Why I Love The 2026-2027 Green Bay Packers

[OldSchool101]

As far as my primary likes for 26-27?

Another thing really no one is talking about. There’s a very silent but dangerous and deadly undertow happening in Green Bay. D Coaching changes. What The Bears gained in O abilities last year? GB just matched it with D ability in 2026 imo. It’s not a coincidence either.

Obviously we’ve switched Coordinators. Yet Babich as our DB coach/Pass game Coordinator, Covington as our LB’s coach. Then Daniel Bullocks was poached from the 49ers and hired as our CB coach and we all know how good the 49ers have been preventing big yards performances. He’s largely been mentored by Robert Saleh all the way back to Jacksonville. Then Demeeco Ryans mixed in more recently. From 2019-2024, the 49ers are the ONLY 1 NFL team to rank top 10 in Defense across that 6 year span.

Our D staff is now a conglomeration of the New England Patriots, Philadelphia Eagles and SF49ers staff. My hope is MLF stays the H out of their way!

GB has quietly established an All Star cast D coaching tree. Add to that Bullocks, Babich and Covington have the Queens of the chessboard. Micah Parsons, Xavier, Cooper, Franklin, Evan now entering year 3. Wyatt and Hargrave. Now McClellan added inside to compete for primary depth options. LVN can play versatile across that DL. Then good depth with Brenton Cox Jr and Barryn Sorrell coming on strong to close out 2025. We could do much worse than DDS and Colin Oliver all the way 3 deep on each side. Then several alternatives to use at CB with St Juste and Cisse added.

We also haven’t even considered that Brian set himself up. We now have the monetary ability to grab a substantial Add if needed before trade deadline.

 

[Schultz]

That’s good research. It doesn’t diminish CB’s though as a group. Of 114 CB’s on PFF that group ranks 29th in collective ranking. While that might not be DPOY it’s a very solid group of CB’s. As someone wise in here tried to allude that group got “picked on”? That’s just absurd. The only outlier CB was Forbes at 93/114. Take out the high and low on any good experiment with good sample. That’s #24/114 ranked collectively. Or the top 21% of the NFL. Doesn’t sound like a group that got “picked on”. If anything that group did the picking. That top 10 group picked off 21 passes for INT.

Once again in benefit of these debates I keep seeing St Juste in a positive light. Last year of CB’s with 40+ targets, he allowed 53.5% in pass completion. Good for #20 in the NFL of 101 (40+ targets) qualifiers.

Just because i was curious here is how that list corresponds with PFF grading:

Mike Jackson - 4th
Riley Moss - 42nd
Tyson Campbell - 29th
Emmanuel Forbes - 93rd
DJ Turner - 19th
Keisean Nixon - 41st
Quinyon Mitchell - 16th
Kool-Aid McKinstry - 25th
Kamari Lassiter - 11th
Cooper DeJean - 7th

Mixed bag I guess. I would not put a ton of stock into being a Pro Bowl player at this point, much less a Pro Bowl *alternate*. Lest we forget Shedeur Sanders ended up being the AFC's starting QB in this year's Pro Bowl and for the season he had the 5th-worst passer rating of ALL-TIME - and the worst of any Browns QB with 6+ starts (not sure which says more there, 5th-worst all-time or worst Browns QB...)

Regarding Bullard and Nixon, TBH I think Nixon tends to get a bit over-hated by Packers fans but at the same time I would have a very, very hard time watching their tape from this past season and come away with the conclusion that Nixon is the better player and/or the player with a higher ceiling

I notice there are 33 CBs that PFF ranked higher than Nixon that are not on this list of 10.

 

[OldSchool101]

I notice there are 33 CBs that PFF ranked higher than Nixon that are not on this list of 10.

I’ll take you for your word there.
I 100% agree he needs to clean up parts of his game like getting grabby and causing negative plays. If he could get into respectable 6-8 across a season that would help.

Although if someone is going to make assertions of quality and going to use PFF as evidence? We should factor that 114 CB’s eligible and the median grade would be around #57 ranked (1/2 way mark) So an average graded CB by PFF standard is give or take +- #47 to #67 or C+ to C- grade area. Thats roughly average with some wiggle.

90% of that top PD list is better than the average #47-67. Go look that’s not by chance. Nixon actually graded at #42/114. So he’s slightly better than an average CB in that respect.
Then we can look at the outlier who is Emmanuel Forbes, he logged 3 INT which was #9/114 also. Plus he logged a FF so he gave the Rams Offense the ball back 4 times. He tied for #5 in Takeaways (4) by a CB of 114 qualified. He ranked tied #9 in the league across ALL DB’s in takeaways. That includes Safeties and CB’s or over 212 players. That top 95% tile for Forbes in game changing Takeaways. Forbes also recurses a 56% QB pass completion % in 2025. I think we all know a QB with 56.6% throwing his way is putrid. So the 1 outlier (Forbes) is really not nearly as bad as his low PFF grade. It was his missed Tackle % that drug his grade down imo.

Now I’m not putting all the weight in PFF but it’s a relatively reliable metric. PFF actually list Penalties, so I’m pretty confident those are already factored into his grade. According to them Nixon is a C+/B- on a C scale.

 

[Heyjoe4]

That’s good research. It doesn’t diminish CB’s though as a group. Of 114 CB’s on PFF that group ranks 29th in collective ranking. While that might not be DPOY it’s a very solid group of CB’s. As someone wise in here tried to allude that group got “picked on”? That’s just absurd. The only outlier CB was Forbes at 93/114. Take out the high and low on any good experiment with good sample. That’s #24/114 ranked collectively. Or the top 21% of the NFL. Doesn’t sound like a group that got “picked on”. If anything that group did the picking. That top 10 group picked off 21 passes for INT.

Once again in benefit of these debates I keep seeing St Juste in a positive light. Last year of CB’s with 40+ targets, he allowed 53.5% in pass completion. Good for #20 in the NFL of 101 (40+ targets) qualifiers.

I hope a change of scenery brings out the best in St. Juste. It certainly worked when we lost Hyde and Hayward, umm, sadly for the Packers.

 

[OldSchool101]

Love what I’m reading about Coach Daniel Bullocks and Bobby Babich.

Babich is stressing Turnovers to get us off a #28 in the league ranking in that category. His philosophy is to “make plays not chase plays”. It’s about preparing and rehearsing to make INT and Forced Fumbles on each opportunity, but in a way that promotes it by rehearsing it until it’s expected and routine like. The mental aspect is a big component of success imo. You’ve got to mentally play like you’re a duo CB/WR and attack the ball like it’s yours. It’s no wonder Babich Coached units from the very top Turnover squads regularly. Let’s hope this is finally not just talk as he’s had proven success in most seasons as a DB coach or Coordinator.

Daniel Bullock, our new CB Coach, is stressing tackling. As fundamental as that sounds he’s putting emphasis on that aspect being a deciding factor for who starts at CB. That’s good news for Nixon. because he’s been a solid graded Tackler. However on the other side is Carrington Valentine and that’s not good news for him. He’s been dismal level recently at tackling and he’ll need to firmly clean that up or lose his job as a starter.

 

[CarryTheG14]

Love what I’m reading about Coach Daniel Bullocks and Bobby Babich.

Babich is stressing Turnovers to get us off a #28 in the league ranking in that category. His philosophy is to “make plays not chase plays”. It’s about preparing and rehearsing to make INT and Forced Fumbles on each opportunity, but in a way that promotes it by rehearsing it until it’s expected and routine like. The mental aspect is a big component of success imo. You’ve got to mentally play like you’re a duo CB/WR and attack the ball like it’s yours. It’s no wonder Babich Coached units from the very top Turnover squads regularly. Let’s hope this is finally not just talk as he’s had proven success in most seasons as a DB coach or Coordinator.

Daniel Bullock, our new CB Coach, is stressing tackling. As fundamental as that sounds he’s putting emphasis on that aspect being a deciding factor for who starts at CB. That’s good news for Nixon. because he’s been a solid graded Tackler. However on the other side is Carrington Valentine and that’s not good news for him. He’s been dismal level recently at tackling and he’ll need to firmly clean that up or lose his job as a starter.

Babich was a real popular name when we hired Hafley.

Daniel Bullocks... Nebraska? Going to check now..

I was right,. 2006. Mingya, I'm getting old.

 

[OldSchool101]

As I’ve and others have mentioned, Much will be determine by our OL play. Yet let’s also remember that during the last several seasons the Packers were young. Real young. As in youngest in the league for several years running.

This season things are evening out in age. GB is no longer the youngest team now, so the youth from a few seasons ago are now going in as seasoned Veterans.

Now Gb has a plethora of players entering what is normally a peak period with the bulk of athletes.
Love =7th year (4th as Starter)
Banks =6th year (2nd with GB)
Morgan =3rd year (2nd as Starter)
Rhyan =5th year (3rd as Starter)
Belton =2nd year
Tom =5th year
Kraft =4th year
Musgrave =4th year
Reed =4th year
Jacobs =8th year
Sky Moore =5th year
Christian Watson =5th Year

 

[milani]

As I’ve and others have mentioned, Much will be determine by our OL play. Yet let’s also remember that during the last several seasons the Packers were young. Real young. As in youngest in the league for several years running.

This season things are evening out in age. GB is no longer the youngest team now, so the youth from a few seasons ago are now going in as seasoned Veterans.

Now Gb has a plethora of players entering what is normally a peak period with the bulk of athletes.
Love =7th year (4th as Starter)
Banks =6th year (2nd with GB)
Morgan =3rd year (2nd as Starter)
Rhyan =5th year (3rd as Starter)
Belton =2nd year
Tom =5th year
Kraft =4th year
Musgrave =4th year
Reed =4th year
Jacobs =8th year
Sky Moore =5th year
Christian Watson =5th Year

Seasoned veterans.