Pieces are starting to fall into place in Green Bay. Jonathan Gannon is the team’s new defensive coordinator and the coaching staff is evolving. I can tell we’re getting into the offseason because we’re starting to get questions about the draft, which has me pretty excited. Let’s jump in: 

“It feels like, if this doesn’t go well, this will be LaFleur’s last chance at picking a DC. He must know that. Given that, what does his choice of Gannon say about him? My uninformed take: LaFleur went the safe route. Rather than taking a chance on an up-and-coming prospect who shows potential, he went with the experienced guy whose track record is mixed (he certainly didn’t get the job based on his past few years as HC in Arizona). But Gannon does have coordinator experience in ways that people like Leonhard or Harris didn’t have. I wonder if this reveals something about his decision-making. In a moment of high risk, is he more likely to tap the breaks than floor it. Just look at his coaching performance on offense with a lead in the second half of games. And I wonder if that reluctance was part of the reason there were people who thought we’ve already seen peak LaFleur. Just curious what you think.” - Jon

I’ve said it before about the LaFleur conversation, but I don’t fault anyone for feeling how they feel. There are people that are understandably frustrated by his last few seasons as a head coach, and if they aren’t excited he’s back, I can understand why they feel that way. Especially since it feels very much like a “run it back” kind of year where the only real changes happening to the coaching staff are changes made out of necessity (like Hafley getting a job elsewhere). I had hoped for a little bit more of a shake up to the status quo. 

But I do think Gannon’s head coaching experience absolutely mattered to LaFleur. I don’t necessarily think he approached it thinking it’s a make or break decision, but I think he values an experienced voice to lead the other side of the ball so he can focus his efforts on the offense. Mike Pettine was a McCarthy holdover, but he had previous head coaching experience. Joe Barry is the only outlier from the LaFleur tenure, but he did have multiple stints as a defensive coordinator and worked with LaFleur on the Rams staff in 2017. Hafley had head coaching experience, too, albeit at the college level. So it made sense that LaFleur would want someone experienced to handle business on that side of the ball. If he had hired someone like Leonhard or Harris, he probably would have felt the need to be much more involved in defensive meetings (I’m not saying this is the right way to operate, just that I’d imagine this was a factor). He won’t have those concerns with Gannon. 

I’m not sure I’m willing to make much of a connection beyond that. As in, I don’t think this hire is indicative of who LaFleur is with the game on the line. If anything, I think the hope here is that Gannon can take the reins defensively and let LaFleur focus his efforts on things like making those better second-half adjustments on offense. That’s arguably why I’ve been hoping we’ll see some changes to the offensive coaching staff, too. We’ll dive into a question about this at the end, but some new perspectives on offense feel just as needed as the new perspectives on defense. It doesn’t sound like those changes are forthcoming, though, aside from LaFleur losing his quarterbacks coach. 

“Does Gute go CB and OL/DL heavy in the draft?” - Hank 

The Packers are looking at eight picks in this year’s draft, despite not having a first-round selection. If I had to give a very rough guess as to how they spend those picks, here’s what my guess would be, in no order: CB (1), OL (2), DL (1), EDGE (1), LB (1), RB (1), QB (1). So that wouldn’t necessarily lend itself to going “heavy” anywhere. But here’s why I think that way. 

I don’t think cornerback is going to be as high on Gutekunst’s radar as we the fans want it to be. The Packers spent some significant money to bring in Nate Hobbs last offseason. He’s likely a starting corner this upcoming season. For what it’s worth, if Gannon plays more three-high safety looks and uses more dime personnel, I didn’t think Hobbs looked bad in the slot. Boundary corner, though, is clearly the weak link of the secondary. I’d like to see a day two pick used on a CB, but again, I’m not convinced Gutekunst agrees. It’s worth noting that both Nixon and Valentine are free agents after next season, so the Packers should be looking for a future starter even if they don’t want him to be a Week 1 starter this season. Could this be like the 2024 season where Green Bay took three safeties to just completely overhaul the room? Yes. It wouldn’t surprise me. But I think that might happen next year when Nixon and Valentine are presumably off the roster. 

As far as the big guys on both sides of the line, I think nose tackle is a must to make this defense operate the way we envision Gannon wanting it to. Nose tackle is my favorite position in football, probably because I watched BJ Raji in some of my most formative football years. So give me a NT in the second or third round and I won’t give a hoot about the rest of the draft (just kidding, I still very much will). But yes, I think the Packers definitely prioritize bolstering the d-line in this draft, despite the depth they have there. Depth pieces are great, but depth doesn’t always translate to “guy I want to play 50% of snaps.” They need more talent in a space-eater next to Devonte Wyatt. I know I only took one in my prediction, but I think they spend a high pick here and get someone they plan to start this season. They’ll fill in the rest of the snaps with their depth pieces. 

The o-line is interesting because we assume they want Jordan Morgan to be LT, Zach Tom is locked in at RT, and then the interior is kind of a mystery. Aaron Banks was another high profile free agent signing in 2025, so he likely stays at LG (and I thought he played better once he got healthy). Then the Packers need to figure out their future at center. Does Sean Rhyan come back for the Spotrac estimate of around $6.5 million per year? What happens with Elgton Jenkins once he’s healthy? Is he a cap casualty? He’s entering the last year of his deal this year. Would they keep him and kick him back to RG? Does Jacob Monk enter the competition at center? And then there’s Anthony Belton, who probably fits best as Green Bay’s swing tackle as the roster currently stands (unless he’s in the competition with Morgan at LT). I think the Packers will draft at least two offensive linemen because it’s just something they historically do. But I don’t think it’ll be a top priority given some of the recent investments they’ve already made. 

“Hey Maggie! Are you at all concerned about the potential “brain drain” coming this year from all the folks leaving 1265? Between (seemingly) half the defensive staff headed to Miami, another QB coach gone after just 1 year, as well as additional support staff (Sully, Campy, Hackett), it just seems like an incredible amount of turnover. Granted, their replacements are no slouches, but I don’t recall this many new faces, outside of a head coaching change. Curious of your thoughts…” - Jim

I’d argue some Packers fans are excited about a brain drain. But in all seriousness, there are certainly good coaches and good football minds that have walked out the door. I’ll miss Jon-Eric Sullivan’s pressers during the draft. I always enjoyed hearing him evaluate prospects. Jordan Love moving onto yet another QB coach isn’t the most ideal scenario, but we don’t know what the rest of this staff is going to look like just yet. And certain voices leaving gives LaFleur a great opportunity to refresh his own strategy and vision (which, again, I know a lot of Packers fans are clamoring for). Gannon wasn’t my top candidate for defensive coordinator, but the more I dive into some of his past defenses, the more excited I am about what he’ll do with the pieces he has in Green Bay. 

The optimistic take here (which is who I tend to be) is that LaFleur knows this team needs to make a deep playoff push. The Wild Card round isn’t going to be good enough in 2026. So much to Jon’s point in the first question, he’s got a lot on the line with every new voice that comes into 1265. And like I said at the top of this, I wish there were more new voices on offense. This is an opportunity to make the necessary changes that’ll get this team over that playoff hump. For what it’s worth, I really, really like the hires of Bobby Babich (defensive pass game coordinator) and Sam Siefkes (linebackers coach). 

As always, thank you all for engaging with the mailbag. We’re a month in already with no signs of slowing down. Hopefully we can keep this thing going all offseason. Send your questions to [email protected] and let’s talk football.