The Green Bay Packers appear to have a bright future on offense. Jordan Love and his incredibly young but skilled teammates have sky-high hopes for 2024 and beyond. The defense, on the other hand, is in the “wait and see” mode. This offseason, the team made significant investments to improve that side of the ball. The investment included a new defensive coordinator, defensive line coach, and defensive passing game coach.
Of course, signing Xavier McKinney was a huge deal. This signing added to the crazy amount of money spent on defense this season. The Green Bay Packers made a $150 million investment on defense. According to Rob Westerman from the GBP Daily: The most expensive defenses in 2024: Steelers – $160.1 Million 49ers – $154.1M Packers – $150.0 million. Titans – $124.0 Million Bears – $123.3 Million
“Play style’s important to me and how fast we play and physical and attacking the ball and all that stuff,” Hafley stated only lately. “But the only way to do it is if they know what they’re doing. So you teach all of the concepts we discussed, then you learn the system, and finally you let them play.” Regardless of how important the system is, the outcome is determined by the players. In 2024, Hafley will strive to maximize the performance of his players and this overhauled defense. Will the Packers’ defense finally live up to the hype?
The Green Bay Packers picked 11 players in the 2024 NFL Draft, including six defensive players. Jeff Hafley, the new defensive coordinator, will now have some young athletic players to work with in addition to the cornerstone players he currently has. Hafley issued a message announcing the picks of Edgerrin Cooper, Javon Bullard, Ty’Ron Hopper, Evan Williams, Kitan Oladapo, and Kalen King.
This defense will play quickly and aggressively against offenses. I want a defense that is confident and isn’t afraid to make mistakes. To me, play-style is crucial, as is how fast we play, how physical we are, and how we attack the ball. All of it, but only if they know what they’re doing,” Hafley explained.
“What a professional. How hard he works, how he communicates, how he behaves in conference rooms, and how he watches out for the younger guys. I mean, that is what you don’t see. All of the things I outlined to you in my initial meeting, we believe he can do, and he has demonstrated that. You don’t really know who someone is or how hard they work until they arrive. That’s probably what made us the happiest.
After years of disappointment from the defense, Packers supporters are once again eager to see if this is the year the defense becomes a force to be reckoned with.
