At a glance: After giving up the second-most sacks in 2018, Green Bay general manager Brian Gutekunst acquired more O-Line depth via free agency and the draft. But a focus on defensive players since new head coach Brian Flores came on-board suggests the Packers front office is doubling down on its belief that former head coach Mike McCarthy was the cause of Green Bay's offensive struggles last year.
Green Bay moved on from a plethora of long-time Packers in the last couple of years - more on that here - but firing 16-year head coach Mike McCarthy midway through 2018 was one of the most notable changes. It was well-reported that McCarthy and quarterback Aaron Rodgers were no longer on the same page and the offense had suffered as result. After the appointment of new head coach Brian Flores, the front office added potential starting pieces to the offense but came far short of an overhaul, signalling Green Bay truly believed McCarthy was to blame, and putting a lot of pressure on Flores to fix what was clearly a broken offense last season.
The 2018 Packers offensive line looked formidable when healthy but gave up 3.3 sacks per game. The addition of guard Billy Turner and center Elgton Jenkins in free agency and the draft respectively should help improve that stat, but the onus is also on Rodgers to get the ball out quicker. We wrote prior to the draft that Green Bay could opt to select a dual-threat running back to help Rodgers or add some wide receiver depth behind Davante Adams, but neither of those things happened. (...Granted third round tight end selection Jace Sternberger could cause problems with Jimmy Graham.) Now it's purely up to Flores' scheme and coaching to get Green Bay back to where it feels it belongs.
With Rodgers expected to make everyone around him better on offense, the team continued to aggressively add disruptive pieces to its defense. The team took a flyer on Rashan Gary in the first round despite not having a hole for him to fill. (The Packers ranked eighth in sacks last year, per ESPN.) But after recording just seven interceptions (2nd fewest) in 2018, the team's secondary got a ball-hawk in safety Darnell Savage -- weeks after acquiring Adrian Amos in free agency. If cornerbacks Jaire Alexander and Josh Jackson can step up in Year 2, last year's 18th ranked defense could make strides.
DRAFT PICKS (per ESPN)
1.12 Rashan Gary DE
1.21 Darnell Savage Jr. S
2.12 Elgton Jenkins C
3.11 Jace Sternberger TE
5.12 Kingsley Keke DT
6.12 Ka'dar Hollman CB
6.21 Dexter Williams RB
7.12 Ty Summers ILB
ORIGINAL COVER PHOTO: Michigan Sports and Entertainment
Comments