How Jeff Hafley’s arrival may impact Packers defensive front

If the Green Bay Packers switch from a 3-4 to a 4-3 style defense under new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, the change will have an obvious impact on the defensive front, along with how general manager Brian Gutekunst goes about addressing the interior defensive line and edge rusher positions this offseason.

We still can’t say with certainty that this switch is going to take place. However, there very much seems to be a willingness with Hafley to mold his defensive system to the personnel he has to work with, not to mention that in his four year as head coach at Boston College, the Golden Eagles utilized a 4-3 scheme. Although, with that said, Hafley does have experience working a in 3-4 system.

“I think this league’s a 4-2-5 league,” said Brian Gutekunst, “and I think, I’m certain, as Jeff comes in, and we’re very excited about that, the conversations about kind of how we’re going to want to play.

“Obviously through the interview process we had some of those, so, and that will be a work in progress. But as far as how we go about our process and scouting and what we’re looking for, probably won’t change a ton. But those conversations will probably be had over the next few weeks.”

One of the most notable changes that could take place in converting to a 4-3 is with the edge rushers, who will likely be asked to play with their hands in the dirt when the Packers are in their base defense—lining up as defensive ends.

For Lukas Van Ness, he spent the majority of his snaps at Iowa with this hands in the dirt. Rashan Gary has previous experience as well from his time at Michigan. For Preston Smith, this could be more of an adjustment as he enters his 10th NFL season in 2024 and has predominantly been a standup pass rusher, which there can still be the opportunity to rush from when the defense is facing an obvious passing situation.

Given that GM Brian Gutekunst already prefers bigger bodied edge rushers, the transition for this position group to a 4-3 style should be relatively smooth in that regard. However, especially with Kingsley Enagbare working his way back from an ACL injury, the need for added edge rusher depth should be on Gutekunst’s radar and the ability to play a defensive end-like role will matter more than what it has in the past.

Karl Brooks and Colby Wooden are candidates to take some of those defensive end snaps as well. Both have experience there from their time in college. We also saw the Packers utilize four…