Paul Bretl | 8/30/2024
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Zayne Anderson and Eric Wilson will help lead the Packers’ special teams unit in 2024–a phase of the game where the team has experienced turnover and will have to rely on several young contributors.
Relatively speaking, the Packers had little roster turnover compared to the rest of the NFL. According to Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap, 81.3 percent of the Packers 2023 roster was a part of their 2024 offseason roster. This was the highest-rate in football.
However, while there will be continuity on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, that won’t quite be the case on special teams. Of the Packers core teams contributors in 2023, five of the top-10 players in snaps are no longer on the team. And three of the top five on the team from last season in special teams tackles are gone as well.
“We’re going to go another year without T.D. (Tyler Davis),” said Bisaccia. “Those guys (Kristian Welch and Robert Rochell) were tremendous contributors to us a year ago and in the National Football league, especially in special teams, it flips. We have a lot of young, two young linebackers and young safeties. We’re fortunate our tight ends have been good teams players for us in the past. So it’s always a unique challenge in the kicking game to get young guys playing quickly on special teams.”
Wilson and Anderson will continue to fill the do-it-all roles on teams, starting across most phases to hopefully provide some stability. Wilson would lead the team in snaps a season ago and finish second in tackles. Although he will be the starting Will linebacker, Rich Bisaccia expects him to still play a large role on teams given that the bulk of the defensive snaps will come in nickel with only two linebackers on the field.
Once Anderson was healthy, from Week 9 through the end of the season he played 152 special teams snaps during that span–among the most on the team–and recorded four tackles. It was special teams play that helped Anderson distinguish himself this summer and secure a roster spot.
“He’s had a tremendous preseason for us and I know he improved on defense, as well,” said Rich Bisaccia of Anderson. “But he should be a staple for us and help lead our unit along with Eric Wilson, the things he’s done and McDuffie’s playing a lot of defense now. So, we’ll have him for some of them, but not for all of them. But we’re excited about the young guys and the direction that we’re going.”
Isaiah McDuffie played the fifth-most teams snaps for the Packers last season, but Bisaccia hinted at his role being reduced as he moves into a starting role on defense. The same could hold true for Tucker Kraft at tight end, and potentially JJ Enagbare at defensive end, especially with the Packers going heavy at this position group on the 53-man.
Along with Wilson and Anderson, Corey Ballentine is a veteran with special teams experience, but otherwise, the Packers are going to be relying on a number of first and second year players to contribute in this phase of the game.
Now, that isn’t necessarily abnormal with special teams being the path to playing time for many young players. However, with that, there may be some ups and downs as well. Just like there is a transition from college to the NFL on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, the same holds true for special teams.
“What’s interesting about, when you’re talking team,” said Matt LaFleur, “is some of these guys may have been a non-teamer at their schools. So, I think a lot of guys typically when you come into a situation as a young guy you get thrust into that role and you kind of graduate out of it the more you play.
“So, it’s just kind of getting them re-acclimated to the fundamentals, to the skills, to knowing what to do so they can go out there and play fast, because that is an important part of it. it’s a great opportunity for a lot of these guys to make their impact early on in this league.”
Generally speaking, the Packers need more consistency out of their special teams unit this season. Green Bay is coming off a season in which they ranked 29th in Rick Gosselin’s annual rankings, along with totaling the second-most special teams penalties of any team.
While inexperience can lead to inconsistent play, and that could be something Bisaccia will have to navigate early on in the season, just like on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, infusing the special teams unit with young, high upside talent can hopefully help elevate the play in this phase of the game for the Packers in the long haul.
As the Packers have experienced, the margin for winning and losing, particularly in the playoffs, can be razor thin in the NFL. The Packers don’t necessarily need their special teams unit to be great given the talent they have elsewhere, but it will need to improve.
“I actually find that exciting that we can get young guys up to speed and get them contributing to our teams as quickly as possible and hopefully they ascend to position players after that,” added Bisaccia.