8 Days Until Training Camp: Packers Inside Linebackers Preview

Where would the Green Bay Packers defense have been last season without the sensational June signing of De’Vondre Campbell? And how will Quay Walker fit?

Author:
Bill Huber
Updated:
Jul 19, 2022 11:52 AM EDT
Original:
Jul 19, 2022

In this story:

Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – After years of mediocre play at inside linebacker, the Green Bay Packers won the equivalent of the PowerBall with the low-cost signing of De’Vondre Campbell. Then, in the first round of this year’s draft, they selected Georgia’s Quay Walker. With the first practice of training camp set for July 27, here is a preview of the inside linebackers.

Packers Inside Linebackers Depth Chart

De’Vondre Campbell played all 64 games with 60 starts from 2017 through 2020. Last offseason, he remained unsigned until the Packers inked him to a one-year, $2 million contract in June. For a bargain price, the Packers were rewarded with an All-Pro season. Campbell tackled, covered and led, making him a steal in every form and fashion. After a season in which he led the NFL in solo tackles until getting the day off for the Week 18 finale, Campbell signed a five-year contract worth $50 million.

Krys Barnes, an undrafted free agent in 2020 who played at the same high school as Jordan Love, has started 23 of a possible 33 games in his two seasons. In 16 games (13 starts) last year, Barnes played almost 50 percent of the defensive snaps and finished third on the team with 79 tackles. On a per-snap basis, he recorded more tackles than Campbell. He figures to enter training camp as the starter alongside Campbell.

Quay Walker, an incredible combination of size and athleticism, was the first of Green Bay’s two first-round draft picks. A first-time starter as a senior, Walker had 1.5 sacks and 5.5 tackle for losses among his 67 tackles to help the powerhouse Georgia Bulldogs win the national championship. There was not a lot of big-play production. In four seasons, he broke up three passes, had zero interceptions and forced zero fumbles.

Ray Wilborn seemed to vault ahead of Ty Summers and Isaiah McDuffie during the offseason practices. He’s not quite Quay Walker from a size-speed perspective but he’s not far behind, so there’s some untapped potential. He played safety and linebacker at Ball State. An undrafted free agent in 2020, he has not played in a regular-season game.

Ty Summers, a seventh-round pick in 2019, has proven a liability on defense but he’s been a staple on special teams with 908 snaps in 46 career games. The question is whether being a key player on past special teams will be deemed an asset by new special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia, who has a lot of work to do to fix those units. He’ll have to prove himself all over again to see a fourth season.

Isaiah McDuffie was a sixth-round pick last year. He didn’t play at all on defense but was seventh on the team with 192 snaps on special teams. He had more penalties (three) than tackles (two) in that phase, which isn’t exactly ideal. One scout before the 2021 draft was incredibly high on McDuffie’s potential.

Ellis Brooks is an undrafted free agent out of Penn State. That’s “Linebacker U.” Brooks recorded 230 tackles for his career and 100 as a senior. In four seasons, he had one interception, three passes defensed, two forced fumbles and 15 tackles for losses. His draft prospects were doomed by a 4.77 in the 40. The Packers gave him an $8,000 signing bonus.

Caliph Brice is an undrafted free agent out of Florida Atlantic. He started his collegiate career at Hutchinson Community College alongside first-round pick Devonte Wyatt. He recorded a career-high 57 tackles last season, and had one interception, two passes defensed, one forced fumble and 9.5 tackles for losses in three seasons. Brice ran his 40 in 4.61 seconds. The Packers gave him an $2,000 signing bonus.

Leader of the Pack

Who else but De’Vondre Campbell? The Packers hadn’t had an All-Pro off-the-ball linebacker since the Hall of Famer Ray Nitschke in 1966. Campbell did everything at a high level. Campbell was the only linebacker in the NFL last season with 100-plus tackles and at least two sacks, two forced fumbles and two interceptions. Campbell was one of linebackers with at least 100-plus tackles. Of that group, Campbell ranked second with 4.5 yards allowed per target in the passing game and first with a missed tackle rate of 3.3 percent, according to Sports Info Solutions.

Now, the coaches would like Campbell to have a larger voice as a leader.

“‘Dre has all that experience behind him that is very useful and he knows when to give it and how to give it,” position coach Kirk Olivadotti said at the start of the offseason. “I think some of that is the experience that he has as far as being in the NFL and knowing when guys are ready to listen. There’s an old quote from (baseball manager) Dusty Baker, and he said the worst mistake we can make as coaches is to try and dump 32 years of knowledge into a guy in 10 minutes. I think Dre has a sense of that.”

Rising Star

It has to be Quay Walker. The Packers didn’t really need another inside linebacker, and especially not at No. 22 overall. Not that Krys Barnes was a great starter but he was solid and productive. Walker, however, is an incredible ball of potential. At 6-foot-3 3/4 and 242 pounds, he ran his 40 at the Scouting Combine in an electric 4.52 seconds. A pairing of Walker and De’Vondre Campbell could be dominant.

“His range and his speed and his explosiveness as a tackler is just something we didn’t feel we could pass up,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said.

The Training Camp Battle

Presumably, first-round pick Quay Walker will unseat incumbent starter Krys Barnes at some point. So, the real battle will be for the final spot(s) on the depth chart behind De’Vondre Campbell, Walker and Barnes. Fourth-year player Ty Summers (pictured) and second-year player Isaiah McDuffie were key players on special teams last season, and Ray Wilborn has an intriguing combination of size and athleticism. Those three will be joined by undrafted rookies Ellis Brooks and Caliph Brice. You’d think special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia will have a say on how it all shakes out.

The Big Question

Is Quay Walker a good player or just a good prospect? His stats at Georgia don’t jump off the page. To be sure, Georgia’s defense was absolutely loaded and nobody on that unit had great stats, but it’s a bit startling that a man of his size broke up three passes and didn’t have a hand in a single turnover play (forced fumble, interception) in four seasons.

In 52 games (15 starts), Walker had 137 tackles, five sacks, 11 tackles for losses, zero interceptions, zero forced fumbles and three passes defensed. In 14 games last year alone, Utah’s Devin Lloyd – the two-time Butkus Award winner who went five picks later to Jacksonville – had 110 tackles, eight sacks, 22 tackles for losses, four interceptions, one forced fumble and 10 passes defensed.

Best-Case Scenario

In a perfect world, first-round pick Quay Walker quickly reaches his potential and joins De’Vondre Campbell in giving the Packers the best linebacker tandem in the NFL. The Packers played more dime defense (six defensive backs, one inside linebacker) than most teams the past two seasons. With the combined range of Campbell and Walker, the Packers might be able to play more traditional defenses, which would help a run defense that ranked 24th in yards per carry in 2019, 24th in 2020 and 30th in 2021. Better run defense means more third-and-longs, and more third-and-longs plays into the hands of Green Bay’s loaded secondary.

Worst-Case Scenario

Is it possible Campbell was a one-year wonder? And that the Packers drafted the wrong linebacker? Campbell had more solo tackles in 2021 (102) than he had total tackles in four of his previous five seasons. He had two interceptions after picking off two passes total the previous four seasons.

More likely than not, Campbell thrived because he found his role in Joe Barry’s defensive scheme.

“Everybody’s whole question is, ‘What’s so different? How did you just become this elite player all of a sudden?’” Campbell said after being named All-Pro last year. “I’ve been the same player my whole career. My job responsibilities have just been different. I’ve never been a true Mike. I’ve never been put in a position to make plays week in and week out. That was something I was very adamant about coming into the offseason. I was going to sign somewhere that allowed to me to be the guy. Like I said, Green Bay allowed me that opportunity and I’m just thankful for it – for them believing in me when a lot of people didn’t.”

One Superb Stat

Dating to at least 1999, De’Vondre Campbell is the only Packers defender with at least 125 tackles, two sacks, two forced fumbles and two interceptions in a season, according to Stathead. In fact, Campbell (145 tackles) and safety Morgan Burnett (122 tackles in 2012) are the only Packers with 100-plus tackles, two sacks, two forced fumbles and two interceptions in a season. League-wide, Campbell was the first player since Colts All-Pro Darius Leonard in 2018 with 145-plus tackles (145), multiple interceptions (two), multiple sacks (two) and multiple forced fumbles (two).