Packers Training Camp Preview: Defensive Line

In Part 6 of a series of Green Bay Packers training camp positional previews, it’s a look at a defensive line that features Kenny Clark and a lot of uncertainty.

Kenny Clark (Photo by Mark Hoffman/USA Today Sports Images)

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers’ defensive line might be one of the biggest X-factors for the team going into 2023.

Veterans Jarran Reed and Dean Lowry signed elsewhere this offseason, meaning the Packers will have two new starters along their front in their base defense.

At least they were partially prepared for that as Devonte Wyatt was drafted in the first round a season ago.

Wyatt came on strong at the end of last season but didn’t gain a lot of experience before the end of the year. He only played 221 snaps – about 21 percent over the course of the season and an average of about 14 snaps per game.

TJ Slaton is the other expected starter. He only played 32 percent of the snaps a season ago.

That’s a lot of inexperience next to Kenny Clark.

Clark spent a lot of the offseason trying to get those guys ready, because the Packers didn’t add any defensive linemen with their limited free agent money or top-100 draft picks.

The biggest investment was a fourth-round pick used on Colby Wooden. They also used a sixth-round pick on Karl Brooks. Both players will be asked to play as rookies.

“Yeah, they’re going to be thrown into the fire,” defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery said before the start of OTAs. “There’s going to be a lot of mistakes early and, hopefully, a lot of that happens in preseason and the practices that happen.”

Projected Opening Depth Chart

Starters: Kenny Clark, TJ Slaton, Devonte Wyatt.

Backups: Colby Wooden, Karl Brooks, Jonathan Ford, Chris Slayton, Jason Lewan, Antonio Moultrie.

Related Story: Projecting 2023 Training Camp Depth Charts

Position Group Ranking (out of 11)

Ninth.

Strength

Sometimes the strength is in a known commodity. Kenny Clark certainly has been that throughout his time in Green Bay.

He’s been a workhorse since being the team’s first-round pick in 2015. That continued last year, when Clark played 78 percent of defensive snaps.

He finished with four sacks for a second consecutive year. Among 66 defensive linemen to play 200 pass-rushing snaps, he ranked 16th in ProFootballFocus.com’s pass-rushing productivity, which measures sacks, hits and hurries per pass-rushing opportunity, and 23rd in pass-rush win rate.

However, of 66 defensive linemen to play at least 50 percent of the snaps, Clark’s overall grade ranked 31st – the worst mark of his career and a reflection of how PFF graded his run defense.

That’s a team-wide issue for the Packers. They’re 32nd in the NFL against the run in terms of EPA per play since Matt LaFleur took over as coach in 2019. Last year, they ranked 31st against the run, according to Football Outsiders’ DVOA, and 28th in yards allowed per carry.

This offseason, Clark said improving the run defense was a mindset he was working to change alongside Montgomery and defensive coordinator Joe Barry.

“We had a great conversation in our room a couple of weeks ago,” Montgomery said. “We are watching Kenny do it, and then we are watching other guys try to do it. They’re being taught the same thing, but it’s in the mindset in which you do it. Kenny is trying to knock your head off across from you every single time while these other guys are just trying to the technique.”

Clark, as one of the leaders of this defense, will need to rebound against the run and continue his usual excellence rushing the passer.

Weakness

Youth and inexperience. Led by Jarran Reed, who played 68 percent of the snaps, Reed and Dean Lowry combined to log almost 1,200 snaps last season. Both players were allowed to leave via free agency, giving way to a youth movement along the defensive front.

The second defensive linemen selected in the 2022 draft, Devonte Wyatt is front and center as a player the Packers are expecting to take a big second-year jump. Because of the veterans ahead of him last year, he was fifth in the rotation despite the defensive struggles.

According to his teammates and the coaching staff, this year should be different if he can clean up his technique. Montgomery, pointing to a sack in last year’s finale against Detroit, saw the light bulb go on.

“We flipped the front, so his responsibilities changed, and that second, he knew he had a two-way go. He was able to get a sack,” Montgomery said. “‘D’ comes over to the sideline and he had a big old smile on his face. He was just like, ‘Coach, I’m starting to get it.’

“It takes time. Not everybody walks in Day 1 and figures it out. Almost no one does. So, it was cool to see him progress throughout the year, build more confidence and be able to play fast. That’s what it’s all about. To get him to play fast and not have that fear of failure. Not being afraid to make a mistake.”

TJ Slaton is another player in line to get an increased workload in 2023. He’s had a few nice moments, particularly as a run defender. His presence should allow Kenny Cark to play as a 3- and 5-technique defensive end instead of simply playing nose tackle.

That’s it for players that have any experience playing in the NFL.

Colby Wooden, Karl Brooks and Jonathan Ford are the other primary players on the depth chart. The first two are rookies. Ford was a healthy scratch all last year as a seventh-round draft pick. Barring a last-minute addition to the defensive line, they’ll have a role on defense.

Key Questions

Devonte Wyatt (Photo by Jeff Hanisch/USA Today Sports Images)

1. Can all those young guys improve a chronically porous run defense?

2. Was Devonte Wyatt worth the investment? Wyatt was the second of Brian Gutekunst’s two first-round picks in 2022. His Georgia teammate, Quay Walker, was picked a few minutes before Wyatt.

Wyatt’s selection, like Walker’s, was a departure from the Packers’ draft trends.

Wyatt was an older player with some character red flags, but the team felt comfortable enough to select him in the first round in hopes of providing another interior rusher alongside Kenny Clark.

In theory, Clark and Wyatt exploding up the middle with Rashan Gary and Preston Smith screaming off the edge sounded like a way for the Packers’ pass rush to take the jump from solid to lethal.

It wasn’t to be. Wyatt was rarely on the field.

When he was, however, he flashed. He had the aforementioned sack in the season finale against Detroit. Of his 15 tackles, 1.5 sacks, three quarterback hits and eight pressures, all the sacks and hits and five of the pressures came during the final four games.

A presumptive increase in snaps this year could give him more chances for disruption.

With Wyatt entering his age-25 season, the time is now to become the player the Packers need him to be. Gutekunst took a risk in picking him; it’s up to Wyatt to prove him right.

3. Where’s the depth? Wyatt barely played through his first dozen games because of the veterans. There will be no breaking-in period for Colby Wooden and Karl Brooks, the two rookies, and second-year player Jonathan Ford, who didn’t play as a rookie.

“Where you have veteran guys like Dean and J-Reed, you limit those opportunities for those guys to make those mistakes and hurt the defense because you have guys who know what they’re doing,” Montgomery said. “Well, now you’re going to have to throw them in the fire. My job is to get them ready. That’s what I’ve got to do. Come season opener, they’ll be ready to go one way or another.”

Biggest Battle

Colby Wooden and Karl Brooks vs. rookie mistakes. Rookie defensive linemen are like tight ends. They typically take a year or so to find their footing in the NFL. There are so many changes that usually need to take place with their body, let alone learning a new defense and opponents’ blocking schemes.

Teams don’t usually rely on a fourth- or sixth-round pick to help fill needs on their defensive line, but that is what the Packers are doing to Wooden and Brooks.

Wooden and Brooks have reputations as penetrators as opposed to run stoppers. Whether they’re able to rush the passer as rookies remains to be seen. What they’ll certainly be asked to do is slow down opponent’s run games. Simple mistakes can turn a 3-yard-run into a 30-yard-run.

The Packers have given up too many explosive runs in recent years, including the sixth-most in the NFL a season ago with 44.

Wooden and Brooks are going to make the roster. They’ll get snaps at some point. How quickly they can shorten their learning curve will go a long way toward fixing a run defense that was one of the worst in football a season ago.

Star Search

Perhaps I sound like a broken record here, but with Brian Gutekunst departing from his typical draft trends to take Devonte Wyatt, that can only mean one thing. He thinks Wyatt can be a star.

When veteran Dean Lowry went down with an injury that eventually ended his season, Wyatt had four pressures during the final three games. Lowry had a nice career in Green Bay, but he’s not as talented as Wyatt.

This is a big camp for Wyatt, and he’ll have plenty of opportunity to prove Gutekunst right for using a first-round pick on him.

Don’t Forget About

TJ Slaton. While a lot of focus is going to be on Devonte Wyatt, it’s one of his counterparts that’s quietly had a solid start to his career.

Slaton graded out as a better run defender than Kenny Clark last year, according to Pro Football Focus. He had more stuffs (a tackle at or behind the line of scrimmage vs. the run) than Clark while playing 149 fewer snaps against the run. He was one of the stars of the Week 17 romp against Minnesota.

After logging only 32 percent of the defensive snaps last year, Slaton is set to get a lot more playing time in 2023. His ability to play nose tackle might help unlock another level to Clark’s game as a disruptor.

Slaton could end up being one of those players whose impact doesn’t show up on the stat sheet but is very important to the overall function of the defense.

Green Bay Packers Training Camp Previews

There might not have been a more noteworthy development from the offseason than David Bakhtiari getting a bunch of first-team reps.

From the star to strength, from weakness to big battle, here is our in-depth preview of the Packers' offensive line.https://t.co/qS5ZSZiHnD

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) July 16, 2023

Position preview: David Bakhtiari and offensive line

Position preview: Luke Musgrave, Tucker Kraft and the tight ends

Position preview: Christian Watson and the receivers

Position preview: Aaron Jones and the running backs

Position preview: Jordan Love and the quarterbacks

With nine days until the first practice of training camp, the #Packers played in nine one-score games last season.

One-score games were the theme of Aaron Rodgers' debut season in 2008 and will be key for Jordan Love in 2023.https://t.co/O7VtUxi5WK

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) July 17, 2023

Projected depth charts

Big question at kicker

Big question at cornerback

Big question at safety

Big question at inside linebacker

Big question at outside linebacker

Big question at defensive line

Big question at offensive line

Big question at tight end

Big question at receiver

Big question at running back

Big question at quarterback