The Green Bay Packers defense could not be in worse shape from the outside looking in. Paradoxically, most people believed before the season that the offensive would be the team’s worst unit. Naturally, this was brought on by the uncertainties surrounding Jordan Love and his inexperienced core of tight ends and wide receivers. But Love is looking better than Aaron Rodgers did the previous season and is performing on par with or better than his predecessor in 2008.
Most of the team leaders and the most experienced unit, the defense, were expected to be strong, or at least superior to the offense. The offense has faced challenges, but it has also triumphed over them. For the defense, the same cannot be true.
Although some could blame the defense’s high injury rate for its problems, the truth is that no credible player in the NFL ever used an injury as an excuse for a poor performance. No, the problems with the Packers extend all the way to Joe Barry, the defensive coordinator.
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Barry’s departure from the Packers at the end of the current campaign is now certain. There will be no shortage of applicants seeking to fill the post if and when they do. LaFleur is expected to turn to former Los Angeles Chargers head coach Brandon Staley, according to an NFL insider.
The two candidates left were Barry and Ejiro Evero after Jim Leonhard, who some believe will also be on the Packers’ list for defensive coordinator following this season, declined the position in 2021. With his friend Barry and his experience, LaFleur made the decision (both he and Evero were on LaFleur’s coaching staff for the 2017 Rams). That season, Barry was the team’s assistant head coach as well.
Because they both play defense in the vein of Fangio, Evero and Barry were both given consideration for the position. That type of defense is also run by Staley, who comes from the same coaching tree as Sean McVey. Due to these factors (defense philosophy and shared coaching lineage), NFL Insider Ted Nguyen predicts LaFleur will consider Staley for the position of defensive coordinator going forward:
Midway through his third season as head coach of the Chargers, Staley was let go. Prior to this, he was the outside linebackers coach of the Chicago Bears from 2017 to 2018, the defensive coordinator of the Rams in 2020, and the outside linebackers coach of the Denver Broncos in 2019.
Staley’s Rams defense led the NFL in both yards allowed per game and points allowed in his only season as a defensive coordinator.
