Pack-A-Day Collab: All things Jeff Hafley

Is cornerback really a major need for the Packers going into the 2024 offseason, especially if Keisean Nixon is re-signed?

Acme Packing Company’s Justis Mosqueda was joined again by Pack-A-Day Podcast’s Andy Herman to talk about the hiring of new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley from all angles. In this week’s episode, the duo touches on the personnel and scheme adjustments that Hafley should bring to the table in 2024.

If you haven’t heard by now, Hafley is expected to run a 4-3 stack defense that specializes in playing single high coverages — which shouldn’t be much of a shock considering he comes off of the same coaching tree as New York’s Robert Saleh and Houston’s Demeco Ryans.

With that in mind, what changes do we expect to see down-to-down for the Packers’ roster? First of all, pass-rusher just became a whole lot more important. If you look at what the Jets, Texans and 49ers do defensively, they’ll want to be extremely strong at the pure pass-rushing position that is now 4-3 defensive end. What does that mean for Preston Smith, though, who was previously praised by the coaching staff for his versatility?

The other major change should come at safety, where the Packers will now have more specified roles as they transition out of a split-high safety defense that treated free and strong safety as interchangeable. Now that they’ll be living in the single-high world, that free safety will control the deep middle of the field while the strong safety is more of a box defender who will be asked to simply cover tight ends and running back and/or shallow zones.

Beyond touching on Hafley and why he made the jump from college football, there’s a discussion on the hot bottom topic of whether or not cornerback is a major need for the Packers this offseason. Mosqueda claimed that he expects Keisean Nixon, who is coming off of his second straight All-Pro season as a returner, to be back in 2024. With Nixon added to the room of Jaire Alexander, Eric Stokes and Carrington Valentine, he feels like there’s four mouths for 2.5 starting roles on the team already. Herman, like most Packers fans, disagrees with Mosqueda on the subject, though.

Timestamps

• 1:15: Let’s talk about the Jeff Hafley
• 8:00: Overwhelmed, underwhelmed or whelmed by the Hafley hire?
• 19:00: Hafley’s personnel
• 28:00: Hafley’s scheme
• 44:00: Is cornerback a major need this offseason?

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