The defense of the Green Bay Packers used career years from several veteran players to power the unit during Joe Barry’s first season as defensive coordinator. The emergence of so many players helped offset the losses of Za’Darius Smith and Jaire Alexander, two All-Pros who missed a big chunk of the season with injuries.
The bar has been raised. Career years mean raised expectations. The Packers are now banking on several veterans to repeat their production from last year and lead the defense in 2022.
If the Packers are to be elite on defense, the veterans who excelled last season can’t afford a regression.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the many veterans coming off career years:
LB De’Vondre Campbell
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Campbell, in his sixth NFL season, transformed from a replacement-level starter to a first-team All-Pro. At Pro Football Focus, his overall grade jumped a remarkable 35.7 points from 2020 to 2021, making him one of the NFL’s most improved players and one of the offseason’s best additions. The Packers trusted Campbell to run the show in the middle of the defense, and he responded with one of the best seasons by a Packers inside linebacker in years. Can he continue to be one of the game’s most impactful middle linebackers in Year 2 in Green Bay, or will he regress back to his baseline from Atlanta and Arizona? The Packers agreed to pay him $50 million over five years to keep him. They are betting on more of the good stuff.
OLB Preston Smith
(AP Photo/Aaron Gash)
After laboring through a highly disappointing 2020 season, Smith responded with a terrific 2021 season in which he set new career-highs in pressures (62), hurries (46), run defense grade (72.1), pass rush grade (75.1) and overall grade (80.8). He got into better shape, and Joe Barry allowed him to attack the quarterback with far fewer coverage responsibilities. The result was a disruptive edge player on all three downs. One thing to monitor: Smith’s career has gone through ups and downs from one year to the next, especially in terms of production. Can he break the trend and produce another productive season in 2022? With little depth behind him, the Packers need Smith to be an effective pass-rushing partner to Rashan Gary.
CB Rasul Douglas
Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
The Packers plucked Douglas off the Cardinals’ practice squad in…
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