The Green Bay Packers have been relying on their defense a great deal this season. Of course, the offense is full of youth and inexperience, which leads to mistakes. Whether or not the number of mistakes the offense is making can be attributed to their young roster is up for debate; but the fact remains that the defense, by a wide margin, has played better than the offense.
Unfortunately, both units played awfully in the Packers’ latest loss, a home loss to the division rival Minnesota Vikings by the score of 24-10. Whereas the offense may have the “excuse” of youth, the defense does not. Multiple veterans, including three of the Packers’ best players, ended up with extremely low PFF grades, whereas some of their young defensive players ended up with high grades.
Preston Smith Was the Green Bay Packers’ Highest Graded Defender vs the Vikings According to PFF
Preston Smith certainly had a game for himself yesterday. His two sacks moved him into seventh on the Packers’ all-time list and he had a big pass-breakup on a play in which defensive coordinator Joe Barry had him drop into coverage.
Smith was also PFF’s highest graded Packers’ defensive player:
- Preston Smith: 92.8
- Devonte Wyatt: 89.6
- TJ Slaton: 82.3
- De’Vondre Campbell: 78.8
- Colby Wooden: 75.7
Of note among these players is Slaton, who PFF credited with seven tackles, all of them “stops.” Per PFF, a stop is when a defensive player makes a play that results in a failure for the offense.
Also of note was the stellar run defense among the top five defensive players. While Smith had an average run defensive grade of 60.3, all of the other players in the top five grades had a run defense grade over 75. This includes Campbell who had the highest run defense grade with 92.1.
Jaire Alexander and Other Green Bay Packers Stars Did Not Show Up
While it was a positive to see young players like Wooden and Wyatt graded as two of the five best performing defenders, there were so big names notable missing, and that is because they were found on the bottom of the Packers defensive grades:
- Karl Brooks: 42.1Rasul Douglas: 47.4
- Rashan Gary: 50.4
- Jonathan Owens: 54.2
- Jaire Alexander: 55.0
Seeing Douglas, Gary, and Alexander on this list is definitely the opposite of what the Packers want to see, especially with two of them being among the highest-paid players at their position in the NFL.
It is worth mentioning that Alexander was likely not completely 100% after suffering a back injury, an ailment that has caused him to miss three games this season.
Still, when three of a team’s best defenders have bad games, it usually does not bode well for that team.
For More Great Wisconsin Sports Content
Follow me on Twitter at @theotherRobin19 and follow us @WiSportsHeroics for more great content. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in Wisconsin sports, click here!
