Anyone know if he called the defensive plays at BC? The main unknown for him is how better he is at calling defenses in a pro game than Barry was. Not a high bar IMHO.
I read an article yesterday that stated he DID NOT call the defensive plays at BC. He had too much on his plate with HC, recruiting, NIL tracking, and alumni obligations to continue that level involvement with the defense.
@TomSilverstein
FWIW, LaFleur and Hafley aren’t close friends as some have reported. He knows Hafley through his brother, Robert Saleh and Kyle Shanahan, all of whom worked with Hafley. They knew each other but weren’t ever on the same staff or guys who spoke often.
Only Pete Thamel reported otherwise.
Right, except some of the lazier reporters simply parroted Thamel’s statement as fact without checking, including a couple of local tv sports guys.
Re: Jeff Hafley Packers new DC
Posted: 01 Feb 2024 11:48
by Madcity_matt
Overall I like the hire. Not a name we had heard coming in, but I like the variety of coaches they brought in. I wonder if the way the Macdonald hire broke might have helped make the decision for us. Macdonald leaving pulled two of the assistants there into DC roles most likely, and maybe the odd man out wasn’t a serious contender. I’d like to think this is our first choice, and we’ll likely never know otherwise, so I’ll embrace it.
I like more man- it started going out of favor in the age of running QB’s but I think more than last year is a necessity.
Hafley also crossed paths with Pettine in Baltimore in addition to Cleveland. I don't think anything in Mattison's background reflects on Hafley directly, but still interesting to see all the connections.
I see a lot of people saying we need to draft a safety to fit Hafley's system of single high. Could Nixon fit that mold? He seems to have the speed and was a pretty solid tackler. Is Anthony Johnson fast enough?
I think Nixon is fast enough and, more importantly, has the instincts to play the single high role. That, and as you mentioned, he’s a willing tackler.
Johnson has the speed, I think, but I’m not sold he has the instinctual chops yet to play the role. Could he grow to be that guy? I guess it’ll depend on how good his new coach is.
I see Savage as fast enough and potentially smart enough to play the position but he’s a proven liability in the tackling department.
The other thing about the safety position going forward is the Packers will be looking for two distinctly separate types of safety - the speedy free range type with instinct to play up high and the strong powerful type with the ability to play low - rather than the virtually interchangeable types they’ve been playing. That should give you draftniks something to key in on when making your player evaluations.
My buddy thinks Nixon is good at slot corner, and I trust his opinion more than everyone online or offline or even a lot of NFL front offices (the ones who would pick Baker Mayfield #1 overall for example).
Re: Jeff Hafley Packers new DC
Posted: 01 Feb 2024 12:40
by lupedafiasco
Looking at our defensive front.
At edge I think we clearly have Gary, LVN, and Preston off the edge. Enagbare will be on IR. I don’t think you’ll want to keep Cox as an edge if we are going 4 down. I think you could mix Wooden and Brooks in as big edge guys on run downs and move them inside when needed in passing downs.
At IDL obviously Clark and Wyatt are your starters with Slaton in on run downs. Wooden and Brooks can still help in the rotation as well.
LB is much more interesting. I think we need to get rid of Campbell. He’s declined two straight seasons and the injury frequency has increased each year as well.
You can probably get away with McDuffie and Quay in a base but you still need someone to play 25% of the snaps in base. I think you can do something in FA where you just grab an athlete LB for cheap. McDuffie is going into a contract year though so we could see an early investment in LB to develop in those 25% of snaps and have him step into the full time role next year.
At CB I don’t think this is a bad move. I think right now our 3 best CBs are all best in man coverage. We still don’t have a true slot but we are deep at the boundary.
S gets interesting again. I think some people like the idea of keeping Savage as a single high. I hate that. He’s always been at his best in the robber role. When you ask him to be the deep solo S he stinks. He just doesn’t make plays in that role and when he needs to be that last line of defense and make a tackle he often fails. Miserably might I add.
Re: Jeff Hafley Packers new DC
Posted: 01 Feb 2024 12:45
by Pckfn23
Re: Jeff Hafley Packers new DC
Posted: 01 Feb 2024 12:47
by Drj820
As mush as I respect what Preston has done for us, I really dont see him as a 4 point stance guy at this point. Seems like it would take him forever to stand up and I dont see much firing off the ball. His game has moved toward finesse, some power, and being smart at around age 30 it seems.
Right, except some of the lazier reporters simply parroted Thamel’s statement as fact without checking, including a couple of local tv sports guys.
Seems like he is just another one of those Shanahan tree guys, who work out like 100% of the time on offense, but on defense the jury is still out.
On a related note, I am glad the league trend is moving away from the McVay/Shanahan tree and towards "Leader of Men" type of coaches again, because the former is great and the latter sucks. And I want my opponent to suck.
And yeah I know Dan Campbell is the latter type and he has been a revolutionary success in Detroit, but Leader of Men head coaches pretty much never work out anymore (except for him). And also Leader of Men coaches mean that you will always have to wonder whether your HC will burn a timeout down 2 scores in the 4th quarter on 4th down and leave the opposing offense with the ability to kneel down if/when they get the ball back, when, had you not called the timeout, even if you let the game clock run down to 20 seconds, still would have ensured you get the ball back with a stop on defense.
S gets interesting again. I think some people like the idea of keeping Savage as a single high. I hate that. He’s always been at his best in the robber role. When you ask him to be the deep solo S he stinks. He just doesn’t make plays in that role and when he needs to be that last line of defense and make a tackle he often fails. Miserably might I add.
This has been my greatest disappointment about Savage as a pick.
He has everything you need physically to be that rare safety this scheme requires and this exact role is why I loved him as a draft prospect and it just turned out that his processing was a beat too slow to make use of his speed. And despite what should have been, yes, he always wound up playing better in more of the robber role close to the line of scrimmage
S gets interesting again. I think some people like the idea of keeping Savage as a single high. I hate that. He’s always been at his best in the robber role. When you ask him to be the deep solo S he stinks. He just doesn’t make plays in that role and when he needs to be that last line of defense and make a tackle he often fails. Miserably might I add.
This has been my greatest disappointment about Savage as a pick.
He has everything you need physically to be that rare safety this scheme requires and this exact role is why I loved him as a draft prospect and it just turned out that his processing was a beat too slow to make use of his speed. And despite what should have been, yes, he always wound up playing better in more of the robber role close to the line of scrimmage
Was it Savage holding himself back or was it Barry's scheme holding Savage back? He was definitely a better player under Pettine. I would be interested to see what he would look like in a scheme that isn't keep everything in front and tackle.
S gets interesting again. I think some people like the idea of keeping Savage as a single high. I hate that. He’s always been at his best in the robber role. When you ask him to be the deep solo S he stinks. He just doesn’t make plays in that role and when he needs to be that last line of defense and make a tackle he often fails. Miserably might I add.
This has been my greatest disappointment about Savage as a pick.
He has everything you need physically to be that rare safety this scheme requires and this exact role is why I loved him as a draft prospect and it just turned out that his processing was a beat too slow to make use of his speed. And despite what should have been, yes, he always wound up playing better in more of the robber role close to the line of scrimmage
Was it Savage holding himself back or was it Barry's scheme holding Savage back? He was definitely a better player under Pettine. I would be interested to see what he would look like in a scheme that isn't keep everything in front and tackle.
He's not the only player I find myself wondering about. Quay is another one. Could he be an all pro that's just been severely mismanaged his first 2 seasons?
This has been my greatest disappointment about Savage as a pick.
He has everything you need physically to be that rare safety this scheme requires and this exact role is why I loved him as a draft prospect and it just turned out that his processing was a beat too slow to make use of his speed. And despite what should have been, yes, he always wound up playing better in more of the robber role close to the line of scrimmage
Was it Savage holding himself back or was it Barry's scheme holding Savage back? He was definitely a better player under Pettine. I would be interested to see what he would look like in a scheme that isn't keep everything in front and tackle.
He's not the only player I find myself wondering about. Quay is another one. Could he be an all pro that's just been severely mismanaged his first 2 seasons?
Was it Savage holding himself back or was it Barry's scheme holding Savage back? He was definitely a better player under Pettine. I would be interested to see what he would look like in a scheme that isn't keep everything in front and tackle.
He's not the only player I find myself wondering about. Quay is another one. Could he be an all pro that's just been severely mismanaged his first 2 seasons?
He's not the only player I find myself wondering about. Quay is another one. Could he be an all pro that's just been severely mismanaged his first 2 seasons?
Quay has had a very successful first two seasons.
Could he have been more though? I'm thinking yes.
For a Top-25 off-ball LB, yes, I think most would agree. He's been really good if you get that guy in the 3rd-round, but unfortunately, he was a very high draft pick for us. He is the highest drafted player on the roster other than LVN, Rashan Gary, Darnell Savage, and Jaire Alexander.
Re: Jeff Hafley Packers new DC
Posted: 01 Feb 2024 14:00
by Labrev
Even in Savage's one good year, tackling was a deficiency for him. It has been his whole career, even in college. Sure, he may have the range to cover over the top of the defense, but he cannot be trusted to be the last-line-of-defense on explosives. Time to pull the plug on this experiment.
