What the Green Bay Packers DL coaching search tells us about the team's offseason priorities

The Packers need a defensive line coach. But why? There's a reason beyond that the last guy didn't do a good enough job; it can tell us something about where they're headed in team building. Plus, decisions on Quay Walker an Devonte Wyatt.
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Peter Bukowski, co-founder of The Leap, brings you a daily look at the Green Bay Packers year round with Locked On Packers! Go beyond the latest injury news into what you're seeing on the field, how it works, and how it might change with new players or against a division rival. It's the podcast for fans who know what happened, they want to know why and how!
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[@codyalger2792]

Gutey should let somebody else pick our first rounders and then do the rest of the draft

[@plastkhero]

He's great at looking in the sale bin but can't make the premium picks worth while.

[@chriscornell-l8t]

I kinda agree first rounders been not so great with him.

[@citizen_toxie_]

They need to stop investing in players that are big projects in the first round. LVN is frustrating to watch. They could have drafted Brian Burns over Gary. That immediate return on investment would have been so valuable those years.

[@brett6698]

Wyatts a no brainer to the give the 5th year option. He's one of the best pass rushers from the interior. Those guys are hard to find. Some team will pay him if the Packers don't. Walker is the hard one. If they do the 5th year, there has to be some projection on what he can become. Hes been ascending player even through injuries. Gutie talked about his leadership as well. I think they do it and could regret it, but its likely worth the risk if he reaches his max potential.

[@jonathanwilliams1974]

If they're only going to use him on 40% of snaps...that a lot of $$ to pay him.

[@Matt-yq3gq]

I don’t know about no brainer. Fully guaranteed 14 million or whatever it’ll be for an average rotational player. If they are hard to find and there’s no other projected option by 2026, then sure guess you can make the case to overpay, but it’s not ideal or a no brainer and in theory they should be able to find someone that can come close to, match, or surpass his production for cheaper, or just pay the market rate for a proven commodity.

[@plastkhero]

The DL was a joke this year and im not sure coaching will fix it, the DL needs more talent. Gary and Clark are just not as good as advertised.

[@orangeofmars2835]

I would like to see Lukas Van Ness on the inside. He seems to not be quick enough for the edge.

[@furielcoa8488]

I'm not sure if it's a lack of quickness as much as how they were rushing. One thing I noticed was that it seemed like the only thing our Dline did was try to run through the face of the Oline. Collapse the pocket by pushing the Oline into the QB's lap. And when you had quality Oline on the other side, the pass rush evaporated because they ONLY tried to with with power. That's why I'm optimistic a new DL coach might really raise the level of the pass rush. Start getting some new pass rush moves and plans out there for the guys we have and see what they can make happen.

[@orangeofmars2835]

@@furielcoa8488 It did a lot seem like that. I noticed some crossing but it did seem pretty predictable.

[@taytenroof3536]

Honestly I love that idea and have no idea why nobody has mentioned this. Especially now that we’re in a 4-3

[@plastkhero]

I'm not sure he is a starter on the D line on another team.

[@michaeldillard1408]

All the coaching changes in the world wont help until the team gets stronger in the weight room

[@ronseverin7818]

You need players like a Gilbert Brown on the inside and a Reggie White on the outside.

[@colevanlankvelt4747]

Good call.... Pretty obvious.... But good call.

[@mattw36]

The performance of 2023 to 2024 with basically no change other than the d line coach points heavily to bad d line coaching. Correlation doesn’t equal causation but this one seems somewhat clear

[@Matt-yq3gq]

They weren’t that good last year either though. I don’t doubt the coaching change should’ve been made or that it won’t help, but we were all still saying the same stuff about the D front and pass rush and individual players not meeting expectations last year too. This year they at least could stop the run relatively well.

[@mikeomoran9256]

Ill taks Whitecotton or Rogers Those systems have a history of being good at the pass rush

[@VietTran-d6x]

We need a hog on our interior line

[@cryptoking0410]

You can't have a pass rush if you are playing CBs who would be 4th and 5th on the depth chart of any other team. Jaire is healthy. We get more coverage sacks.

[@klohr311]

I think guety rather keep Jaire vs walker/wyatt. Linebacker and DT can be cycled through draft. Corner and left tackle are premium position. If he keeps jaire than he can address other position as of need.

[@RahnOzzy]

Wyatt Brooks and LVN all play the same position with different body types... That's the issue on the DL...

[@SunShine-xc6dh]

That they have thier priorities wildly out of line...

[@DennisAlexander-t4k]

Please don't let lafool pick em!

[@furielcoa8488]

I think we let Wyatt walk and I personally love the idea of using 23 on either a corner if there's one worth it there, or a penetrating, pass-rushing 3 tech. Shortest distance to the QB is through the A gap. Best way to get a QB off his spot is to put a guy in his lap. Make a QB get off his spot and have to slide left or right you get all kinds of opportunities for him to run into a sack from an edge, be inaccurate because he's throwing on the run, have his head down and miss an open receiver, force a hold from the offense as the QB tries to escape. Look what Det did to us in their house when their DTs were penetrating all day. Same thing with the wild card game against Philly. Give us someone who can do that consistently and watch Hafley cook.

[@TheBrotherHoodSports]

We need a new head coach first Peter.

[@vestery]

🤔

[@paulsamuelsen8281]

We have have one of the best coaches in the league. I do wonder how it might look with Hafley .

[@mattw36]

Lmao

[@jonathanwilliams1974]

You are not a serious person.

[@vestery]

After thinking about this for a minute , ML has compiled a pretty good record. Granted our post season success has not been the best , but under McCarhy it wasn’t really great either. I think the total % comparison is ML .648 to MM .619 for careers.

[@HaoleKilla]

I hate being a packers fan. We fn suck

[@ryanangell6264]

Then why are you a Packer fan?

[@TheBrotherHoodSports]

​@@ryanangell6264 Because of Brett Favre of course.

[@paulsamuelsen8281]

You could always go be a Detroit fan. I dont think its too late for you. Hell go be a bears fan bro.

[@mattw36]

You’re spoiled. Packers have had like 5 losing seasons in over 20 and 2 Super Bowls. Yes you could argue we maybe should have another SB or 2 but there’s a lot of teams that haven’t made the playoffs in a looong time.

[@jonathanwilliams1974]

Go be a bandwagon Chiefs fan then.

[@RahnOzzy]

With Preston Smith and DeVondre Campbell coming off the books for about $18mil Quay is affordable...

[@RaymondBrean-z4d]

For as much improvement as the Green Bay Packers saw under Jeff Hafley, their defense still left a ton to be desired in the big moments. Without a doubt, Jeff Hafley made progress with this defense and playing well as they did while changing from a 3-4 defense to a 4-3 defense is a big deal, but there are upgrades needed on the defensive line and edge rusher heading into 2025. Rashan Gary finished with 8 sacks, including the playoff game. That’s decent, but he’s not a superstar pass rusher. He’d be an incredible #2 pass rusher, so the Green Bay Packers need to get him that top dog to play alongside him. Much like at wide receiver, the Green Bay Packers need to use free agency and the Draft to help get Jeff Hafley’s defense some pass rush help heading into the 2025 NFL season. Go Pack Go 💚💚💛💛