GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Fourteen weeks into last season, the Green Bay Packers ranked fifth in the NFL in fewest yards allowed, sixth in fewest points allowed and eighth in ESPN's pass rush win rate.
Over the final four weeks, they ranked 24th, 29th and 21st in those respective categories. One major difference: Micah Parsons .
The star edge rusher tore the ACL in his left knee in the Week 15 game at the Denver Broncos . Can one player really make that big of a difference?
"I don't ever think that way," Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said this offseason. "Certainly, whenever you lose any players, it takes away from your football team.
When you lose great players, like Micah and Tucker [Kraft ] and others, yeah. It's going to change how you play the game.
It's going to change how you try to win the game. But that's the thing about the National Football League, is they don't pause.
You can't pause." The Parsons injury and the late-season collapse, including the playoff loss in which the Chicago Bears scored 25 points in the fourth quarter, didn't prevent defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley from getting the Miami Dolphins head coaching job. It's now up to Jonathan Gannon, the former Arizona Cardinals head coach, to run the defense.
He'll likely be without Parsons for at least the first month of this season. With that in mind, here's a position-by-position look at whether the Packers are better, worse or the same compared with last season at each position group on defense: Defensive tackle Returners: Devonte Wyatt , Karl Brooks , Warren Brinson , Jordon Riley , Jonathan Ford , Nazir Stackhouse , Anthony Campbell Key losses: Colby Wooden Key additions: Javon Hargrave , Chris McClellan , Jaden Crumedy The addition of Hargrave on a two-year, $23 million contract should serve multiple purposes.
It gives the Packers size to go along with Wyatt in the middle of the new 3-4 front, it fills holes created in the past 11 months by trading away Kenny Clark and Wooden, plus it's a veteran player who has succeeded under Gannon before in Philadelphia -- where Hargrave had some of his most productive seasons. "He's a good player; that was a good defense with a lot of good players, and he was a part of that defense," Gannon said.
"When we had the ability to acquire him or the chance to acquire him, team-first guy, loves football, smart, and he works his butt off and he's tough as nails. So, anybody that kind of checks those boxes, you want to acquire them if you can.
He checked all those boxes. I'm excited to get back with him." Brinson is expected to make the Year 2 jump.
McClellan, a third-round pick, got some work with the starters during offseason practices, which Wyatt missed while recovering from leg and ankle injuries. Better, worse or the same?: Better Edge Returners: Micah Parsons, Lukas Van Ness , Barryn Sorrell , Brenton Cox Jr ., Arron Mosby , Collin Oliver Key losses: Rashan Gary , Kingsley Enagbare Key additions: Dani Dennis-Sutton , Nyjalik Kelly If there's a position that still needs help, it's this one, especially with Parsons unlikely to play before October.
Gary has never had a double-digit sack season and likely would have been released if the Cowboys hadn't traded for him. Enagbare left in free agency to sign with the Jets.
For now, it's on Van Ness, the 2023 first-round pick, and Sorrell, who showed flashes last year as a rookie, to produce consistently. As for Parsons, he was everything the Packers hoped for when they gave up two first-round picks and Clark to acquire him last August.
But he faces two questions now: When will he return from his ACL rehab? Will he be as productive (12.5 sacks and a league-high 64 pressures in 14 games)?
Parsons thinks the change to a 3-4 suits him well. "That's even better because like I said, I can play inside, I can play outside, and now it makes it even more challenging because they don't know who's rushing and who's coming," Parsons said.
Better, worse or the same?: Worse Linebacker Returners: Edgerrin Cooper , Isaiah McDuffie , Ty'Ron Hopper , Nick Niemann , Kristian Welch Key losses: Quay Walker Key additions: Zaire Franklin , TJ Quinn When the Packers decided not to re-sign Walker (who got a three-year, $40.5 million contract with the Raiders), they traded for Franklin. In fact, Gutekunst had tried to acquire Franklin previously either in a trade or free agency.
"As we kind of went down and we realized it was going to be really tough to get Quay back, I wanted to make sure