Grading Packers on Salary Cap Curve: Linebackers

In the eighth of a series of season-ending report cards, we look at the Green Bay Packers’ inside linebackers through the lenses of performance and the salary cap.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – For years, the Green Bay Packers invested little into the inside linebacker position. One budget signing after another – Antonio Morrison, B.J. Goodson and Christian Kirksey – failed. Even when they made a decent investment in the position, such as third-round pick Oren Burks in 2018, the Packers rolled snake eyes.

There was little reason to believe the addition of De’Vondre Campbell during the 2021 minicamp would be any different. But it was. Campbell was a star of the 2021 team that went 13-4. General manager Brian Gutekunst re-signed Campbell, then used a first-round pick on Quay Walker.

While Campbell and Walker fell short of the pie-in-the-sky comparison to Tampa Bay’s Devin White and Lavonte David, their solid seasons should foreshadow even better performances in 2023.

Here is Part 8 of our annual series of player grades as viewed through the lens of the salary cap. All cap figures are from OverTheCap.com. Analytical stats are from Pro Football Focus and Sports Info Solutions.

De’Vondre Campbell ($4.24 million; 16th at position)

De’Vondre Campbell was an All-Pro last season after finishing seventh in the NFL with 145 tackles. He was the only linebacker in the league with 100-plus tackles and at least two sacks, two forced fumbles and two interceptions. He was one of the great June signings in memory and a driving force behind Green Bay’s 13-win season.

It would have been almost impossible to live up to that standard. And he didn’t. Signed to a five-year, $50 million contract in free agency, here’s the comparison of Campbell’s 16-game season in 2021 with the team captain’s 13-game season in 2022:

Tackles: 145 vs. 96 (16-game pace of 118).

Solo tackles: 102 vs. 56 (69).

Interceptions: 2 vs. 2.

Passes defensed: 5 vs. 3.

Forced fumbles: 2 vs. 0.

Tackles for losses: 6 vs. 6.

Stuffs: 9 vs. 8.

Campbell had a monster game at Washington, a game that perhaps had him set up for a midseason hot streak. Instead, he suffered a knee injury the following week at Buffalo and missed four games.

Despite playing 67.2 percent of the defensive snaps, Campbell matched last year’s production with six tackles for losses and two interceptions, so it wasn’t as if he got fat and happy looking at all the zeroes in his checking account.

But he went from four missed tackles to 11. In 2021, his missed-tackle rate of 2.9 percent ranked No. 1 among the 66 linebackers to log 500-plus snaps. This year, his 10.1 percent missed-tackle rate ranked 29th out of 60. (Other missed-tackle rates in this story reference the 106 linebackers who played at least Krys Barnes’ 141 snaps. Using that number, Campbell ranked 49th in missed-tackle percentage). He missed only one in his five games following the knee injury.

His coverage was on point, with opponents completing 62.1 percent against him (vs. 71.4 percent last year). The 5.7 yards per target was just a bit better than his career mark of 5.8.

Campbell played 7.23 snaps per tackle compared 6.81 last year. He had eight stuffs (a tackle at or behind the line vs. the run), a rate of one for every 38.3 run-defending snaps.

Grade: C-plus.

Quay Walker ($2.52 million; 45th at position)

An All-Rookie selection, Quay Walker led the team with 119 tackles. Among all rookies, only Houston safety Jalen Pitre had more tackles than Walker. He stuffed the stats sheet with 1.5 sacks, five tackles for losses, four quarterback hits, seven passes defensed and a team-high three forced fumbles.

What was encouraging was Walker’s big-play production. At Georgia, he had zero forced fumbles and three passes defensed in his career. How could he make so few impact plays despite his elite combination of size and athleticism? Whatever. He did it as a rookie in the NFL.

Walker had to step up his game when veteran sidekick De’Vondre Campbell missed about 4 1/2 games with a knee injury. He overcame his lack of experience – and his southern accent – to lead the defense as the unit’s lead communicator.

Walker played 7.11 snaps per tackle. Same as Campbell, he had eight stuffs – or one for every 46.9 run-defending snaps. His coverage seemingly got better by the week. According to SIS, he allowed just 9-of-18 for 43 yards, a paltry 2.4 yards per target. That was 1.2 yards better than any other linebacker who had more than 65 tackles.

Among the 106 linebackers who played at least 141 snaps, he ranked 51st in missed-tackle percentage (13 misses; 10.2 percent).

The obvious blemish on his game, which won’t be fixed merely through the cliched second-year jump, is his temper. He was ejected twice – the only player to accomplish that feat since at least 2000. Somehow, he must find that fine line between playing with fire and setting himself and the team ablaze. The ejections impact the grade.

Grade: B-minus.

Krys Barnes ($895,000; 116th at position)

Krys Barnes, a starter for most of the previous two seasons, saw his playing time slashed with the arrival of first-round pick Quay Walker and some late-season injuries. When asked to play, he was around the ball – as always – with eight tackles at Detroit and 12 tackles and one sack vs. Tennessee. He played in six games (one start) and recorded 29 tackles.

His tackle rate was an absurd 4.86 snaps per tackle but he did not have any stuffs. In limited action, he gave up 4-of-6 passing for 39 yards. Among the 106 linebackers who played at least 141 snaps, he ranked 47th in missed-tackle percentage (three misses; 10.0 percent).

Grade: C-minus.

Isaiah McDuffie ($857,676; 128th at position)

Isaiah McDuffie took advantage of De’Vondre Campbell’s injury to record 30 tackles on defense. A dozen of those stops came in Week 10 against Dallas. He played on defense in nine games, including five games of 10-plus snaps and one start vs. Detroit. Plus, he tied for the team lead with 13 tackles on special teams.

Playing 174 snaps on defense compared to zero as a rookie, McDuffie averaged 5.8 snaps per tackle. He had three stuffs, giving him a rate of one for every 26.0 run-defending snaps. In limited action, he allowed only 1-of-4 passing. Among the 106 linebackers who played at least 141 snaps, he ranked 58th in missed-tackle percentage (four misses; 11.4 percent).

Backup linebackers need to be key members of the special teams. That he was with 13 tackles, tied for tops on the team.

Grade: B-minus.

Eric Wilson ($696,111; 158th at position)

Eric Wilson, a former productive starter with the Minnesota Vikings, was claimed off waivers on Oct. 4 and was one of the stalwarts on special teams with 13 tackles in 13 games – tied with Isaiah McDuffie for tops on the team. When De’Vondre Campbell (knee) and Quay Walker (ejection) were out at Buffalo, he played 23 snaps and had three tackles and one sack. He’ll be a free agent. Special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia no doubt would love to see Wilson re-signed.

Grade: C-plus.

Grading the Packers

Aaron Rodgers and the quarterbacks

Aaron Jones and the running backs

Christian Watson and the receivers

Robert Tonyan and the tight ends

David Bakhtiari, Zach Tom and the offensive line

Kenny Clark and the defensive line

Preston Smith and outside linebackers

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100 Days of Mocks

Starting Jan. 17, when there were 100 days until the start of the NFL Draft, we started our mock-worthy goal of 100 mock drafts in 100 days. Here’s the 100-day-countdown series.

100 days: First-round quarterback?

99 days: Trading for outside linebacker

98 days: Stud tight end

97 days: This pick would break a long drought

96 days: NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah goes back to Georgia

95 days: Two firsts if Rodgers is traded

94 days: College Football News mocks Mayer

93 days: Safety first for Bucky Brooks in NFL.com mock

92 days: Kiper takes a tight end