The Green Bay Packers are riding a wave of optimism heading into a week 14 matchup vs the New York Giants. Early this season, most of the conversation around the Packers was about youth and inexperience. Well, the conversation has shifted a bit. Now, all anyone can talk about is the plethora of talented young players the Green and Gold have acquired. Let’s look at the top players on Defense that have made this season more than just an “evaluation season.”
Green Bay Packers Top Ten Defensive Players
#10 – Karl Brooks
The Rookie out of Bowling Green is another player Gutekunst pulled out of thin air. He was a sixth-round pick out of a Mid-American conference. PFF gave Karl a 68.2 overall defensive rating. That is the 48th best Interior Defender in the NFL. He has played 295 defensive snaps, mostly in pass-rush situations. The biggest reason he is on this list is the lack of production the Packers are getting out of Devonte Wyatt.
Wyatt’s overall PFF grade is 62.8. If he could figure out how to be effective in the run game, his grade would be much higher, as he has a 76.6 pass-rush grade, which is 2nd best on the team. The other thing that Karl Brooks has over Wyatt is time. He plays equally to Wyatt in his rookie season and is two years younger (23.5 years old).
Here are some of Karl Brooks stats this season:
- Solo Tackles – 8 (Tied for 101st)
- Sacks – 3 (Tied for 33rd),
- Forced Fumbles – 1 (Tied for 5th)
- Total Pressures – 19
- Batted down footballs – 4 (Tied for 5th)
#9 – Carrington Valentine
Guess what? Here is another 7th-round steal for Gutekunst. Valentine was selected as the 234 pick in the 2023 draft. He is 22 years old and has the talent to make it big in this league. He has played a total of 478 defensive snaps. That is the 3rd most of any secondary player for the Packers this season. He is a big reason the Packers are 10th in passing yards allowed per game. Currently, he has the 8th-best PFF coverage grade among all rookie cornerbacks. His Coverage grade is 64.7. An even more impressive stat is Carrington is the 2nd best rookie corner in reception percentage. Opposing wide receivers are only catching the ball 48.7 percent of the time. Only Joey Porter Jr. is better, with a 41.7 percent reception rate.
Valentine’s overall PFF defensive grade is 64.6, which is good enough for the 59th-best cornerback in the NFL.
Here are some of Carrington Valentine’s stats this season:
- YAC yards allowed – 68 (6th best in the NFL)
- Targeted QB rating – 70.4 (9th best in the NFL)
- Solo Tackles – 23 (Tied for 90th)
- Targets – 39 (Tied for 75th)
- Receptions allowed – 19 (Tied for 9th)
#8 – Kingsley Enagbare
He might have the coolest name in the entire NFL. This season, he has been solid for Green Bay. Enagbare has an overall PFF grade of 65.5 and has played 341 total defensive snaps. Last season, he graded out better as a pass rusher, but the script has flipped a bit this season. He has been better in run support than pass rushing. His PFF grade has been up since last season when his overall grade was 61.4. Yet another late-round pick that is contributing for the Packers. I wonder who is responsible for all these picks……..
Here are some of Kingsley Enagbare’s stats this season:
- Solo Tackles – 18 (Tied for 43rd)
- Assisted Tackles – 5 (Tied for 57th)
- Sacks – 1 (Tied for 98th)
- Total Pressures – 15
#7 – Jaire Alexander
This has been one of Jaire’s worst seasons for availability and production. PFF gave him an overall grade of 65.6 this season. Alexander has never been graded lower than 72 by PFF in his six-year career. There is no question the back has played a significant role for him this season. Players with most injuries should play through, but not a back injury. If he can get healthy and possibly play some of these remaining games, hopefully, he can get his “Mojo” back and help this team make the Playoffs.
Here are some of Jaire Alexander’s stats this season:
- Solo Tackles – 19 (Tied for 101st)
- Targets – 26 (Tied for 102nd)
- Receptions allowed – 19 (Tied for 94th)
- Forced Incompletions per target – 19 % (Tied for 14th)
#6 – Darnell Savage
2021 and 2022 were a rough patch for Darnell Savage’s NFL career. PFF graded him in 2021 at 57.3 overall and 47.5 in 2022. This season, he has improved drastically. Currently, PFF grades him out at 67. That rank is the 37th best among all safeties. If there were a most-improved award for just the Packers, Savage would be in the running. He has played 406 total defensive snaps. He has shown great strides in stepping up and stopping the run in those snaps. PFF grades him out at 77.3 in run defense. That is the highest run defense grade of any Green Bay Packers. On the field, he is flying downhill to make a stop. He hasn’t always been perfect in coverage, but his speed shows when he is on the field.
Here are some of Darnell Savage’s stats this season:
- Solo Tackles – 29 (Tied for 66th), Targets – 12 (Tied for 72nd), Receptions allowed – 9 (Tied for 69th), Yards per reception – 9.9, Average Depth of Tackle – 4.6 yards (7th best among safeties)
#5 – De’Vondre Campbell
Green Bay is where Campbell’s career was reborn. In 2020, when playing for the Cardinals, Campbell finished the season with a 49 overall defensive grade on 880 total snaps. Green Bay signed him the following season, and he ended the season with an 85 overall grade. Since then, he has dropped slightly each year, but he still is a massive part of our run defense.
Currently, PFF grades Campbell at 67.8 overall defensively. He is strongest in the run game with a 71.8 grade and weakest in coverage with a 62.4 grade. Campbell has been asked to cover more this year and has been able to rush the passer on 15 snaps this season. To compare, his counterpart, Quay Walker has rushed the passer 48 times. So far this season, the thing dragging Quay down is his pass rush grade. Maybe it’s time to give some of those opportunities to Campbell again.
Here are some of De’Vondre Campbell’s stats this season:
- Solo Tackles – 40 (Tied for 58th), Assisted Tackles – 17 (Tied for 48th),
- Missed Tackle Percentage – 8.1 % (20th best in the NFL), Targets in Coverage – 22 (Tied for 3rd least)
#4 – Kenny Clark
The Packers first-round pick in 2016 has continued to be a difference-maker on this team. The newly 28-year-old has managed to pile up 583 total defensive snaps. That is good enough for the 14th-best in the NFL at that position. PFF grades Kenny at 67.9 in overall defense. Kenny has struggled in run defense and tackling for the past few seasons. The area he continues to excel at is pass rush. PFF has him graded 74.2 pass rush grade. That is 28th in the NFL.
Here are some of Kenny Clark’s stats this season:
- Solo Tackles – 19 (Tied for 42nd), Sacks – 6 (Tied for 10th),
- Forced Fumbles – 2 (Tied for 1st), Total Pressures – 41 (Tied for 10th among defensive tackles)
- Assisted tackles – 6 (Tied for 67th)
#3 – Preston Smith
In 2019, when the Packers signed the Smith “Bros,” I wouldn’t have guessed that Preston would have a longer tenure in Green Bay. Za’Darius always popped off the TV more than Preston. However, that year, in 2021, Preston stepped his game up in the absence of Za’darius. He had the highest PFF grade of his career at 81.5. That is the type of player he is. He steps up when the moment calls for it. He has also compiled 549 defensive snaps.
Preston is the oldest player on the Packers defense at 31 years old. They say with age comes wisdom, and the Packers need all they can get to not fall into a trap late in the season.
Here are some of Preston Smith’s stats this season:
- Solo Tackles – 26 – (Tied for 16th)
- Assisted Tackles – 10 (Tied for 18th)
- Sacks – 6 (Tied for 35th)
- Forced fumbles – 1 (Tied for 24th)
- QB hits – 9 (Tied for 17th)
- Reception percentage – 50% (Best in the league among edge players with more than eight targets)(Joe Barry special)
- Defensive Stops – tackles that constitute a “failure” for the offense – 27 (Tied for 8th)
#2 Rudy Ford
Most people wouldn’t know, but Rudy has been in the NFL for seven seasons. He was drafted by the Cardinals in 2017 in the sixth round. He didn’t see much playing time in his first five seasons, but in the past two, he has been great. The best two seasons of his career have been with the Packers in 2022 and 2023. Last year, his overall PFF grade was 74.6 on 443 total defensive snaps.
This season, he picked up right where he left off with a 72.3 overall PFF grade on 554 total defensive snaps. The safety room was a big question this season without Adrian Amos and with Darnell Savage not playing well the past few seasons. Ford deserves a ton of credit for what he has brought to this defense this season. He is currently graded as the 21st-best safety in the NFL.
Here are some of Rudy Ford’s stats this season:
- Solo Tackles – 48 (Tied for 26th)
- Interceptions – 2 (Tied for 10th)
- Targets – 20 (Tied for 54th)
- Receptions Allowed – 9 (Tied for 69th)
- Missed Tackle Percentage – 9.1 % (Tied for 21st)
- Reception percentage – 45% (2nd best among all safeties)
- Yards per Reception Allowed – 9.8 (Tied for 22nd)
- Opposing QB rating when targeted – 35 (3rd best among all safeties)
Green Bay Packers Honorable Mention
- David Long Jr
- He hasn’t played a single snap for Green Bay, but he has the 8th-highest PFF defensive grade on the Packers defense at 65.7
- He has played 190 defensive snaps this season.
- On 100 coverage snaps, he has only allowed 6.5 yards per reception. That is 3rd best among all corners this season.
- Quay Walker
- 63.4 Overall PFF grade
- Signal caller and defensive leader
- Missed four tackles this season.
- 4.3% missed tackle rate (That is 6th best among all linebackers)
- 1 defensive touchdown (Tied for 25th)
- Eric Wilson
- Only 85 total defensive snaps
- Overall PFF grade of 72.2 (3rd best on the Packers defense)
- Keisean Nixon
- Yards per Reception – 8.5 yards (6th best among all corners)
- Overall PFF of 63.8
- He can do it all. Offense, Defense, and the Spine of our special teams return game
#1 – Rashan Gary
There is no debate: Rashan Gary is the best player on this defense. He brings excellent energy every week and sets the tone for the rest of the team. If Gary is playing well, the Packers can’t lose. He has played 401 total defensive snaps this season. 264 of those snaps have been in pass-rush situations. PFF has Gary graded as the 14th-best edge player in the NFL with an 83.8 overall grade. Gary is rated the 3rd best Packers run defender at 74.9, the best pass rusher with an 81.5 grade, and the best cover player with a 78 coverage grade. He truly is the complete package on defense.
Here are some of Rashan Gary’s stats this season:
- Solo Tackles – 10 (Tied for 83rd)
- Assisted Tackles – 13 (Tied for 10th)
- Sacks – 10 (Tied for 14th)
- Forced Fumbles – 2 (Tied for 7th)
- Total Pressures – 41 (26th)
- Pass Rush Attempts – 251 (48th most opportunities)
- PRP (A formula that combines sacks, hits, and hurries relative to how many times they rush the passer) – 10.2 (13th best among all edge rushers)
Final Thoughts
You might disagree with this list, and that’s okay. Injuries have played a large part in the players’ playing time this season. Most teams may have crumbled and faded into irrelevance, but this Green Bay Packers team refuses to go away. They keep battling with a next-man-up mentality. When they have a poor performance, they follow it up with a good one.
Say what you want about Joe Barry. His schemes suck. They don’t fit our players. He doesn’t know what he is doing. Whatever it is that you think. The only number that truly matters in football is how many points you are giving up. It doesn’t matter if you give up 1 trillion yards or average 300 rushing yards per game if the opposing team can’t score points. The Packers are only giving up 20.3 points per game. That is 9th best in the NFL. That number comes after playing some of the best offenses in the NFL without key starters.
I often think about a quote I read from Alice Walker that applies to the Packers defense this season, “No person is your friend who demands your silence or denies your right to grow.” This Packers defense has that right, and I hope we don’t deny them their commendation if they finish the season with a top-ten scoring defense.
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