As training camp winds down, the Green Bay Packers start the preseason with a matchup against the Cleveland Browns on Saturday. With a young team, new free-agent acquisitions, and a new coach, Green Bay’s defense will be the most important aspect of the game.
Jordan Love and Green Bay’s best offensive weapons won’t play much, turning the focus to the defense. Love was knocked to the ground, even though he wore a red non-contact jersey, toward the end of Thursday’s practice. He appeared to be fine, but the Packers must protect him heavily until the start of the regular season on September 6, so he and Josh Jacobs will have limited roles in Saturday’s game.
Christian Watson also avoided an injury scare to his knee in Thursday’s practice. However, he and all of the other receivers on the corps are healthy. The players further down the depth chart will get the most playing time, with Sean Clifford throwing them the ball.
Therefore, the defense will show us much more throughout the game than the offense.
The second reason the defense is the most important unit to watch is the new young members we can see play. Edgerrin Cooper, Ty’Ron Hopper, Javon Bullard, and Xavier McKinney are all new faces on this defense who will get extensive playing time this season. We have all heard wonderful things about them in practice, but now we get to see how they gel as a unit during a game.
Cooper, Hopper, and Bullard are all rookies, so the coaching staff will want to get them as many reps as possible before the start of the regular season.
As far as what to look for during the game, pay attention to their speed.
Speed is the most important factor that a defense can have. If a pass rush is fast, the quarterback will have no time to sit in the pocket for a play to develop. An adroit linebacking unit stuffs run plays quicker and closer to the line of scrimmage. It also allows linebackers to stay on tight ends longer when they drop into coverage. A secondary with speed allows for tighter, closer coverage. It will also make faster plays on the ball, resulting in turnovers.
The average time for quarterbacks to throw the ball after the snap in 2023 was about 2.5 seconds. Anytime the Packers force a Browns quarterback outside the pocket or give him a pressure or sack, count to see how long it takes. If he is throwing the ball in under 2 or 2.5 seconds from the snap or having to move around in that span of time, that’s a sign that the pass rush is ready for the season. Speed should be a significant factor in this defense, given that many of Green Bay’s defensive players are young guys in their first few years, and many of them come from SEC schools, where that’s a top priority.
New defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley is the third and final reason to pay attention to the defense on Saturday.
Over the past 15 years, Packers defenses have not been very good; Hafley is their fourth coordinator in the last eight years. Any time they change at that position, it affects how the entire defense functions. It will be interesting to see how Hafley’s defense will differ from Joe Barry’s.
We all know that Hafley will mainly use a 4-2-5 defense. That will allow him to have six players — four linemen and two linebackers — in the box to pass rush and stop the run while maintaining a nickel secondary of five defensive backs playing the pass. A 4-2-5 allows half of the defense to play run while allowing the other half to play pass.
Ultimately, the fundamentals will determine Green Bay’s defense’s success. Will the defenders make dumb penalties, or will they shed their blocks in time and make a form tackle?
Poor fundamentals have cost the Packers’ defense in the past. If they can make clean hits, play the ball at its highest point, and be disciplined, it will be a good sign for things to come.
