Badgers’ Chenal Aces Combine, Could Interest Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – How fast would Wisconsin linebacker Leo Chenal run at the NFL Scouting Combine?

“I guess you guys will have to see,” Chenal said earlier this week. “I think people are projecting me at 4.7. All right, I guess we’ll just have to see.”

Chenal didn’t run his 40-yard dash in 4.7 seconds. He didn’t run it in 4.6, either.

Instead, he ran his 40 in 4.53 seconds, seventh-fastest among this year’s linebackers. That time doesn’t fully tell the story, though. At 6-foot-2 5/8, 250 pounds, he was one of the biggest linebackers at the Combine. Of the players who ran faster, Montana’s Troy Anderson (4.42) weighed 243 pounds. Alabama’s Christian Harris (4.44) weighed 226. Georgia’s Channing Tindall (4.47) weighed 230. Penn State’s Brandon Smith (4.52) weighed 250. Oklahoma State’s Malcolm Rodriguez (4.52) weighed 232. Georgia’s Quay Walker (4.52) weighed 241.

Moreover, only Tindall (42) beat Chenal (40.5) in the vertical jump.

When you combine athleticism with size, Chenal’s workout was practically off the chart. He earned a Relative Athletic Score of 9.99, which ranked fourth out of 2,188 linebackers dating to 1987.

While those marks will be updated following the Badgers’ pro day on March 9, when Chenal presumably will take part in the 20-yard shuttle and three-cone drill, his speed and explosion have solidified his standing as a potential second-round pick.

The Packers might have a massive need at inside linebacker depending on whether they can scrape together enough money to re-sign All-Pro De’Vondre Campbell. Campbell changed the face of Green Bay’s defense in 2021 with his all-around brilliance and perhaps drove home the importance of a position the Packers had largely overlooked over the years.

Other than a third-round pick on Oren Burks on 2018 – a huge miss by general manager Brian Gutekunst, who traded up to get him – the Packers have gotten by with Day 3 draft picks (Blake Martinez was a fourth-round hit in 2016), late-round/undrafted prospects (like Krys Barnes in 2020) or veteran retreads (Antonio Morrison in 2018, B.J. Goodson in 2019, Christian Kirksey in 2020 and Campbell in 2021).

To say the Packers were fortunate to land Campbell would be the understatement of the century.

“A couple years ago, he was a free agent and ended up signing with Arizona,” Gutekunst said. “We were very interested in him at that time and it didn’t work out with him financially. This past year, it was no different. With the pandemic and salary cap challenges that we had, we were kind of limited to what we could do. I didn’t expect him to move through free agency like he did and be available at the end there.

“I give our scouting staff a lot of credit to keep being in touch and making sure they were very aware that we still would’ve liked him here. When the time came for when he was going to make a decision, I think he looked at our situation and realized it was a pretty good one for him, and it obviously couldn’t have worked out better. The season he had, I’m so impressed with the person and the player, and he just made a world of difference for defense. We’re very optimistic and hopeful to get him back into the fold.”

Given Green Bay’s financial restrictions, that won’t be easy. That could put Chenal in play in this year’s draft.

Playing in the attacking 3-4 scheme coordinated by Jim Leonhard – who coach Matt LaFleur wanted to run Green Bay’s defense – Chenal had a massive final season of 115 tackles, which included eight sacks and 18.5 tackles for losses. He added two forced fumbles.

He didn’t break up any passes, partially because Leonhard consistently had him working downhill rather than backward. While the coverage phase could be a work in progress, it’s easy to see Chenal being an immediate contributor to the rush – not unlike how Dallas used first-round pick Micah Parsons in 2021.

“We like to change it up a lot,” Chenal said of the Badgers’ defense. “A lot of the sacks that I had this year actually weren't intended blitzes. They were kind of like reactionary things that our position coach taught us. Like, if we get a certain look, let's go. It wasn't just like automatic. We improved towards the middle of the regular season on getting to the quarterback that way.”

7. CB Kevin King

GM Brian Gutekunst re-signed King to a one-year, $5 million contract last offseason. It was an insurance policy just in case he couldn’t find a starting cornerback in the draft. He did with Eric Stokes, then struck gold with Rasul Douglas. King started his first six games – shockingly, he missed five games due to injuries in a six-game span – then barely played down the stretch once the team settled on Stokes, Douglas and Chandon Sullivan as its best trio. King played in 51 of 81 games in five seasons. After picking off five passes and breaking up 15 in 2019, he had one interception and eight passes defensed in 21 games the last two years. Presumably, that will close the book on the team’s first pick of the 2017 draft other than his lingering cap hits ($750,000 per year through 2025) and the painful reminders every time T.J. Watt sacks the quarterback.

6. ILB Oren Burks

In 2018, the Packers traded their fourth- and fifth-round selections to grab Burks. Oops. In four seasons, he started seven games and recorded 84 tackles. Billed as a new-age linebacker after starting his career at Vanderbilt as a safety, he didn’t break up a single pass in four seasons. This year, he recorded a career-high 32 tackles and finished second on the team with eight stops on special teams.

5. OLB Whitney Mercilus

A change of scenery brought the best out of the 31-year-old Mercilus. In six games that included 110 pass-rushing snaps with Houston, he had two sacks and five pressures. In four games that included 80 pass-rushing snaps with Green Bay, he had one sack and 10 pressures. Of 144 edge rushers with at least Mercilus’ number of rushes, Rashan Gary was second, Preston Smith was 17th and Mercilus was 36th in PFF’s pass-rush win percentage. He’ll turn 32 before training camp. He’d be a nice No. 3 if the Packers release Za’Darius Smith but keep Preston Smith.

4. DT Tyler Lancaster

The Packers’ defensive line depth is almost nonexistent. Pro Bowler Kenny Clark is the standout. He was joined in the starting lineup throughout the season by Dean Lowry, who had a career-high five sacks but could be released to save $4.08 million of cap space. Kingsley Keke started eight games but was released late in the season. That leaves Lancaster, who started three games, fifth-round rookie TJ Slaton, who showed some potential in 15 snaps per game, and Jack Heflin, who barely played as an undrafted rookie. Can the Packers do better than Lancaster? Of course. But someone needs to play.

3. CB Chandon Sullivan

If the Packers can’t afford Rasul Douglas, then Sullivan would be a budget-friendly third piece to join Jaire Alexander and Eric Stokes in the defensive backfield. Even if the Packers can afford Douglas, he’d be a quality depth piece. Starting 10 games for a second consecutive season, Sullivan intercepted a career-high three passes. Of 28 defensive backs to play at least 200 coverage snaps in the slot, Sullivan ranked third with 13.4 snaps per reception and eighth with 1.02 yards per coverage snap, according to PFF. Are there better slot defenders? Yes. But you could do worse, too, and Shemar Jean-Charles’ rookie training camp was not promising.

2. CB Rasul Douglas

When Jaire Alexander went down with a shoulder injury against Pittsburgh, it could have been a fatal blow. And it would have been fatal if the Packers had been forced to rely on Kevin King or Isaac Yiadom. Instead, in one of the great practice-squad raidings in NFL history, general manager Brian Gutekunst found Douglas toiling in Arizona. Having failed to make rosters in Las Vegas and Houston during training camp, Douglas saved the season. In merely 12 games with nine starts, Douglas tied for fourth in the NFL with five interceptions. Two were returned for touchdowns and two saved victories over Arizona and Cleveland. Of 88 corners with 50 percent playing time, he allowed a seventh-ranked completion rate of 52.2 percent. He also was perhaps the best player on special teams.

“Of course,” he said about returning to the Packers with a long-term contract. “I built a family here. I’ve still got some unfinished business, I feel like, to handle. Of course, I want to be here. But I don’t think that’s all my decision to make.”

1. ILB De’Vondre Campbell

So this is what a real, honest-to-goodness, game-changing inside linebacker looks like. Somehow unemployed in June despite five solid seasons, Campbell joined the Packers on a one-year, $2 million contract. The Packers were rewarded with an All-Pro season and Campbell will be rewarded in free agency. Even while sitting out the season finale against Detroit, Campbell finished seventh in the NFL with 145 tackles. He entered that final game with a league-leading 101 solo tackles. Of the 34 players with at least 107 tackles, Campbell and Washington’s Cole Holcomb were the only players with at least one sack, one interception, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. Campbell was the only linebacker in the league with 100-plus tackles and at least two sacks, two forced fumbles and two interceptions. After swinging and missing on veterans like Christian Kirksey, Antonio Morrison and B.J. Goodson, the Packers got their first All-Pro linebacker since Ray Nitschke in 1966.

“Yeah, that was my whole thought process from the time I signed, just to kind of reintroduce myself,” Campbell said. “Casuals don’t really know who I am, but people who watch tape, people who know the game of football [know]. I get told week in and week out from the people I compete against, ‘You’re a hell of a player and you always have been.’ I’m just glad that people are starting to realize it. That just kind of makes me feel good. Something I’ve always known, but to hear it from other people, you always kind of need that reassurance, so that was a huge goal of mine, just kind of re-establishing myself.”

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