With few free agent options remaining at linebacker, it’s beginning to look more and more likely that Isaiah McDuffie is going to play a significant role within the Green Bay Packers’ defense this season.
Currently on the roster at the linebacker position for the Packers are McDuffie and Quay Walker, along with Kristian Welch, a special teams contributor, and Christian Young, who was signed to a futures deal in January and is likely a longshot to make the roster.
As far as free agency goes, the top remaining option, according to PFF, is Zach Cunningham, followed by Shaq Leonard–the only linebackers to make PFF’s list of the top 50 available players.
Without question, the Packers are going to address the need in the draft. Not only do they need to find another starting caliber player to put alongside Walker and McDuffie when the defense is lined up in its base 4-3 configuration, but GM Brian Gutekunst would also mention at the NFL Combine that the switch to a 4-3 would require additional depth at linebacker specifically, both to get through the summer and collectively between the 53-man roster and the practice squad.
The good news for the Packers is that they have five selections in the top 100, which will give them the opportunity to address this need. However, this isn’t exactly a deep linebacker draft class either.
Who knows, maybe Gutekunst lands two linebackers early on in the draft, and they both leapfrog McDuffie on the depth chart and start next to Walker in Jeff Hafley’s 4-3 defense. Or maybe after the draft Gutekunst makes a De’Vondre Campbell-like addition who has an immediate impact.
But neither of those things are something that I’m going to bank on at the moment, and neither should the Packers, which puts McDuffie into an elevated role.
With both Campbell and Walker navigating injuries last season, McDuffie saw quite a bit of playing time, totaling 551 defensive snaps. He was a very reliable tackler, making 89 of his 95 attempts. In coverage, he had one pass breakup and allowed 9.2 yards per catch.
McDuffie was at his best against the run, and when the defense was facing obvious passing situations, we would often see Eric Wilson on the field instead.
The most important thing that McDuffie last season provided was stability when the Packers needed it. He wasn’t lights out by any means, but he brought a steady presence to the middle of the Packers’ defense.
In fact, by the playoffs, when both Campbell and Walker were healthy, it was McDuffie who was on the field on first and second downs next to Walker, while Campbell was used more so on third downs.
McDuffie’s most productive season in college, which helped him get drafted by the Packers, came in 2020 during his final season with then first-year Boston College head coach Jeff Hafley.
Hafley mentioned at his introductory press conference that he wants to put Walker in positions to make plays consistently. From the sounds of it, Hafley will want to see how the linebacker room shakes out before absolutely saying which linebacker role Walker will fill.
However, with how the linebacker room is constructed at the moment, Walker would be the weak-side linebacker with McDuffie in the middle. The Mike – or middle – linebacker is the quarterback for the defense and fills a do-it-all role at the position, muddying things up over the middle in coverage and being stout against the run, which means there can be a lot that has to be processed almost instantly.
Obviously, things can still change. The Packers are going to have to continue adding to the linebacker position, likely both through free agency and the draft, and we, of course, have to see how the summer unfolds. But given the current construction of the position group along with the remaining options, it looks like McDuffie is in line for a rather large role this season.
