For years, the Packers special teams have been abysmal.
They’re an albatross for the team and cost them their season last year.
After decades of doing things pretty much the same, the Packers changed course and made a splash, hiring a high-profile special teams coach in Rich Bisaccia.
While Bisaccia can bring a new attitude to special teams (which can go a long way), he’s gonna need the right ingredients if the Packers expect him to make chicken salad.
This is where the Packers need to again deviate from the way they’ve done things in the past.
One way they could deviate from their past is by playing more starters on special teams. After AJ Dillon broke a rib playing special teams in the playoffs last year, that may be a tough proposition to sell.
That leaves getting new players as the most likely way to upgrade special teams.
In the free agent market, the Packers brought in Keisean Nixon, who played special teams for the Raiders under Bisaccia. This is a huge signal that the Packers are serious about upgrading their special teams and willing to use their resources to get players specifically for this purpose.
But one player isn’t going to do it all. The need some help in the draft, too.
The Packers draft history under Brian Gutekunst is littered with Day 3 failures. As we get deeper into the draft, we expect players of a lower caliber. The problem (as it relates to the current state of Green Bay’s special teams) is the Packers late-draft strategy.
Most late round picks under Gutekunst have either been long-term developmental projects (like Jonathan Garvin, Ka’Dar Hollman, and Kendall Donnerson) or fliers on positions of potential need (like Kylin Hill and Jake Hanson). There’s nothing wrong with this strategy – projects and fliers sometimes pay dividends – except for the opportunity cost: special teams.
This year, with three 7th round picks, I want to see the Packers specifically target athletic prospects who show strong special teams potential.
The offense and the defense don’t have a lot of holes and the Packers have eight picks in the first five rounds (including four in the first two rounds) to address those. Use those late round picks on players that can specifically help on special teams!
In my latest mock draft, I showed how the Packers could address their needs and still target core special teams contributors. I’m willing to bet that Rich Bisaccia would have a lot of input on what prospects he’d like if Gutekunst asked him.
The Packers have a new special teams coach, they’ve brought in a veteran special teams leader, now, with the draft rapidly approaching, they can pull in the final pieces to a complete special teams overhaul that could – at the very least – move them to the lowest possible bar of “don’t ruin the playoffs.”
Read More: How The Packers Can Fix Special Teams In The Draft