Hi everybody, hope you all had a great Fourth of July Weekend! Last week we talked about how the high powered Packers offense would look to improve as we head into training camp, today let's take a look at the defense.
Let's begin by looking back to last season. I began broadcasting Packers football in 1999. To be honest with you, I had not seen a really good Green Bay defense until last season. What Dom Capers (defensive coordinator) did with the Packers defense in one season was truly remarkable. In 2008 the Packers ranked 20th overall in yardage overall, 26th in rushing defense. It is the rush defensive that is the basis of good defense, even in this pass happy era of NFL football. Defense yesterday and today begins with stopping the run! Last season the Packers defense ranked 2nd overall in yardage giving up just 284.4 yards a game, they were first against the run 83.3 yards. As great as they were, no Lombardi defense, no Holmgren defense of Super Bowl caliber ever led the league in rush defense. The 2009 Packers were the first Green Bay team to lead the league in rushing defense! The Packers held 12 of 16 opponents under 90 yards rushing in a game last season. Pretty impressive when you consider that was job one for Capers and his staff-mission accomplished!
The Packers were also very solid against the pass ranking 5th in yardage 201.1 allowing just a 68.8 opponents Quarterback rating. They held 10 of 16 opponents under 200 yards passing (outstanding in this pass first age) and they garnered the most takeaways in the league. Yet despite all of these heady numbers, I would not call the Packers defense of 2009 dominant. There were games especially late in the season, when injuries had ripped away the depth at cornerback where the Packers just couldn't stop the opposition through the air--Pittsburgh and Arizona (playoff game) come to mind. The other subtle fact that helped the defense was time of possession. The Green Bay offense set a team record for possession at 33:03 tops in the NFL. Now understand time of possession is not just an offensive stat, your defense has to clear the field to get the offense the ball and the Packers defense did it's job more often than not. But despite some great numbers this was not a shut down, lock em up, defensive unit and even coach Capers would admit there is room to grow.
The Packers were just 11th in the league with 37 sacks, they were 9th in third down defense 36%, and 28th in Red Zone defense allowing their opponents to score TDs 62.2% of the time. As a result instead of being first or second in points scored, the Green Bay defense was 7th overall--still excellent but not quite the shut down unit you would expect from the other numbers mentioned above. So where is Capers looking to improve or upgrade?
First off, in the secondary. However they did not upgrade the roster with any free agent corners so the hope is improvement will come from within. More importantly a return to health of Al Harris (eventually), Pat Lee and Will Blackmon. Brandon Underwood appears ready to step into a major role in this his second season. At safety the drafting of Morgan Burnett in the 3rd round out of Georgia Tech brings a safety with ball hawking skills -he was second in school history in interceptions with 14 in just three seasons. Cover safeties in this age are even more important than "blow em up hitters" because of the spread offensive sets (4 and 5 WR formations) used in the league today. Atari Bigby missed the off season program and that allowed Burnett to work with the number one unit and gain valuable experience. We will know more when the pads come on but this kid looks like he can contribute right away! On the corner Tramon Williams starts the season opposite NFL Defensive player of the year Charles Woodson. Williams is a solid starter but what he really is is an outstanding nickel corner. If and when Harris is able to get back on the field and return to form (not a given but I would not bet against Al pulling it off less than a year from major knee surgery) Williams will reprise that role. If Al can't make it back, Tramon will be solid as a starter. As stated above the depth has to come from a trio of performers, Lee a former second round draft pick, Underwood who looked good in the OTAs and Mini Camp, and Blackmon who has moved from corner to safety.
The other area the Packers are looking to upgrade, and this will help the secondary, is pass rush. On the outside Brad Jones a 7th round pick out of Colorado who came on for the injured Aaron Kampman last season will be counted on to make the big jump from rookie to second year that a lot of players accomplish. Most coaches will tell you the greatest amount of improvement in a player is from his first to second year. Can Jones provide the pass rush compliment to Clay Matthews? Only time will tell and Capers is planning on moving Matthews around to free him up from double teams.
Along the defensive line B J Raji gets the start on the nose--the former number one draft pick is healthy and like Jones at linebacker they expect B J to make a major jump from his injury plagued rookie season.
At defensive end Johnny Jolly's status is unclear pending legal problems in his hometown Houston. So Ryan Picket has been moved to defense end. Cullen Jenkins the other defensive end will apparently see some time at outside linebacker to take advantage of what he does really well, get into space and get to the quarterback. Jenkins had 4 and a half sacks and 23 QB hits 3 forced fumbles and a pick a year ago playing primarily inside, by using him in some different alignments on the outside Capers is looking to increase those numbers.
In this camp they need to find an inside rush compliment to pair with Jenkins and Raji, rookies Mike Neal and C J Wilson will get a chance to provide that element.
So as we head into camp, this defense will look to take the next step in year two under Capers. They need to rush the quarterback better, return to health in the secondary and become more effective in the Red Zone and on third downs. If they can shore up those areas we will see the shut down defensive unit that Capers is noted for. They accomplished great things in year one a season ago, there is no reason to think with a few more tricks up his sleeve that Capers can't keep the Packers defense moving in a dominant direction.