Paul Bretl | 8/10/2024
GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Packers’ trio of young safeties were among the many standout performers in the preseason opener against Cleveland, specifically the physicality of the position group as a whole.
“I thought he (Evan Williams) played physical, too,” said Matt LaFleur after the game, “and I thought that was – whether it was him, whether it was Bullard, Anthony Johnson, Zayne Anderson, Benny Sapp had a physical play, like I thought our safeties came and were physical today, and that’s what we need from those guys. Coyle was out there, so I thought all those guys showed some physicality that we desperately need on the back end.”
Through three weeks of training camp practices prior to Saturday’s game, we have regularly seen the Packers’ safeties swarming to the ball carrier, and oftentimes near the line of scrimmage, however, the true physicality of this position group didn’t show up until there was live tackling.
Evan Williams was seemingly all over the field, leading the Packers defense in tackles with six, all of which were solo. Javon Bullard would contribute three more, while Anthony Johnson had two, along with taking on an offensive lineman at the line of scrimmage, not allowing the ball carrier to get outside, resulting in a minimal gain.
While the tackle numbers are great, and the willingness to make those plays is a necessity, also important is where those tackles are taking place. With the help of the safety group, the Packers defense as a whole limited the Browns first two quarterbacks, Jameis Winston and Tyler Huntley to just 5.3 yard per pass attempt. For some context, Bryce Young at 5.5 yards per pass attempt in 2023 ranked 41st out of 41 eligible quarterbacks in that category.
“The thing that we liked about all of them is they have a very, very aggressive play style,” said Packers VP of Player Personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan back in April about the rookie safeties. “They’ll get off the spot and come get it. That’s something that was attractive to us. So yeah, we’re glad to add them to the room. They’re the right kind of guys to put in the locker room. This game’s very important to them, it means something. Just glad to add them to the equation.”
Having the right mentality and play-style to be a capable and willing tackler is, of course, a key part of the equation, but so is being in the right position to not only have the opportunity to make those plays, but limit the damage done by the offense.
Helping with that element is Jeff Hafley’s defense, where the ultimate goal is to allow the players to play fast and physical. Accomplishing this begins with pristine fundamentals and technique because without that, play design doesn’t matter all that much. Step No. 2 is then drawing up a game-plan that the players are able to be confident in and execute on because, again, the best play design on paper doesn’t mean much if it’s not being executed properly.
“There’s nothing more important than fundamentals and technique,” said Hafley during OTAs. “Whether it’s the D-line getting off the ball and working on their stance and starts, whether it’s a guy learning how to play man to man or zone drop and where to put his eyes and what to do and how to react when certain things happen, tackling and attacking the football, the things are going to be most important during a game, taking on a block, where to put their eyes, getting off the block.
“Those are the things you’ve got to teach these guys because without that, you can’t play, right? And that whether you’re hitting a sled or tackling a bag. You can’t take those things for granted. We want to diagram all these blitzes and all these coverages, which we all can do, but if we’re not playing fast and physical and getting off blocks and tackling then none of that matters.”
In addition to the fast and physical play-style from the Packers’ safety position, we once again saw Williams make another splash play, forcing a fumble. Along with that takeaway, Williams has come away with four interceptions during training camp practices as well.
As Hafley detailed during his introductory press conference, the safety position plays a very important role within his defensive scheme. Versatility, physicality, tackling, and a ball-hawking mentality are all desired requirements for this group. We know Xavier McKinney checks those boxes, and while of course development is still needed for the young safeties on the roster, early signs point to Bullard and Williams having the potential to check those boxes as well.
“I like to say this is the best group that I’ve been apart of since I’ve been in the league and that’s from me to whoever the last person is,” said McKinney about the safety room during minicamp. “It don’t matter. I think everybody’s done a great job.
“I think the talent level in our room is out of this roof. And it’s just going to be fun to play with these guys because everybody is smart. So we all working off of each other and we’re able to build off of each other and compete with each other and make each other better.”