The Green Bay Packers are one of the most exciting up-and-coming teams in the NFL going into the 2024 season. Astonishingly, after trading Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets in 2023, Green Bay rode Jordan Love and his group of first and second year pass catchers’ second half explosion to a NFC Wild Card berth and an upset over the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL Playoffs.
While the Detroit Lions are still favored to win the NFC North again, the Packers are predicted by many to win over 10 games and be the NFC’s top wild card team. A huge part of these predictions coming true will be Love and the young offense taking the next step that everyone expects them to take. However, it will also depend on the new defense performing the way new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley says it will.
The Green Bay Packers Fired Joe Barry and Hired Jeff Hafley After the 2023 NFL Season
Former Packers defensive coordinator Joe Barry was never popular with fans. As many may remember, he was not even the first person offered the job after Green Bay decided to part ways with Mike Pettine. Wisconsin Badgers legend Jim Leonhard, who was the defensive coordinator in Madison at the time, was offered the position, but turned it down.
Barry was also hired over other more intriguing candidates such as Ejiro Evero, who is now the defensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers. He did not help his case by playing a form of defense that required players to read an offense as opposed to attacking it.
For years, the Packers have poured their resources into forming what should be one of the best defenses in the NFL. Aside from Love in 2020 and offensive tackle Jordan Morgan this year, every single one of their first round picks under general manager Brian Gutekunst has been used on a defensive player.
While there were individual players who played well in Barry’s read and react system, the unit as a whole was well below average. Last season, the Packers had the fifth-worst run defense in the NFL, giving up 128.3 yards on the ground per game.
In 2022, Green Bay had the seventh-worst run defense in the NFL, giving up 139.5 rushing yards per game. In 2021, they gave up 109.1, which was actually the 10th best. By the end of the 2023 season, though, it was clear that the Packers would never compete for a Super Bowl with Barry as their defensive coordinator.
Wm. Glasheen USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Ever since the start of the teams’ voluntary workouts, defensive players have been raving about Hafley and the new scheme. Third-year defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt predicted that he is going to take a monster leap forward thanks to Hafley’s defense, which calls for players to “run and hit” instead of “read and react.”
Three-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman Kenny Clark, too, is excited about the changes being made on defense. According to Packers reporter Wes Hodkiewicz, Clark believes that the aggressive style that Hafley preaches is going to help him increase his production:
“When we do drills, I’m like, ‘Damn.’ We’ve got like a big group of defensive linemen now. It’s going to be a lot different, but with this system, you’ve got to play like that.
“Now this is giving us a chance to shut all that other stuff off … just use your ability, go up the field and be disruptive. I just think with my get-off and how I am, I think it’s going to suit me well.”
Hodkiewicz also reported that Clark used to talk to other defensive linemen around the NFL to see how they were able to put up so many more tackles for loss and sacks than him. Now he understands:
“I would check up with them and see what it’s like playing in that. I always wondered what it was like, but now that I’m in it, I see how they made so many TFLs and all those plays they were always making. It all makes sense. They were really just cutting it loose that whole time.”
Hafley’s mantra is “run and hit,” and it sounds like Clark is ready to do just that.
