Jonathan Gannon new Packer DC

[milani]

Custer was overly confident.

Up until halftime.

 

[rmontro]

Up until halftime.

Couldn't make those halftime adjustments, I guess.

 

[SudsMcBucky]

Couldn't make those halftime adjustments, I guess.

Is MLF a descendent of Custer?

 

[DoURant]

Hafley ran a solid defense, but it did seem predictable. I didn't see much difference from year 1 to year 2. His D was decimated by injuries, notably Parsons and Wyatt, and the CB group was just not good - mostly due to the players rather than the defensive calls.

Pending who's on the field after injuries, that can limit what you can call. Losing Parsons and Wyatt, and getting less pressure on tge QB because of that, makes the DB's job tougher. Hard to cover guys for 5-10 seconds.

 

[Heyjoe4]

Pending who's on the field after injuries, that can limit what you can call. Losing Parsons and Wyatt, and getting less pressure on tge QB because of that, makes the DB's job tougher. Hard to cover guys for 5-10 seconds.

Good point. When Parsons joined the team, he got to the QB so quickly that receivers couldn't run complete routes longer than 3 or 4 yards, if that. It did make the job of the DBs much easier.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Good point. When Parsons joined the team, he got to the QB so quickly that receivers couldn't run complete routes longer than 3 or 4 yards, if that. It did make the job of the DBs much easier.

Yup and if the DB's can cover their men well, that allows the DL to have a better shot of sacking the QB or forcing a bad pass. 11 pieces to a well greased defense. 1 fails and it can make the other 10 look like they failed too.

 

[OldSchool101]

Custer was overly confident.

Yes. It made me revisit that story. One lesson to be taken was to never underestimate the strength of your opponent. Better to be over prepared than ill prepared.

 

[milani]

Yes. It made me revisit that story. One lesson to be taken was to never underestimate the strength of your opponent. Better to be over prepared than ill prepared.

Whether on the frontier or the other side of the world, Hubris can be the downfall of any military commander. Like King Darius the Persian.

 

[SudsMcBucky]

My wife and I stopped for a tour of Little Big Horn on our trip 2 years ago on our drive from the Black Hills to Yellowstone. It was so much different than what I expected, most specifically the amount of area in which the battle took place was much smaller than I had imagined it to be.

 

[OldSchool101]

What I’m hearing and seeing from Gannon is compelling.

1. Matt and himself went through every Defender on tape, one by one. They did what I’d call a strict Evaluation. Its essentially coming to a consensus on what couple of things does they player do exceptionally well and also which aspects of their game do they need to improve.

That attitude in itself imo is going to be a key to 2026. Imo one of the areas we’ve failed in the past is putting particular players in positions to expound upon their strengths. Im not just picking on Hafley because imo its more common than not. I think partly it’s somewhat of a confidence thing when you’re a newer DC and you feel like maybe you have to prove you’re worthy OR we’re coming off a previous season of underperformance. Instead of knowing you’re worthy and raising the bar you play it safe. Rather than trying areas of improvement you might stay traditional.

I’ve seen countless players in GB that I thought were mismanaged. Now to our DC Defense, some was based on necessity. Wooden is the most recent example. My personal mismanaged list is Eric Stokes, Edgerrin Cooper (2025) Oren Burks, Casey Hayward, Lance Kendrick’s, Aaron Jones in some partial seasons being held to <20 touches. I even think Lukas Van Ness to a degree coming into the NFL has been stretched too thin for his limited experience. It’s like they experimented with many players early on, instead of putting them in their best respective position to succeed.

All DC’s make mistakes in player usage. The good ones realize it quicker and adapt. I don’t think Gannon is going to stay locked in a box. From game to game he’s going to make better ongoing adjustments. Possibly even within games or to finish games we’ll see this.

 

[Voyageur]

My wife and I stopped for a tour of Little Big Horn on our trip 2 years ago on our drive from the Black Hills to Yellowstone. It was so much different than what I expected, most specifically the amount of area in which the battle took place was much smaller than I had imagined it to be.

We did a western tour back in 1972. A month-long trip. I was on recovery leave from the PD. I'd been injured in a gun fight with some bad guys. We did Little Big Horn, Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, Ten Sleep mountains, Cody Wyoming, Yellowstone, then through Idaho, into Nevada, across Nevada, into California on I-80, and to Auburn, CA, where we spent about a week. Then we headed west to San Francisco, Monterey Bay, Big Sur, the area north of LA, then into LA, Disneyland, Las Vegas, did old Highway 66 all the way back to Chicago. A great trip. We had a great time. Lots of things to see.

Of course it's different now. You can't drive across Hoover Dam like we did, and stop in the middle and tour it, or get close to monuments like we could back then. People have ruined the experiences I'm afraid.

 

[OldSchool101]

We did a western tour back in 1972. A month-long trip. I was on recovery leave from the PD. I'd been injured in a gun fight with some bad guys. We did Little Big Horn, Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, Ten Sleep mountains, Cody Wyoming, Yellowstone, then through Idaho, into Nevada, across Nevada, into California on I-80, and to Auburn, CA, where we spent about a week. Then we headed west to San Francisco, Monterey Bay, Big Sur, the area north of LA, then into LA, Disneyland, Las Vegas, did old Highway 66 all the way back to Chicago. A great trip. We had a great time. Lots of things to see.

Of course it's different now. You can't drive across Hoover Dam like we did, and stop in the middle and tour it, or get close to monuments like we could back then. People have ruined the experiences I'm afraid.

I stayed in Palo Alto for 2 weeks and we drove all around SF up to Salsa to John Muir Woods Forest (tour/hike) and then down past Half Moon Bay, Santa Cruz, shops at Carmel. That was a fun little excursion. I would’ve continued to follow the Pacific Coast down as we had another night or 2 to grab a hotel, but another 30 miles we hit a Mudslide that blocked access
It was getting dark soon and I didn’t want to be in a back mountain roads detour etc. Plus Santa Cruz was a little spooky down there at the amusement area on the coast I think it must’ve been February?

Your sight list seeing is pretty extensive! Sounds fun. Which are your must see moments? You can PM me if you don’t mind? Thanks @Voyageur

 

[OldSchool101]

Gannon must be drooling with all the players on Defense with varying degrees of untapped potential. We don’t yet have a clear CB1, but that might change as the season develops. Having Bullock and Babich is going to provide serious Coaching dividends.

Having Wyatt and Hargrave inside plus solid experience in Karl. Then being able to mold a very good NT type in McClellen that has untapped Pass Rush potential is intriguing. I’m so glad we didn’t take Orange.

Then we have Edgerrin and Zaire as starting LB and a solid hugh floor McDuff as a security blanket.

I still think someone needs to unlock Lukas Van Ness. He’s overdue and was stretched too thin. Once Micah is back we’ve still got a pair of top 15 draft picks working in tandem to rush the Passer. Our depth is very solid with Sorrell and Cox Jr in the wings. Plus ultra dynamic toys to play with in Colin Oliver or Dani Dennis-Sutton. DDS turned down offers from Alabama and Georgia, that cat has amazing traits. Micah being an upper Classman at Pitt is going to help him immensely.

I haven’t even talked about Xavier and Evan. That’s a really solid and experienced Safety group now going into year 3 together.

don’t know how quickly Gannon will figure out these puzzle pieces but he’s got everything he needs to be successful. I think we’d finish top 1/3 of the league in scoring without Micah Parsons and I’m being dead serious.

*PS. As I did extensive research on DDS. There was a Bears fan breakdown of his film and he was literally drooling on Dani. He mentioned a common theme that he might might take a year to refine, but he was 100% talking grabbing him with #60 overall and without hesitation. Would’ve love to have see his reaction at pick #120 to GB! We just snatched THREE Bonafide Day 2 Defenders at DT, CB, Edge

 

[milani]

What I’m hearing and seeing from Gannon is compelling.

1. Matt and himself went through every Defender on tape, one by one. They did what I’d call a strict Evaluation. Its essentially coming to a consensus on what couple of things does they player do exceptionally well and also which aspects of their game do they need to improve.

That attitude in itself imo is going to be a key to 2026. Imo one of the areas we’ve failed in the past is putting particular players in positions to expound upon their strengths. Im not just picking on Hafley because imo its more common than not. I think partly it’s somewhat of a confidence thing when you’re a newer DC and you feel like maybe you have to prove you’re worthy OR we’re coming off a previous season of underperformance. Instead of knowing you’re worthy and raising the bar you play it safe. Rather than trying areas of improvement you might stay traditional.

I’ve seen countless players in GB that I thought were mismanaged. Now to our DC Defense, some was based on necessity. Wooden is the most recent example. My personal mismanaged list is Eric Stokes, Edgerrin Cooper (2025) Oren Burks, Casey Hayward, Lance Kendrick’s, Aaron Jones in some partial seasons being held to <20 touches. I even think Lukas Van Ness to a degree coming into the NFL has been stretched too thin for his limited experience. It’s like they experimented with many players early on, instead of putting them in their best respective position to succeed.

All DC’s make mistakes in player usage. The good ones realize it quicker and adapt. I don’t think Gannon is going to stay locked in a box. From game to game he’s going to make better ongoing adjustments. Possibly even within games or to finish games we’ll see this.

Not sure how they did it but Lombardi had every player graded on every play. Lot of work but it said a lot. That is why he believed Forrest Gregg was his most nearly perfect player. Grades.

 

[OldSchool101]

Not sure how they did it but Lombardi had every player graded on every play. Lot of work but it said a lot. That is why he believed Forrest Gregg was his most nearly perfect player. Grades.

Interesting.
I loved the story of how Lombardi started slow 1 season with several losses. He went to his most tenured and talented players to find out their thoughts on how to improve. He essentially formulated a plan but was wise to get buy in from his lockerroom ahead of time. Those guys were highly invested because they had a say in the plan. I imagine that invigorated them. We know whatever happened it worked. It certainly didn’t hurt his Coaching career to get buy-in from the lockerroom leaders.

There’s a hidden layer of humility in that approach. Lombardi might’ve had the aura of a hardened, focused, disciplinary style leader. Yet his will to Win was his motivation and to be the best didn’t preclude him from harnessing any details in his approach to get there. He didn’t mind sharing that glory I think that’s one of the more intriguing things I liked about his winning legacy.

I bet there’s a lot of coaches that would in a million years never ask his players for advice. Just my guess.

 

[milani]

Interesting.
I loved the story of how Lombardi started slow 1 season with several losses. He went to his most tenured and talented players to find out their thoughts on how to improve. He essentially formulated a plan but was wise to get buy in from his lockerroom ahead of time. Those guys were highly invested because they had a say in the plan. I imagine that invigorated them. We know whatever happened it worked. It certainly didn’t hurt his Coaching career to get buy-in from the lockerroom leaders.

There’s a hidden layer of humility in that approach. Lombardi might’ve had the aura of a hardened, focused, disciplinary style leader. Yet his will to Win was his motivation and to be the best didn’t preclude him from harnessing any details in his approach to get there. He didn’t mind sharing that glory I think that’s one of the more intriguing things I liked about his winning legacy.

I bet there’s a lot of coaches that would in a million years never ask his players for advice. Just my guess.

Yes. The first year there Vince suffered a 5 game losing streak after winning 3. But that team was still young. In 1964, however, a veteran team was losing close ones. Although much of that was due to Hornung's atrocious place kicking that season, Lombardi knew that great teams overcame mistakes whether it was penalties, turnovers, or special teams. Everyone just had to get better.

 

[Heyjoe4]

What I’m hearing and seeing from Gannon is compelling.

1. Matt and himself went through every Defender on tape, one by one. They did what I’d call a strict Evaluation. Its essentially coming to a consensus on what couple of things does they player do exceptionally well and also which aspects of their game do they need to improve.

That attitude in itself imo is going to be a key to 2026. Imo one of the areas we’ve failed in the past is putting particular players in positions to expound upon their strengths. Im not just picking on Hafley because imo its more common than not. I think partly it’s somewhat of a confidence thing when you’re a newer DC and you feel like maybe you have to prove you’re worthy OR we’re coming off a previous season of underperformance. Instead of knowing you’re worthy and raising the bar you play it safe. Rather than trying areas of improvement you might stay traditional.

I’ve seen countless players in GB that I thought were mismanaged. Now to our DC Defense, some was based on necessity. Wooden is the most recent example. My personal mismanaged list is Eric Stokes, Edgerrin Cooper (2025) Oren Burks, Casey Hayward, Lance Kendrick’s, Aaron Jones in some partial seasons being held to <20 touches. I even think Lukas Van Ness to a degree coming into the NFL has been stretched too thin for his limited experience. It’s like they experimented with many players early on, instead of putting them in their best respective position to succeed.

All DC’s make mistakes in player usage. The good ones realize it quicker and adapt. I don’t think Gannon is going to stay locked in a box. From game to game he’s going to make better ongoing adjustments. Possibly even within games or to finish games we’ll see this.

I think this is why Gannon will do well. He places players in spots where they can excel based on relative strengths.

 

[milani]

I think this is why Gannon will do well. He places players in spots where they can excel based on relative strengths.

Unfortunate that it did not go well enough in AZ for him.