Defensive Improvement Must Start at Linebacker

With De’Vondre Campbell and Quay Walker, the Packers have the potential to be really good in the middle of the defense.

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
May 29, 2023 9:34 PM EDT

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Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – There’s one obvious position where the Green Bay Packers should be better and must be better on defense.

Inside linebacker.

It’s hard to project improvement on the defensive line with two Day 3 draft picks replacing Dean Lowry and Jarran Reed.

It’s hard to project improvement at outside linebacker until Rashan Gary is fully back from his torn ACL.

It’s hard to project improvement at safety without Adrian Amos.

It’s hard to project improvement at cornerback until Eric Stokes returns to his rookie form.

It’s hard to project improvement from the coaching staff with Joe Barry back as defensive coordinator.

Not that improvement can’t come from any and all of those spots. Maybe defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt will be a second-year stud and outside linebacker Lukas Van Ness will be a rookie sensation. But where there is an obvious potential for improvement – perhaps even a likelihood – is inside linebacker with the tandem of De’Vondre Campbell and Quay Walker.

Campbell had a massive debut season for the Packers in 2021, an unlikely All-Pro campaign in which he piled up 145 tackles, two sacks, six tackles for losses, two interceptions, two forced fumbles and five passes defensed.

Perhaps not surprisingly given how he crushed his career production, there was a drop-off in play in 2022. Campbell missed four games with a knee injury, and his production fell to 96 tackles, with zero sacks and six TFLs, two interceptions, zero forced fumbles and three passes defensed. Even projecting his numbers over the full 17-game season, Campbell’s tackle count would have been down by 20.

Really, the only area where his numbers increased was missed tackles. That, obviously, isn’t a good thing. In 2021, he missed four tackles and was No. 1 among the 64 off-the-ball linebackers who played 550 snaps with a missed-tackle rate of 2.8 percent, according to Pro Football Focus. In 2022, even while making almost 50 fewer tackles, his missed-tackle count soared to 11. Of the 59 off-the-ball linebackers who played 550 snaps, his missed-tackle rate of 10.1 percent ranked 26th.

When Campbell returned, he was a difference-maker, noted position coach Kirk Olivadotti recently. Sure enough, when he returned from his knee injury, the Packers won four consecutive games to get back in the playoff hunt. Over the final five games, Green Bay allowed 17.6 points per game and never more than 20.

“When he came back, I think, you saw a difference,” Olivadotti said. “We obviously started to play pretty well as a group. Every year’s going to be a little bit different. I do think that moving forward he’s in a pretty good spot right now, which is encouraging. He’s excited and ready to go this year.”

A first-round pick last year, Walker was All-Rookie. His 119 tackles led the team and ranked second among all rookies. With 1.5 sacks, five tackles for losses, four quarterback hits, seven passes defensed and a team-high three forced fumbles, he was an impact player. The big plays were especially noteworthy considering he produced zero forced fumbles and three passes defensed at Georgia.

“Up and down. I think he would agree with that,” was Olivadotti’s assessment. “I think there was a consistent growth throughout. He did a lot of different things for us last year. The biggest thing is how all his skills are going to fit into this defense because it’s a new team picture every year. It does give you a versatile tool to play with and he’s very willing and learns it and wants to know, so that’s very helpful.

“It’d be easy to say, ‘Hey, let’s use all of them at once,’ but you also want him to be good at what he’s good at and then add things to it to supplement what we need defensively. It’s kind of a moving target until you figure out exactly what you are moving in. I think we have a good sense of what we are but you always want to see guys do it on the grass a little bit.”

For Walker, it’s do it on the grass and stay on the grass with the right combination of toughness, demeanor and composure after being ejected from two games – including the killer Week 18 loss to Detroit.

That’s something Walker and Olivadotti have discussed “a lot,” Olivadotti said.

“He gets asked about it, I get asked about it – we all do,” he said. “He and I’ve talked through that and had our conversations and kind of have a plan in place for a lot of different things.”

What is that plan?

“Play to the whistle and then be so busy in between snaps that you don’t even notice what else is going on because you’re moving onto the next play,” Olivadotti said. “I think that’s a big part of moving forward. There’s other parts to it, also, but that’s a big part of it.”