If the Green Bay Packers are going to find success during the 2023 season, especially in the early going, they will need their defense to play at a high level. As the offense finds its bearings with Jordan Love leading the way, the defense will have to step up its game.
It is something that veteran Preston Smith has mentioned previously this offseason as that unit is going to do everything it can to make life easy for Love. That puts pressure on his teammates to get the job done, but there aren’t any players on the hot seat like defensive coordinator Joe Barry.
2023 could very well be a make-or-break season for the Packers’ defensive coordinator. In the opinion of Matt Schneidman of The Athletic, it is one of the 10 questions that need to be answered heading into training camp; can Barry get the most out of what is a loaded defense on paper?
There have certainly been some highlights during Barry’s tenure, such as the team ranking 13th in scoring defense, giving up only 21.8 points per game in the last two seasons. In their one playoff game, he was at the helm of the defense, they had a very impressive performance against the San Francisco 49ers, holding them without an offensive touchdown in a 13-10 loss.
Alas, there has been a sense that this unit has underwhelmed compared to what they are capable of. As Schneidman notes, there have been some debatable decisions with schemes and personnel coupled with bouts of inconsistency.
While 13th in scoring defense certainly isn’t poor, some people believe Barry should be getting more out of the players that he has to work with. Given the talent on the roster, it would be hard to argue against that.
The Packers’ defense is set to have eight first-round picks playing prominent roles during the 2023 season when everyone’s healthy; defensive lineman Devonte Wyatt and Kenny Clark, edge rushers Rashan Gary and Lukas Van Ness, linebacker Quay Walker, cornerbacks Jaire Alexander and Eric Stokes and safety Darnell Savage Jr. That is the kind of talent defensive coordinators would dream of working with.
This is a group that has the talent to be one of the best defenses in the NFL, very easily competing for a top-five spot. The time is now for Barry to figure out a way to bring it all together otherwise he could be looking for a new job in 2024.