GREEN BAY, Wis. – NFL games are won in the trenches. Do the Green Bay Packers have enough horsepower at defensive tackle?
With the first practice set for Wednesday, here is our Packers training camp preview of the defensive tackles.
Coming and Going
Green Bay didn’t lose many key players in free agency, but a big blow – pardon the pun – was 340-pound T.J. Slaton signing with the Bengals. Slaton started every game the last two seasons. According to league data, the run defense was 0.50 yards per snap better when Slaton was on the field in 2024 and 0.32 yards better in 2023.
Otherwise, every snap from the last two seasons is back with the returns of Kenny Clark, Devonte Wyatt, Karl Brooks and Colby Wooden.
The Packers’ biggest addition was Warren Brinson, a sixth-round pick. Nazir Stackhouse, who was Brinson’s teammate at Georgia, was signed after going undrafted. Last month, the team added former fourth-round pick Cameron Young.
Biggest Battle: Replacing T.J. Slaton
Last season, the Packers allowed 3.96 yards per rushing play, good for third in the NFL. They hadn’t allowed less than 4.0 yards per carry since 2017, a key part in finishing in the top 10 in total defense and scoring defense in the same season for the first time since they won the Super Bowl in 2010.
T.J. Slaton, who started all 34 games the past two seasons, was a key part of that success but, surprisingly, the Packers made no real effort to re-sign him or replace him. Their biggest investment was Warren Brinson in the sixth round. Based on the history of 198th picks, Brinson is as likely to be a bottom-of-the-depth-chart player with a short career as he is to make a real impact.
The Packers are counting on a healthy Kenny Clark returning to his Pro Bowl form. But who else is going to stop the run? Former first-round pick Devonte Wyatt, who probably will start alongside Clark, was drafted to rush the passer. Neither Colby Wooden, a fourth-round pick in 2023, nor Karl Brooks, a sixth-round pick in 2023, have shown signs of being consistent, hard-to-move run-stoppers.
Nonetheless, defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley spoke with confidence before the start of OTAs.
“We’re pretty good in the interior,” he said. “Devonte and Kenny, Karl, Colby, all those guys inside, I feel good about our interior guys. Even take away the addition of those guys [such as Brinson] – hopefully we’ll get something out of them – but we got pretty good guys on the inside of our defense that I’m confident we can continue to do that. If we have to change up and do some things different schematically with them, we will, but we got a good group in there.”
Game-Changer: Kenny Clark
Kenny Clark has been the unit’s game-changer. They need that to be the case again.
Clark is a three-time Pro Bowler as one of the rare three-down difference-makers at the position. In Week 1 of last season, however, Clark suffered a toe injury on one of the Eagles’ Tush Pushes. In the first 10 games, he had as many games with zero tackles (two) as he had quarterback hits or tackles for losses.
“It’s just every step, you know what I’m saying?” Clark said during OTAs of the impact of the injury. “You’re taking every step and the toe is busting. It’s something you’ve got to deal with, but it is what it is. That’s done. I got the surgery done and we’re moving forward.”
Taking his rookie season out of the picture, Clark last season had career lows in sacks (one; down from 7.5 in 2023), quarterback hits (five; 16 in 2023) and tackles (35, down from 44 in 2023). His four tackles for losses were the second-fewest of his career (and down from nine in 2023).
The Packers need one of the highest-paid players at his position to have a big-time bounce-back season.
X-Factor: Devonte Wyatt
Now’s the time for Devonte Wyatt. A first-round pick in 2022, he has emerged as one of the better interior pass rushers in the NFL. He had five sacks last season despite missing three games with an ankle injury.
“Man, just staying healthy and just staying hungry and keep building on what he’s been building on,” Kenny Clark said during OTAs. “I think if he didn’t get hurt, I think just what he was going to do was going to be huge. He was making a lot of plays and all that kind of stuff, so just keeping that same mentality, keep working, keep grinding and just keep on improving and he’ll be all right.”
What Wyatt has proven he can do is get after the quarterback. He rushed the passer 247 times last season. Using that number as the threshold, Wyatt in 2024 ranked 10th out of 76 interior defensive linemen in pass-rush win rate and fourth in PFF’s pass-rushing productivity, a metric that combines sacks, hits and hurries per pass-rushing snap. In 2023, he ranked sixth in pass-rush win rate and second in pass-rushing productivity.
What Wyatt hasn’t proven he can do is stop the run. It doesn’t mean he can’t; he just hasn’t been asked to do so. Because of T.J. Slaton’s strength against the run, the Packers mostly let Wyatt focus on rushing the passer. Last season, Wyatt played 7.6 run-defending snaps per game.
This offseason, with Slaton in Cincinnati, Wyatt and Kenny Clark lined up as the No. 1 tandem. Wyatt’s focus?
“Really, I would say on my run game a little more and just really attacking the man,” he said during OTAs. “That’s it, really. Just being more violent.”
Under the Radar: Nazir Stackhouse
At Georgia, Nazir Stackhouse played in 59 games in five years, including 42 starts during his final three seasons. His teammate at Georgia, Warren Brinson, also played in 59 games in five years. He started four games apiece in 2023 and 2024.
Nonetheless, the Packers drafted Brinson in the sixth round and signed Stackhouse as an undrafted free agent. Brinson is taller, longer and more athletic. Thus, he has the greater upside. Stackhouse, however, is bigger. At 327 pounds, he was the stouter run defender at Georgia. It’s that brawn and ability to stay strong against double-team blocks that could give him an edge toward winning a roster spot.
“Stackhouse is more of a plugger. Plug and play, put him in the interior, work on first, second down,” the East-West Shrine Bowl’s Eric Galko said. “For a team like Green Bay, just having him be a nose tackle, having him eat up space and get his hands on guys is really impressive. He’s a guy that once he gets his hands on an offensive lineman, he can really control and win. As long as his hand positioning develops even further, he has a great chance to be a contributor if not a starter one day.”
Noteworthy Number
126: That’s the number of career starts by Kenny Clark. The rest of Green Bay’s defensive tackles? Seven: Devonte Wyatt, five; Colby Wooden, one; Cameron Young one; Karl Brooks, zero. Of those seven, Wooden had the only one last season.
Roster Projection
Kenny Clark, Devonte Wyatt, Karl Brooks, Colby Wooden, Warren Brinson and Nazir Stackhouse.
Key to Success: Kenny Clark
Kenny Clark was a Pro Bowler in 2019, 2021 and 2023. The Packers need that odd-year trend to continue in 2025.
At defensive tackle, Clark is the one player who has proven he can make an impact on all three downs. He is the one player who has shown he can stop the run. It’s hard to believe the Packers have a snowball’s chance in you-know-where to make any noise in the NFC North without Clark causing mayhem against the powerful lines assembled by the Lions, Vikings and Bears.