Quay Walker (Photo by Mark Hoffman/USA Today Sports Images)

Packers Training Camp Preview: Inside Linebackers

In Part 8 of a series of Green Bay Packers training camp positional previews, it's a look at the inside linebackers.

Author:
Bill Huber
Updated:
Jul 20, 2023 4:11 PM EDT
Original:
Jul 20, 2023

In this story:

GREEN BAY, Wis. – If the Green Bay Packers are going to rebound into the 2023 NFL playoffs, they’re going to need their talented defense to play to its potential.

Fortunately for the Packers, there’s significant upside in their returning starters at inside linebacker, De’Vondre Campbell and Quay Walker. If Campbell plays closer to his 2021 All-Pro form and Walker can keep his cool and continue his ascension, they really could form a top tandem.

With that as a backdrop, here is our training camp preview of the Packers’ inside linebackers.

Projected Opening Depth Chart

Starters: De’Vondre Walker and Quay Walker.

Backups: Isaiah McDuffie, Eric Wilson, Tariq Carpenter, Jimmy Phillips.

Position Group Ranking (out of 11)

Fourth.

Strength

The starting tandem of De’Vondre Campbell and Quay Walker. Campbell was an All-Pro in 2021, when he was the only linebacker in the league with 100-plus tackles and at least two sacks, two forced fumbles and two interceptions. According to Sports Info Solutions, of the 30 linebackers with at least 100 tackles, Campbell ranked second with 4.5 yards allowed per target and first with a missed tackle rate of 3.3 percent.

Walker was All-Rookie as a first-round pick last year. He finished second among all rookies with 119 tackles. Not unlike Campbell in 2021, he had tallies all over the stat sheet with five tackles for losses, seven passes defensed and a team-high three forced fumbles.

If Campbell can split the difference between his 2021 and 2022 seasons and if Walker takes the next step in his career, they could be just as good as everyone hoped they’d be at this point a year ago.

Weakness

Quay Walker’s temper. From starters to backups, this group might be without peer. It’s that good. So, we’ve got to dig down a bit and beat what the Packers can only hope is a dead horse.

Walker was really good when he was on the field last season. However, he got thrown out of primetime games at Buffalo and Detroit. The ejection against the Lions was a killer. With Green Bay leading 16-13 in the fourth quarter, Walker shoved a Lions trainer. Instead of second-and-8 from the 9, it was first-and-goal at the 4. The Lions turned that into the game-deciding touchdown.

After a teary-eyed apology after the Buffalo game, you might have expected Walker to learn a lesson in self-control. He did not. Every sage NFL offensive lineman is going to poke and prod Walker in hopes of triggering a reaction. Let’s see what happens.

Key Questions

1. Can Quay Walker dominate with discipline after becoming the first player since at least 2000 to be ejected twice in a season?

“I don’t think he has a problem,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said at the end of the season. “Certainly, he can’t do that. That’s unacceptable and he knows that. We love Quay. We love everything he’s bringing to our squad right now. … He has a really bright future ahead of him.”

2. Can De’Vondre Campbell play like he did down the stretch? After suffering a knee injury against Buffalo, Campbell returned for the final five games. Not coincidentally, the Packers won the first four of those games and played well enough in the fifth to win that game, as well.

During that stretch, Green Bay was 10th in points allowed and didn’t allow more than 20 points in any game. Campbell helped lead the way. His tackling, shoddy to start the season, rounded into form with just one miss in those games. He is a true three-down linebacker.

“When he came back, I think, you saw a difference,” position coach Kirk 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.”

Biggest Battle

Will Tariq Carpenter make it as a fifth linebacker? Between third-year player Isaiah McDuffie and former Vikings starter Eric Wilson, the Packers have two quality backups to step in if Campbell or Walker are unavailable. McDuffie was the next man up last season and presumably will be again this season.

Is there room on the roster for Carpenter? A seventh-round pick last year, Carpenter had quite a rookie year. Expecting to play linebacker in the NFL, the Packers drafted him to play safety. When he got comfortable at safety, he got a taste of life at outside linebacker. Now, he’s at inside linebacker.

Position changes are tricky to judge from the outside. Did the Packers make the move because they love the potential? Or did they make the move in a last-gasp effort to salvage the draft pick?

“It’s a lot of mixed feelings,” Carpenter told Packer Central. “It’s a good thing that they see that much value in me. That’s the value that I see in myself – a player who can be in the post and then be down on the edge for a blitz and then covering a tight end. That’s how I envision myself as a ballplayer. It’s going to come with time. It’s up to me to learn the playbook and take it from there.”

Of note, Carpenter made his first tackle on special teams against Dallas in Game 10. That kicked off a strong finishing slate of eight tackles in eight games.

Star Search

Quay Walker crushed his career production at Georgia, especially in the playmaking categories of forcing fumbles and breaking up passes. Aside from the ejections, it was a superb debut and, perhaps, just a taste of what’s to come from a player with a terrific all-around skill-set.

“Up and down, I think. I think he would agree with that,” was Olivadotti’s assessment. “I think there was a consistent growth throughout. It wasn’t like he would learn something and then unlearn it. I don’t think that was the case. That’s very encouraging.

“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 every year it’s a new team picture. How it’s going to fit into this defense, it does give you a versatile tool to play with and he’s a 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.”

Don’t Forget About

Eric Wilson. Campbell and Walker will start. McDuffie probably will be the No. 3. But grabbing Wilson off the Saints’ practice squad in October was one of Gutekunst’s excellent in-season moves.

Wilson played 13 games and tied for the team lead with 13 tackles on special teams. Take PFF’s grades for what they’re worth, but he was Green Bay’s highest-graded player on special teams. And, in a pinch, Wilson can deliver some high impact on defense. With the Vikings in 2020, he recorded 122 tackles, eight tackles for losses and three interceptions.