The Green Bay Packers special teams have been the laughing stock of NFL special teams for a long time. They were so bad last season, that they cost the Packers advancing in the NFC playoffs. This off-season, general manager Brian Gutekunst and head coach Matt LaFleur made sure to spend the time and capital on improving the downtrodden unit. The time has arrived to see if that time and capital were well spent. The Green Bay Packers special teams will be under a microscope in the season opener against the Minnesota Vikings.
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No More Excuses for Green Bay Packers Special Teams
The biggest piece of capital the Packers spent this off-season on the special teams went to Rich Bisaccia. The new Green Bay Packers special teams coordinator signed a contract that made him the highest-paid NFL special teams coordinator.
Gutekunst and Russ Ball, executive vice president, had their hand forced when it came to the large contract given to Bisaccia. Not since Nolan Cromwell held the title of Green Bay Packers special teams coordinator, have they had a competent coordinator.
Ball didn’t do the Packers any favors either when it came to hiring a special teams coordinator. When LaFleur was putting his first coaching staff together he pegged Darren Rizzi to be the Green Bay Packers special teams coordinator. However, when it was time to ink the very well-respected special teams coordinator, Ball lowballed Rizzi. Rizzi turned the position down which eventually went to a flop of a hire Shawn Mennenga.
This time around, Ball had to pay up, and pay up in a big way. While many are claiming Bisaacia is the Vince Lombardi of special teams coordinators, he isn’t. The special teams units he has coordinated throughout his career have been solid. But never over the top dominate. However, he is exactly what the Green Bay Packers special teams need right now.
He brings a veteran voice to a very unstable special teams room. Gutekunst and LaFleur aren’t expecting a top-five special teams unit. Instead, they are looking for anything better than finishing in the bottom five.
Familiar Faces for Bisaacia
When it comes to special teams assistants and special teams player personnel, LaFleur and Gutekunst have allowed Bisaccia to have a lot of input. They are making sure that Bisaacia is comfortable with this staff as well as the roster.
Joining Bisaacia is his longtime assistant Byron Storer. Storer has worked under Bisaacia with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the then San Diego Chargers, and most recently the Las Vegas Raiders. Along with coaching with Bisaacia, Storer played for him when Storer was a special teams player for the Buccaneers. Bisaccia trusts Storer and his judgment, his coming to Green Bay with him was a must for the veteran special teams coordinator.
Storer isn’t the only familiar face that Bisaacia will see in the Green Bay Packers special teams room. Safety Dallin Leavitt and cornerback Keisean Nixon, both were Raiders special teams standouts under Bisaccia.
Leavitt is listed as a safety, but as he showed in the Packers preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers, he doesn’t bring much to a defense. His contributions, if he is healthy from his shoulder injury, will come on special teams. Nixon has a better chance than Leavitt does seeing time on the Green Bay Packers defense. Still, his main duty will come on special teams.
The Raiders special teams under Bisaacia were steady. Something the Packers would love their special teams to be in 2022. If Storer, Leavitt, and Nixon can help do that, it would make the Bisaacia hiring even better.
No Excuses for Crosby
2021 turned out to be a very disappointing season for Packers veteran kicker Mason Crosby. The now 38-year-old finished the season going 25 of 34 on field goals, along with going 49 of 51 on extra points. With how he finished the season and his contract, there was an outside chance that he wouldn’t return in 2022.
Even with having an off-season knee procedure, Crosby is set to be the Packers kicker for at least one more season. Bisaccia is making sure that Crosby has everything he needs to be successful in 2022.
The Packers struggled last season when it came to snapping and holding. It was obvious that Crosby wasn’t happy with them either, with his frequent head shaking when he missed a field goal. Gutekunst changed out the holder as well as the long snapper for 2022.
Jack Coco, an undrafted free agent out of Georgia Teach, replaces Steven Wirtel as the long snapper. Wirtel’s performance was at best disastrous. Wirtell struggled to snap spirals on his punt and kick snaps, something rarely seen at the NFL level.
The holding for Crosby’s extra points and field goals was a mess as well. Last year’s punter Corey Bojorquez was the Packers primary holder and struggled mightily. So this off-season, Gutekunst parted ways with Bojorquez and signed former Chicago Bears punter Pat O’Donnell. O’Donnell isn’t nearly the punter Bojorquez is. In fact, O’Donnell is at best an average punter. But he is a proven established holder. The Packers are banking on giving up a little on the punt game, for a better kicking game.
Except for Crosby’s knee recovery, he won’t have any excuses for another down season in Green Bay. Gutekunst gave him a newly established holder and a new long snapper. If he struggles again, there is a chance that Bisaacia could make an in-season change at kicker. Time to put up or shut up for Crosby.
Getting Something Positive from the Return Game
After how Amari Rodgers performed in 2021 as the Packers punt and kickoff returner, it looked doubtful that he would get a second chance. But there was Rodgers, fielding kickoffs as well as punts this preseason.
In preseason action, Rodgers did something he didn’t do in 2021 returning punts and kicks. That being field the ball cleanly and on kick returns, showed some burst. The way he performed actually makes him the favorite to hold down both duties, at least to start 2022.
Amari Rodgers with the longest return of his NFL career before getting bodied by Rashan Gary… pic.twitter.com/PJIIyT7izu
— Daire Carragher (@DaireCarragher) August 13, 2022
If there is one duty that Rodgers has a chance of losing it’s as the primary kickoff returner. Rookie wide receiver Christian Watson was an electric kickoff returner at North Dakota State. He was expected to compete with Rodgers in training camp, but with recovering from off-season knee surgery, he wasn’t able to do so. If Rodgers falters, Watson could get a chance to unseat him. Kylin Hill also is another candidate if Rodgers falters. Hill will start the season on the PUP list. If he can get healthy and he returns, he could compete for a position he held to begin 2021.
The Packers are hoping that Rodgers can do a better job returning punts this season than last season. There really aren’t many options to fill the spot if Rodgers duplicates his 2021 performance. Veteran Randall Cobb could field punts, but he isn’t going to get many big returns. Rookie Romeo Doubs, who returned punts at Nevada, could do it, but the Packers will need him on offense.
If the preseason is any gauge, it appears Rodgers has found some confidence working with Bisaccia. The Packers don’t need him to be Devin Hester, but just need him to avoid mistakes and make positive yards.
Out with the Old, In with the New
Gutekunst also did some house cleaning and got rid of so-called “special teams aces”. Oren Burks, a former third-round pick of Gutekunst, was allowed to depart as a free agent. In training camp, Gutekunst parted ways with Ty Summers and Malik Taylor in training camp as well. Burks, Summers, and Taylor were a big part of the Green Bay Packers special teams failures and it was time Gutekunst finally parted ways with the three players.
With those three now gone, Bisaccia will now fill their special teams spots with players either carried over from last season or new players. Nixon and Leavitt will be key pieces. But so will newly signee Rudy Ford, who the Packers picked up after the Jacksonville Jaguars cut him in training camp. Ford is a six-year veteran who has spent time with three NFL franchises. Ford is one of the fastest gunners in the NFL and should give the Packers their best gunner since Jeff Janis held the position.
One carry-over player that should be a big part of the Packers punt and kickoff coverages is Isaiah McDuffie. McDuffie had a very impressive training camp at inside linebacker and displayed a lot of speed. That speed could come in handy on special teams.
The Packers are banking on improvement out of their special teams this season. Honestly, it can’t get any worse than last season. Under former Packers special teams coordinator Maurice Drayton last season, the Packers special teams might have been the worst in history. With Bisaacia at the helm, they are hoping for any type of improvement. At this point, any improvement will be accepted. Next Sunday in Minnesota against the Vikings, it will be judgment day for the Packers special teams.
