Packers looking to build on win in L.A.

Youth starting to be served on defense

As the youngest team in the NFL, the Green Bay Packers will need to rely on young, inexperienced players. But on the defensive side of the ball, it might be just the time to trust three rookies in three starting positions. Those three rookies are: inside linebacker Edgerrin Cooper and safeties Javon Bullard and Evan Williams.

In this past Sunday’s game, with the ball in scoring range and Super Bowl champion quarterback Matthew Stafford at the helm, the Packers defense was in a vulnerable position in the final minute on Sunday. The opponent with the ball and a chance to score the go-ahead touchdown in the final seconds was something many Packers fans are all too familiar with. However, the final play of the Packers’ 24-19 win over the Los Angeles Rams showcased two of those rookie defensive players, Cooper and Williams, who should have a major impact for the remainder of the season, making victory a consistent theme for the 2024 Green Bay Packers.

Youth, it seems, is finally starting to be served on the Packers defense.

Tucker Kraft off to a Burning Hot Start to 2024

If you've kept up with Green Bay Packers social media this week, you'll know that Tucker Kraft was a guest on teammate AJ Dillon's podcast this past Monday. During that interview, Kraft was asked about trash-talking with opponents. He said that if someone starts talking at him, he'll just start screaming and telling people that he's burning their childhood homes down and coming after them. While this sounds psychotic, it's funny for someone to just go off screaming this at an opponent on Sunday. I'm sure some of the classic figures through NFL history notorious for striking a little fear in their opponents would approve.

So far in 2024, Kraft is backing up that talk with his performance.

Green Bay's Safeties Are Performing At A High Level

The Green Bay Packers took an aggressive approach in last year’s free agency, signing Xavier McKinney to a $67 million deal. They followed up by drafting Javon Bullard in the second round, Evan Williams in the fourth, and Kitan Oladapo in the fifth round of the 2024 NFL Draft. A year ago, the Packers arguably had the worst safety room in the league. This season, McKinney, Bullard, and Williams have transformed it into the defense's best unit by a wide margin. Last week, the Packers had PFF's two top-graded safeties in the league, with McKinney and Williams leading the way. Xavier Mckinney was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in Week 5.

It’s astonishing how well these guys are performing while building chemistry together just five games into a new defensive system. While they are immensely talented, Jeff Hafley has his share of contribution to their success as well. Hafley has been known for maximizing talent at defensive back since his Ohio State days, where he helped make Jeff Okudah a top-three draft pick in 2020. Once these players fully grasp the X's and O's, they have the potential to finish the 2024 season as the best safety room in the league.

Packer Transplants 284: The path to the quarterback

CHTV co-founders Corey Behnke and Aaron Nagler revel in the win over the Rams and look ahead to the Packers welcoming the Cardinals to Lambeau Field.

Confessions of a Polluted Mindset - You Know It Don't Come Easy

Al Bracco wrote earlier this year that we might see the Packers secondary looking different from week to week, whether or not there were injuries. A prime example of that this week was the use of Evan Williams. He went from 10 snaps in the Vikings game to playing every snap (78) against the Rams. The Packers likely looked to take Ballentine off the field (two TDs scored against him in the Vikings game) for the still-injured Jaire, and their solution was to make not one change but several. Nixon goes to outside corner, Bullard drops into the slot, Williams goes to safety, and they work Valentine into sharing snaps with Nixon and Stokes. Also, at LB, Cooper's snaps increased to 30 and Eric Wilson dropped down to 3.

Get more from Al in his weekly feature, Confessions of a Polluted Mindset, right here!

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Packers Left Tackle Rasheed Walker (FULL INTERVIEW)

Packers left tackle Rasheed Walker joined Aaron and Bill Schmid on Carry The G Radio earlier this week. You can check out the full interview below!

Packers Periscope: Peek ahead to the desert birds

A win's a win, right? That was kind of a weird one... at no point did it ever feel like the Packers were going to lose, but hoo boy did it look like they were trying to do just the opposite for a while. The pass rush remained anemic save for a few key plays, Jordan Love showed a little more rust and then promptly shook it off, and Xavier McKinney is the greatest football player to ever grace the grid iron. But as the team must shift focus from a win to the next opponent, we must do so as well. So let's raise up the Periscope to look at the past, present and future of the Packers and Cardinals rivalry.

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CheeseheadTV Nation Cardinals-Packers Preview

Aaron and Pack-A-Day podcast creator Andy Herman preview the matchup between the Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on Sunday in their weekly video preview series for Die Hard Cheesehead TV Nation members…

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