday.

Instead of leaving Darnell Savage in the safety position, defensive coordinator Joe Barry rotated Savage to the nickel corner spot, and upgraded Rudy Ford to the starting free safety position. Ford grabbed two interceptions, which changed the entire dynamic of the game.

Let’s pull the film to see how the Packers made adjustments on the defensive side of the ball to pull out their first win in five weeks!

Packers CB Eric Stokes is the best 2021 NFL rookie you need to know

Touchdown Wire’s Laurie Fitzpatrick dives into Eric Stokes’ film to break down how the young cornerback elevates the Packers’ defense.

Packers cornerback Eric Stokes had one of the best rookie seasons that almost nobody is talking about. After being drafted by Green Bay Packers 29th overall in 2021, Stokes led his team in pass breakups (14) and also led all rookie defensive backs with the lowest completion rate allowed in coverage at 51.0%, per Pro Football Focus.

Stokes wasn’t just dominant among the rookies, though. He also had the lowest percent of open targets allowed among all NFL cornerbacks with 24%, and to put that into perspective, four-time pro bowler Marshon Lattimore finished the season with 24.5%.

There were only a handful of cornerbacks since 2015 to register a sub 80.0 passer rating in coverage their rookie seasons: Marcus Peters (2015), Jalen Ramsey (2016), Marshon Lattimore (2017), Marlon Humphrey (2017), Tre’Davious White (2017) and now, Stokes (2021); putting him in elite company.

Let’s not forget that this was also against the top No. 1 receivers in the league last year: Odell Beckham Jr., Justin Jefferson, Terry McLaurin, Ja’Marr Chase, Deebo Samuel, Allen Robinson. And Stokes still finished as a top cornerback statistically.

Despite all these numbers, Stokes really isn’t getting the early recognition he deserves. This could be due to the Packers’ defensive scheme overall. So, let’s dive into the film to see how he was able to perform at an elite level and why we should start giving him the love he deserves!

How the Packers’ defense could get Green Bay to Super Bowl LVII

The Packers’ defense is broken. How can Joe Barry fix it?

The Packers’ defense is a serious problem because new DC Joe Barry isn’t tying pressure to coverage. Barry needs to fix this quickly.

Following a 2020 season in which they made it all the way to the NFC Championship Game, and Aaron Rodgers was named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player, the Packers decided to part ways with defensive coordinator Mike Pettine. Green Bay ranked 14th overall in Defensive DVOA, 15th against the pass, and 18th against the run. So, things weren’t bad, per se, but the organization decide that things could be better.

Through two games in the 2021 season, things are decidedly not better. The Packers currently rank 29th overall in Defensive DVOA, 26th against the run, and 25th against the pass. Joe Barry, Pettine’s replacement, has come under considerable fire, and it’s easy to understand why. When your defense allowed 23 touchdowns and had 11 interceptions through 18 games in 2020, and has already given up seven touchdowns to one interception through games against the Lions and Saints, the new guy is where you start.

This was amplified after Green Bay’s 35-17 Monday night win over Detroit, in which Jared Goff completed 26 of 36 passes for 246 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. Head coach Matt LaFleur recently explained to local media that he had to take Barry aside and explain that Barry should pick a lane between pressure and coverage.

Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Joe Barry is shown during the fourth quarter of their game Monday, September 20, 2021 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. The Green Bay Packers beat the Detroit Lions 35-17. (MARK HOFFMAN/MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL-Imagn Content Services, LLC)

“You’ve got to give Detroit a lot of credit,” LaFleur said. “They came out ready to play, and I think we did make some necessary adjustments at halftime. One of the things that I talked to Joe about was, hey — either play coverage, or we have to pressure. Because when we were doing out four-man rushes, and playing man coverage behind it, we weren’t hitting. We weren’t getting to the quarterback. So, if you don’t get him off the spot — I’ve been around Jared, and he will be efficient. He’ll make the throws. So, we needed to affect the quarterback much more.”

LaFleur pushed back when asked if this was something the Packers would just have to live with this season.

“Well, I think we have enough guys up front. We have to take a good, hard look at what we ask those guys to do. Detroit’s got a pretty damned good offensive line, and we can’t discredit them.  I watched it on tape, and against one of the premier defensive lines in the game of football with the 49ers, and I thought they did a damned good job. But there are things we can do to try and get home with a four-man rush.”

Barry, for his part, denied that the conversation happened at halftime, as was widely reported.

“Matt and I didn’t even talk at halftime,” Barry said, per Tom Silverstein and Ryan Wood of PackersNews.com. “You come in (to the locker room), guys go to the bathroom, you discuss some things as an offensive-defensive staff. You get in front of the players, you kind of hit some of the runs that were an issue. You hit some of the passes that were an issue and then bam, we’re right back out on the field.”

Barry also pointed to the fact that the Packers sat most of their top defensive players in the preseason.

“I don’t want to use that as an excuse. Because we made that decision, Matt and the staff, and I stand by that decision absolutely. But football is a full-speed game, and things happen fast. Not only do they happen fast, it happens physical. You’re getting hit. The weather, it might be hot. There’s a lot of things that go into that.

“I do think it takes potentially some time to get into play shape.”

However and whenever it happened, tt’s not a good time to be figuring this out. After the win over the Lions and a Week 1 loss to the Saints in which Jameis Winston was allowed to throw five touchdown passes, Barry has to test his playbook against Kyle Shanahan’s when the Packers take on the 49ers on Sunday night.