Packers could seek to procure another linebacker in 2024 NFL Draft
REEN BAY — Jeff Hafley has only spoken to the Green Bay Packers’ beat-writing corps once since taking over as the team’s new defensive coordinator.
And when Hafley did conduct that Q&A session with reporters in February, he didn’t delve too far into the specifics of what his 4-3 defense will look like — the first time the Packers will have a 4-3 base system since 2008, the year before Dom Capers and the 3-4 scheme arrived in Green Bay and helped deliver the franchise’s 13th NFL championship with Super Bowl XLV.
For instance, Hafley didn’t break down how he plans on aligning the linebackers in the base defense, or even what he calls them.
Packers’ new-look defensive line may add depth in 2024 NFL Draft
Back in 2008, the final year of Bob Sanders’ tenure, the Packers started the season with A.J. Hawk as the starting “Will” (weakside) linebacker, Nick Barnett as the “Mike” (middle) linebacker and Brady Poppinga as the “Sam” (strongside) linebacker.
Who will fill those roles in 2024? The guess here is that ultra-athletic 2022 first-round draft pick Quay Walker will be the Will, given his ability to go from sideline to sideline and drop in coverage. Isaiah McDuffie is the logical choice as the Mike, where he’d be a tackling machine. What they’ll do at Sam is hard to predict, although veterans Eric Wilson or Kristian Welch would be the top in-house candidates if the Packers don’t take a linebacker early in this week’s draft.
To this point, Hafley hasn’t dropped too many breadcrumbs — given how much more time defenses league-wide spend in their nickel packages, the Packers won’t be in the base 4-3 nearly as much as they were during the 1990s and 2000s anyway — but he did seem enthusiastic about what Walker could become in this scheme after two uneven seasons in the 3-4.
“Quay’s a talented player. As we build this thing, we’re going to make sure he’s in position to make a lot of plays,” Hafley said. “So, whatever we feel, as we piece this together, where that is, that’s where we’ll put him.”
As for McDuffie, who played one season for Hafley at Boston College and moves into a more prominent role following the offseason release of 2021 first-team All-Pro inside linebacker De’Vondre Campbell, Hafley said he and McDuffie “talked very quickly after I took the job. It’ll be good to be around him again.”
Asked about McDuffie and how he feels about the linebacker group at the NFL Meetings, general manager Brian Gutekunst replied, “I feel really good about Isaiah. We obviously signed Eric Wilson back. We signed Kristian Welch back. (So), I feel much better now. We’ll add (more), I’m sure, whether it’s the draft or later on in free agency. I’m sure we’ll add to that competition in that room. But I do feel better about it.”
