Packers Have Two of PFF’s Top 12 Rookies

With an incredible offseason, general manager Brian Gutekunst appears to have turned the team’s defense into a strength.

Green Bay Packers safety Evan Williams (33) celebrates following the game against the Arizona Cardinals at Lambeau Field. / Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Has Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst done it again?

After retooling the offense in last year’s draft, Gutekunst might have fixed the defense in this year’s draft.

In Pro Football Focus’ list of the top 15 rookies, Packers safety Evan Williams is No. 1 and linebacker Edgerrin Cooper is No. 11.

Williams, a fourth-round pick, is the No. 1-ranked safety. Not just the top-ranked rookie safety but the top-ranked safety, period. The second-ranked safety? Xavier McKinney, the team’s big free-agent addition. 

With the playmaking acumen of McKinney and Williams and the speed and physicality of second-round pick Javon Bullard, Gutekunst seemingly remade the safety group with the wave of a magic wand.

“They were always around the ball,” McKinney said of Bullard and Williams. “From the start that they got here, they were making plays, whether that was punchouts, whether that was interceptions, whether that was big hits. You always knew no matter the timing of it, they were able to make a big play for us.

“I knew we had something special in training camp when I saw that. It’s just going to continue to get better. They’re going to continue to improve. They’re going to continue to learn as they go through this season. We all expect them to keep getting better.”

Williams played zero defensive snaps in Week 1 and a total of 34 defensive snaps in the first four games. However, he played all 78 snaps against the Rams and 38 snaps (65.5 percent) against the Cardinals. He had the game-clinching breakup at Los Angeles and a forced fumble vs. Arizona.

Williams has one interception, three passes defensed and one forced fumble. PFF charged him with 28 receiving yards the last two games.

Williams is deserving of more snaps but they’re hard to come by in a crowded secondary.

“It's all right,” Williams said. “It’s the luxury of our room, just being able to have the variety of guys that we have. I feel like there’s so many guys that can be plug-and-play in different positions that it might make it a little tough on a D-coordinator [to determine] who to put out there in any scenario.

“But with the amount of variety we have and the ability to play people at different positions, we can match whatever an offense is trying to do. I feel like that’s pretty unique to defenses around this league and it’s led to some good things for us.”

Cooper is another player who is earning a larger and larger share of the snaps on defense. The second-round pick opened the season as the fourth linebacker but played the second-most snaps against the Cardinals.

“I think he’s coming along,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “He’s getting better and better each and every week. You always see him make splash plays, and there’s still some mental mistakes that we’ve got to clean up, whether it’s misalignments or whatnot, but you tend to go through that with younger players.

“But I’m excited about just the growth that we’ve seen over the course of the last few weeks and anticipate him becoming a better player the more reps he gets.”

Cooper played 11 snaps in Week 1 and seven in Week 2, but has steadily gone from 18 and 21 snaps in Weeks 3 and 4 to 30 and 38 snaps in Weeks 5 and 6.

He had seven tackles against the Cardinals plus another on special teams.

Of 75 linebackers to play at least 125 defensive snaps (Cooper’s number), he is graded as the eighth-best linebacker in the league. He is tied for fifth on the team with 23 tackles and has added 1.5 sacks, two tackles for losses, three quarterback hits and one pass defensed.

“I feel like these last two, three weeks, I was able to settle in and just be myself and play and relax and play what I see,” the Texas A&M All-American said.

The additions of McKinney, Bullard, Cooper and Williams have changed the defense. Safety and linebacker were arguably the worst position groups on the team last year. Now, they’re strengths.

“We came in and we came into play and tried to make an impact,” Cooper said of the play of the rookies. “Every time we get our opportunity on the field, just come in and make plays and do our assignments. That’s it.”

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Last year, the #Packers went sink-or-swim with Anders Carlson all the way through his key miss in the playoffs.

So, why the change after six games this year? Brian Gutekunst fielded that question at practice today.⬇️https://t.co/pyvGeCFKIF

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) October 17, 2024

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