For years, the Green Bay Packers struggled to assemble the right pieces around Pro Bowl defensive lineman Kenny Clark, who consistently dominated but rarely got enough help.
The lingering issue appears to be rectified entering the 2022 season.
The Packers’ best-kept secret this year? The depth and talent of the defensive line overall.
General manager Brian Gutekunst attacked the position group this offseason, signing veteran Jarran Reed and using a first-round pick on Georgia’s Devonte Wyatt and a seventh-round pick on Miami’s Jonathan Ford.
Reed, Wyatt and Ford provide another talent infusion for a group that already features Clark, Dean Lowry and 2021 fifth-round pick TJ Slaton.
“We have a lot of depth,” Clark said last month. “It’s going to be a good thing for us, just to keep us fresh. It’s hard to stop any one of us when we come on the field on third down and rush the passer and have our legs under us. It’s hard for an offensive line to stop us.”
Reed has played in 89 career games, is always available, has flashed elite pass-rushing production (10.5 sacks in 2018) and can play all three downs and any spot up front in the Packers scheme.
Wyatt, the 28th overall pick, was a lynchpin player for Georgia’s historically great defense. His explosiveness off the ball and lateral quickness made him a menace against the run. And all of his athletic traits help provide incredible potential as an interior pass-rusher, especially in scenarios where he’ll be playing next to Clark. Overall, Wyatt is exactly what line coach Jerry Montgomery was looking for in a third-down disruptor.
Ford was a 40-game starter at Miami. He’s a mountain of a man at 6-5 and over 330 pounds, giving the Packers another gap-plugger who can take some pressure off Clark as a nose tackle.
Clark’s dominance is well-established. He’s highly regarded around the league because he’s a rare player. The league just doesn’t have many disruptive nose tackles who can withstand the rigors of interior run defense and collapse the pocket on quarterbacks. Clark can. And he has over many consecutive seasons.
Lowry’s incredible productivity in 2021 came out of nowhere. A struggling pass-rusher for much of his career, Lowry produced a career-high 42 total pressures and four batted passes over 425 pass-rushing snaps last season. His combination of length and power are assets. And he played more to his strengths in 2021.
Don’t forget about Slaton. He flashed some ability as a rookie, and the Packers think he’s “lightyears ahead” of where he was a year ago. Montgomery said he can be a dominant run defender. A big step from Slaton in 2022 could make him a mainstay in the middle of the base defense and a key part of what the Packers do on early downs.
Green Bay will now go into this season with at least five solid players along the defensive line, and as many as six or seven if Ford or Jack Heflin are able to crack the rotation. The group could set an incredibly strong foundation for a defense that is as good on paper as any in football.
“Most talent I’ve been a part of since I’ve been here,” Clark said. “We’re going to be as good as we want to be.”
