GREEN BAY – As the remaining two defensive linemen with multiple years invested in the Green Bay Packers defense, Devonte Wyatt and Karl Brooks are living in a semi-state of flux.
It’s good that the Packers see them as good fits for both 4-3 and 3-4 defensive fronts, because they stand to be integral parts of a hybrid scheme new coordinator Jonathan Gannon is cooking up this season.
The Packers thought enough of Wyatt to sign him to a three-year, $57 million contract extension July 20 and enough of Brooks to line him up with the first team at the start of training camp. Both are coming off injury-plagued years that affected them differently, but they’re back with full intention of flourishing under Gannon.
The big question is where they’ll be when that’s happening.
“I’ll line up everywhere,” said Wyatt, who has been limited to individual drills as he returns from torn ligaments and a fracture in his left ankle suffered in Detroit on Nov. 27. “I can’t tell you where I’ll line up [the most], but I will be everywhere.”
In Gannon’s 3-4 base defense, he could line up at either defensive end spot or in the middle at nose tackle. In the 4-3 nickel package, he could be shaded over the center’s shoulder or he could be over a guard or tackle. He traditionally lined up in one of two spots in the middle of the Packers’ 4-3 scheme depending on who else was in the game.
Last year, after the Packers traded nose tackle Kenny Clark to the Dallas Cowboys, Wyatt started playing more over the nose. Known most for his pass rush and backfield disruption, the Packers quickly found out Wyatt was better at playing the run than they thought.
He started out hot with two sacks, four quarterback hits and two passes batted down in the first four games but then injured his left knee in Week 3 and aggravated it in Week 4. He missed two games and didn’t return to form until notching a pair of sacks against Minnesota on Nov. 23 and then playing his best game of the year against the Lions.
Wyatt won’t start taking part in 11-on-11 drills for a while, but he is taking notes on all the positions he’ll have to play when he returns.
“This year, they want you to play at any position,” Wyatt said. “Just in case they need you to play there. Last year, it was just three[-technique] or nose. I prefer that, but I’ll play four[-technique] or two, whatever they got.”
Part of the equation is where the other defensive linemen fit in. Free agent Javon Hargrave, who is on the physically unable to perform list with a knee injury, will be able to play over the center, as traditional nose tackle-types Nazir Stackhouse and Jonathan Ford can do. Rookie Chris McClellan has been seeing time at nose as well.
In Brooks’ case, he will be moved around as well, but probably not over the center as much as the others. Brooks’ game is beating linemen off the snap and getting into the backfield. The 6-foot-3 Brooks entered the league at 296 pounds and had eight sacks over his first two seasons.
But last year, he was asked to gain weight and played at 315 pounds to have a better chance against bigger linemen in the run game. He played a career-high 664 snaps, but he had trouble getting to the quarterback in time for a sack.
A left high-ankle sprain dogged him in the middle of the season, but he wasn’t as quick with the added weight. He finished with 19 quarterback pressures and six hits but just a half-sack.
“I’ve cut a lot of weight from where I was to now,” Brooks said. “I got a lot stronger. I lost 14 pounds and gained muscle, so I feel good where I’m at. I feel comfortable in my technique to anchor a double [team] or to penetrate the line of scrimmage.
“I still feel quick enough, light on my feet, where if I do have to, I can use that to my advantage. I feel a lot better. My knees feel better, my ankles feel better. I’m just running around. I feel like I have more energy.”
The switch to a 3-4 will require some adjustment for Brooks, who played mostly as a three-technique or shaded over the nose. In the 3-4 scheme, he’ll get some time at three-technique, but he’ll have to line up directly over the tackle (four-technique) or the tight end at times.
It helps that Brooks has been exposed to the 3-4 before, so the transition hasn’t been daunting. But there are a lot of things he must forget and even more things he must file for the regular season.
“It’s totally different,” Brooks said. “But I played the four-technique before. I played it in college a lot. I got a lot of reps at it. Haf’s [Jeff Hafley] and JG’s [Gannon] schemes are different, but at the end of the day, it’s still football. You’ve got to win. You’ve got to win against guys across from you. So, it’s all the same to me.”
Once Wyatt and Hargrave can practice in full team drills, Brooks will know more about how he’ll be used. Currently, he and Warren Brinson are the defensive ends and Stackhouse and McClellan share the nose tackle position with the No. 1 unit.
When Gannon goes to his nickel look and four down linemen, he’s used Brinson and Brooks in combination the most, with Lukas Van Ness and Barryn Sorrell as the ends. Van Ness has been used on the inside a few times as well.
“We always say we’re going to put the best guys out there and that’s kind of how I look at it,” Brooks said. “The best guys have got to play. That’s just what it is. So, I just have to put myself in a position to be great.”
Wherever that may be.
This article originally appeared on Packers News: New Packers defense has Devonte Wyatt, Karl Brooks on the move
Reporting by Tom Silverstein, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Packers News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Tom Silverstein, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
