Jeff Hafley Packers New DC

[Anti-Polar Bear]

With this new DC and his exotic blitzes, Packers have gotta re-sign Nixon. Dude ain’t Wood as nickelback, but he sure as fuck ain’t a liability in coverage like Hyde and Sullivan, either. Plus, Nixion’s speed and willingness to tackle would be positives in the scheme.

Source: Me, Tank Elf Duke, former high school shutdown corner who shut down Darren Charles in a game.

[Joemailman]

With this new DC and his exotic blitzes, Packers have gotta re-sign Nixon. Dude ain’t Wood as nickelback, but he sure as fuck ain’t a liability in coverage like Hyde and Sullivan, either. Plus, Nixion’s speed and willingness to tackle would be positives in the scheme.

Source: Me, Tank Elf Duke, former high school shutdown corner who shut down Darren Charles in a game.

They need to draft Cooper DeJean and tell Nixon thanks for the memories.

[Anti-Polar Bear]

They need to draft Cooper DeJean and tell Nixon thanks for the memories.

Recall how every time opponents needed to move the chains, they simply threw at Hyde and Sullivan? Sure, Nixon allowed his share of completions. But not with the same fuck up frequencies as Hyde and Sullivan. Nixon would make a good blitzer, I reckon.

DeJean? Ain’t he a character in Les Miserables? I haven’t started prepping for the 2024 “Mastery Mockery of a Draft” yet.

[Fritz]

Quay might end up as the strong side OLB in this scheme. Or maybe Preston can play that position. I would have been concerned years ago, but schemes kind of blend together now. This guy has a background in multiple types of Ds so I suspect he can and better be able to adjust to his on field talent. The most important factor imo is playing aggressive on 3rd downs. No more lining up in a way where we concede most of the yards and then pray we can make a tackle. Or playing the theory we have for a decade of hoping the other teams O makes a mistake before they march all the way down the field. Todays offenses are too good for that theory. You need to dictate the game to them.

For those of you Rats who, unlike me, actually pay attention to the details and schemes and players and know a little bit (again, unlike me), I have a question: from what you've seen of the rookie safety seventh-rounder, Anthony Johnson (I think that's the name), does he "fit" at either of the safety positions in this new scheme? As a former corner, I would think maybe he would, but like I said, I know very little.

[Joemailman]

For those of you Rats who, unlike me, actually pay attention to the details and schemes and players and know a little bit (again, unlike me), I have a question: from what you've seen of the rookie safety seventh-rounder, Anthony Johnson (I think that's the name), does he "fit" at either of the safety positions in this new scheme? As a former corner, I would think maybe he would, but like I said, I know very little.

I would think he's best suited at either strong safety or slot corner. He has corner coverage skills and a willingness to hit. I'm not sure he's been asked to play single high safety either at Iowa St. or Green Bay, so hard to say if he could do it. Pretty good writeup on him from last year: https://www.pff.com/news/draft-iowa-...aft-board-2023

[George Cumby]

I think QUAY WALKER coudl kill it in this scheme if they let him roam the middle

Agreed.

Let the kid cut it loose.

[Frozen Tundra]

Yeah, press man is only even a little bit good if you assume Jaire is back to where he was a few years ago.

"Back to where he was" both in terms of his productivity, but perhaps even more importantly in terms of his availability. I agree, unless we get incredibly lucky in the draft, Alexander is probably the only guy who can make a press man defense effective. But can a new DC afford to put any real emphasis on a scheme that depends completely on a man who missed 13 games in 2021 and 10 games last season?

I really don't see press man being a big part of our D next season.

[bobblehead]

For those of you Rats who, unlike me, actually pay attention to the details and schemes and players and know a little bit (again, unlike me), I have a question: from what you've seen of the rookie safety seventh-rounder, Anthony Johnson (I think that's the name), does he "fit" at either of the safety positions in this new scheme? As a former corner, I would think maybe he would, but like I said, I know very little.

Its just hard to say. As I said somewhere we need an eraser like Earl Thomas. I have not watched Johnson at all to be honest, but we need an instinctual safety who has a feel for where the ball is about to go. Someone like...Rasul Douglas maybe. I'm not sure if Johnson is that or not. None of our current corners convert to that skillset though (that I can tell). And we have no legit Safeties on the roster so...

[Joemailman]

Rob Demovsky
@RobDemovsky

Packers defensive quality control coach Justin Hood is joining the Falcons as secondary coach. He’s reunited with Jerry Gray in Atlanta.


Peter Bukowski
@Peter_Bukowski

League sources tell
@TheLeapGB
there WILL be changes to the #Packers defensive staff.

This will including a shuffling of responsibilities among coaches already on the staff including an elevated role for Jason Rebrovich who was promoted to pass rush specialist last year.

[Joemailman]

Brady Henderson
@BradyHenderson

Former Rams, Vikings and Seahawks QB Sean Mannion is ending his nine-year NFL playing career and has accepted a position on the Packers’ coaching staff, a source tells me. He’ll work with QBs and the passing game.


Packers News
@PGPackersNews

All coaches on the Packers defense have been given permission to apply for other jobs after the team hired Jeff Hafley as defensive coordinator.

[Joemailman]

DL coach and running game coordinator Jerry Montgomery will not be back.

[RashanGary]

Quay

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/maJzGTfCz4uWH9An/?mibextid=KsPBc6

[texaspackerbacker]

Its just hard to say. As I said somewhere we need an eraser like Earl Thomas. I have not watched Johnson at all to be honest, but we need an instinctual safety who has a feel for where the ball is about to go. Someone like...Rasul Douglas maybe. I'm not sure if Johnson is that or not. None of our current corners convert to that skillset though (that I can tell). And we have no legit Safeties on the roster so...

Individually, no we don't have that kind of personnel. Neither do most teams. However, adapting the scheme to the personnel like Barry (grudgingly I think) did the last few games can make good but not great players look damn good and get the job done.

[ThunderDan]

Individually, no we don't have that kind of personnel. Neither do most teams. However, adapting the scheme to the personnel like Barry (grudgingly I think) did the last few games can make good but not great players look damn good and get the job done.

Finally, something that we can agree upon. The best DC are able to adjust their plan to maximize the talent of the players. They are also smart enough to watch a game and see that their plan isn’t working and adjust on the fly.

[run pMc]

Not convinced they'll suddenly become a '4-3' team. Nickel is more or less the base defense nowadays anyhow. I wouldn't be surprised if they continue to play it similarly on the front (2 DT, 2 EDGE with a choice of standing up or 3pt., 2 ILBs). The coverage will be different - I think they go more MOFC coverages and throw in a bit more man coverage and maybe even some press. I would expect there to be more pressure dialed up, and there will still be a healthy amount of zone coverage. All NFL defenses play a lot of zone. I don't think he'll line his CBs as far off the LOS compared to Barry or Pettine.

My first response was "who?" and feeling generally underwhelmed, but he has worked with some smart people and I would expect a guy like Saleh to give MLF an honest assessment. He doesn't have the stink of an 0-16 season on him. My impression of BC is that they are basically in the bottom half of the ACC, getting beat by Clemson, FSU, and Louisville, the way Indiana gets beat by Michigan or OSU.

I'm firmly in the wait-and-see camp on this one; I suspect he'll be like a slightly better Pettine, which would be an upgrade.

I expect this hire will steer draft strategy a bit -- probably using 5+ total draft picks among CB, S, and LB.