Green Bay Packers

Should Packers lean into defense and away from Aaron Rodgers?

Published May. 6, 2022 1:17 p.m. ET

The Green Bay Packers had 11 picks on draft night. Of those 11, six were offensive players.

And while they did draft wide receiver Christian Watson No. 34 overall, along with two other wideouts and three offensive linemen, the Packers opted to draft a linebacker and defensive tackle with their two first-round picks.

While most of the football universe believes Green Bay should use its draft capital to surround all-world quarterback Aaron Rodgers with weapons galore, the numbers show that, historically, the best version of the Packers has appeared when their defense led the way.

On Thursday's "The Herd," Colin Cowherd discussed a recent article from Tom Silverstein, the Packers beat reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

In the story, Silverstein charges Packers coach Matt LaFleur with the task of convincing Rodgers that defense is the path to a second Super Bowl title for the future Hall of Famer, pointing out that the past three NFL champions have been top-10 in scoring defense, and the past two times Green Bay won the Super Bowl, it had the NFL's No. 1 scoring defense.

Cowherd, reading the writing on the wall after the team traded Davante Adams this offseason, wondered aloud if Rodgers would be OK with the team's impending change in approach.

"The Packers are now going to be a run-first team and led by their defense," Cowherd said. "Is Aaron comfortable with that?"

Can Aaron Rodgers carry Packers through their flaws this year?

Colin Cowherd believes it's time for Green Bay to rely on its defense and running game more and Aaron Rodgers' arm a little bit less.

As is the case for many teams, defense has been indicative of how the Packers have performed in the postseason in recent years.

Rodgers took over as the starter in Green Bay in 2008, and since then, the Packers have made it to or past the NFC Championship Game five times. Four of those times, they had a top-15 defense in the league as far as points allowed per game.

The previous two seasons in which Green Bay didn't make the postseason, in 2017 and '18, it had the 26th- and 22nd-ranked defense, respectively, as far as points allowed per game.

To go even deeper, in every Green Bay Super Bowl appearance dating to 1929 — 16 appearances — the Packers had at least a top-five defense.

"The slick-passing-game Packers is not working," Cowherd said. "Yes, you're winning a crappy division, but in your last 16 playoff games, you're 7-9. [Rodgers is] not really a centerpiece guy. They'll have a great run game, but there's no proof that if you put the franchise on Aaron's shoulders, he will carry you through the flaws.

"He has one come-from-behind playoff win in his career. Matt Stafford had two last year."

This year, Green Bay drafted Quay Walker out of Georgia with the 22nd overall pick. In 13 games last season, he recorded 65 tackles (37 solo), 5.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, three passes defended and one fumble recovery.

Six picks later, with the 28th overall pick, the Packers drafted Devonte Wyatt, a defensive tackle also from Georgia. Wyatt played all 13 games for the Bulldogs and recorded 39 tackles (18 solo), seven tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and two fumble recoveries.