Packers Defense Under Pressure in 2026
Packers defensive lineman Devonte Wyatt enters the 2026 season with a new contract and big expectations.
With yesterday’s extension to defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt, the Green Bay Packers are putting much of their 2026 hopes in their defensive front.
If the Packers are to win their first division championship since 2021 and get past the first weekend in the NFL playoffs for the first time since 2023, their defensive front will have a lot to say in accomplishing that goal.
Packers Sign Devonte Wyatt to Three-Year Extension https://t.co/4A2uKD0dzM #Packers #GoPackGo pic.twitter.com/aWfIMxNV6N
— CheeseheadTV 🧀 (@cheeseheadtv) July 20, 2026
These are the five reasons why the Packers defensive front will be the biggest factor in determining the 2026 team’s success.
1. Draft Investment
When the Packers traded Davante Adams in 2022, their reward was two extra picks in the first two rounds of the 2022 draft. With those two picks, plus their own two picks, they came away with Wyatt, linebacker Quay Walker and wide receiver Christian Watson. Both Wyatt and Watson have gotten extensions this offseason and Walker was let walk away in free agency.
Wyatt joined several other first round picks to play on the defensive line. Since 2019 when Brian Gutekunst became general manager, he has highly invested the team on the defensive line.
Wyatt was picked with the hopes of pairing with another former first round pick, Kenny Clark, to be a dominant duo on the inside. Rashan Gary (2019) and Lukas Van Ness (2023) were both drafted to be a pair of starting edge rushers. Gary was traded this offseason after an up-and-down 2025 and Van Ness is penciled in to start for the first time of his career. If Van Ness can stay healthy, he should be an every-down player both at defensive tackle (in passing situations) and on the outside as an edge rusher.
The Packers also invested the equivalent to two more first round picks on Micah Parsons, who himself was the No. 12 overall pick in 2021.
1st & 2nd Round Picks on Front 7 players since 2009
| Year | Player | Round | Pick | Position | School |
| 2009 | B.J. Raji | 1 | 9 | DT | Boston College |
| 2009 | Clay Matthews | 1 | 23 | Edge | Southern Cal |
| 2010 | Mike Neal | 2 | 56 | DE | Purdue |
| 2012 | Nick Perry | 1 | 28 | Edge | Southern Cal |
| 2012 | Jerel Worthy | 2 | 51 | DT | Michigan State |
| 2013 | Datone Jones | 1 | 26 | DT | UCLA |
| 2016 | Kenny Clark | 1 | 27 | DT | UCLA |
| 2019 | Rashan Gary | 1 | 12 | Edge | Michigan |
| 2022 | Quay Walker | 1 | 22 | LB | Georgia |
| 2022 | Devonte Wyatt | 1 | 28 | DT | Georgia |
| 2023 | Lukas Van Ness | 1 | 13 | Edge | Iowa |
| 2024 | Edgerrin Cooper | 2 | 45 | LB | Texas A&M |
2. Micah Parsons
Parsons stepped into the Packers defense a year ago and was immediately one of the best Packers to rush the passer in the last 30 years. Parsons is one of the league’s top edge rushers and one of the few true field tilting players at the position in the league.
With 12.5 sacks, Parsons became the 6th Packers defender to obtain the feet since the 1990’s; joining Reggie White, Aaron Kampman, Clay Matthews, Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila and Za’Darius Smith.
If he can be close to what he was in 2025 after coming back from his ACL injury, the Packers defense could be near the top of the league in rushing the passer.
Most Packers sacks since 1993
| Year | Player | Sacks |
| 1998 | Reggie White | 16 |
| 2006 | Aaron Kampman | 15.5 |
| 2001 | Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila | 13.5 |
| 2004 | Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila | 13.5 |
| 2010 | Clay Matthews | 13.5 |
| 2019 | Za'Darius Smith | 13.5 |
| 1993 | Reggie White | 13 |
| 2012 | Clay Matthews | 13 |
| 2020 | Za'Darius Smith | 12.5 |
| 2025 | Micah Parsons | 12.5 |
3. Lack of playmakers at cornerback
A strong defensive front will also hide the Packers biggest weakness on the team which is at the cornerback position. Last year’s starting outside corners Carrington Valentine and Keisan Nixon left much to be desired throughout the 2025 season.
The Packers defense finished with just seven interceptions in the regular season, with Nixon recording the only interception by a cornerback. Valentine had his only interception of the season in the playoff loss to the Bears. In two seasons as a primary slot corner Javon Bullard has yet to register an interception.
This season, the Packers have high hopes for their top pick Brandon Cisse, who was drafted at pick #52 and should immediately be in the conversation to start in place of either Valentine or Nixon. Free-agent acquisition Benjamin St.-Juste has two interceptions in his five-year career, playing for both the Washington Commanders and Los Angeles Chargers.
4. Jonathan Gannon’s defense
When the Philadelphia Eagles made their run to the Super Bowl in 2022, a huge reason was Jonathan Gannon’s defensive unit. The 2022 Eagles are just one of four teams in NFL history to have 70 sacks in a season; the other three being 1984 Bears, 1989 Vikings and 1987 Bears.
Their defense had four players have at least 11 sacks, one of which the Packers signed in the offseason. Javon Hargrave had his best season of his career with 11 sacks, but he’s entering his 11th season this year, so it is very unlikely he will come anywhere close to duplicating his success of 2022. However, maybe his pass-rush presence will help unlock Wyatt, Van Ness, Karl Brooks and rookie Chris McClellan as better interior rushers this upcoming season.
A big key for that Eagles defense was also the play of edge rusher Haason Reddick. Reddick also had a career year, finishing with 16 sacks. He was used as both a standing up linebacker and two-point stance defensive end, which is likely where both Parsons and linebacker Edgerrin Cooper could be used. Cooper showed potential as a rookie in 2024, finishing with 3.5 sacks.
5. Recent Super Bowl winners
Since 2020, the following teams have won Super Bowls: Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Los Angeles Rams, Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles and Seattle Seahawks. And in every case, maybe except for the Chiefs, the other four teams were very strong at rushing the passer.
The blueprint for going deep in the NFL playoffs has become making life difficult for the other team’s quarterback. The Bucs and 49ers both did that to Aaron Rodgers in playoff losses in 2020 and 2021. The Eagles defense stymied Patrick Mahomes in their Super Bowl blowout win and last year the Seahawks defense was one of the league’s best in the past decade.
The Packers will be relying heavily on Parsons, Wyatt, Hargrave, Van Ness, Cooper and a slew of young draft picks to improve the team’s pass rush in 2026.
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Mitch McLaughlin is a Packers fan and shareholder residing in Sacramento, California. He will be writing Packers stories each week on Cheesehead TV. He can be found on Twitter: @McLaughlinMitch
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Comments (15)
LeotisHarris
July 21, 2026 at 03:15 pm
That's the terror of knowing what this world is about.
TKWorldWide
July 21, 2026 at 04:24 pm
The terror of not knowing ain’t no picnic either. 😂
dobber
July 21, 2026 at 04:34 pm
Watching some good friends scream, Let me out!
Turophile
July 21, 2026 at 03:38 pm
The Packers defense will be looking for plenty of help from their young players like Chris McClellan, Barryn Sorrell, Brandon Cisse, DDS, Evan Williams, Javon Bullard, Edgerrin Cooper. Some of these guys have shown up well already - and the outlook is good, as it should be with a draft and develop team that, though young, already has a good deal of experience.
There are late developers like LVN who whose play will be a key factor, especially early in the season. Then there are the vets like Hargrave, to pair with Wyatt, and Benjamin St.Juste to help the cornerback room.
I think the Packers have a strong team this year that could go far, given just an average degree of luck on the injury front.
There are a lot of questions on what the overall level of imporovement will be, but that is inevitable on a young D&D based team philosophy. But as long as the drafting has been decent (and I think is has been good enough), this is a team on the rise.
I think that the Packers are under-rated right now, mainly because assessing their talent-level is based on the improvement of several key guys over last year, which is difficult to assess for outsiders who don't follow the Packers day by day. The sprinkling of vets added this year could also pay off big-time.
I'm as hopful for a good defense this year, as I have been for many years.
Lombardi Trophy
July 21, 2026 at 03:44 pm
I enjoyed the article. Caught a couple of edits:
- and Walker was [let] walk away in free agency.
- With 12.5 sacks, Parsons became the 6th Packers defender to obtain the [feet] since the 1990’s
TKWorldWide
July 21, 2026 at 04:25 pm
I’m nearly 6 feet tall.
Maybe next year I’ll make it.
splitpea1
July 21, 2026 at 03:50 pm
Actually the two KC Super Bowl winners were very good at rushing the passer, having ranked second in the league in sacks for both years. They're an interesting case: they won it all with a dominant offense, and did an encore by winning with a dominant defense.
Good article, though.
The unsung heros are the IDLs. Life is a bitch for opposing offenses when they get stymied and pressured from the inside. Players like Chris Jones, Jalen Carter, and that pair Seattle has are invaluable to their teams' success. I'm really hoping the Packers can cultivate a player like that...someday (how many articles did we read, "Get Kenny Clark some help! ?). Unfortunately with the exception of Jones, those kinds of DTs are usually only available either very early in the draft or come with a hefty pricetag if you go the free agency route.
We're kind of clueless what Gannon's defense will look like when the games start counting, but at least it's encouraging that he says he'll be taking a system-less approach and just suiting it to the strengths of his players. You know we're not capable of 70 sacks or anything even close, but he'll need to improve on last season's 36 for sure.
Leatherhead
July 21, 2026 at 05:26 pm
Split Pea, I think that KC has good rushing the passer numbers because teams are always playing from behind against them. If you know your opponent has to pass, you put the dime defense on the field and just tee off.
Over the years I've watched this, and it seems like every year the best scoring teams also have good sack numbers.
Leatherhead
July 21, 2026 at 05:24 pm
This was a real good defense until the Denver game. We were 9-3-1 and had held 8 opponents to 21 or less. Hell, we were a good defense for the first 45 minutes of the playoff game in Chicago.
Getting Wyatt and Parsons back and healthy. Adding Hargrave , Franklin, and St. Juste. Having a year of experience for Oliver and Sorrell and Brinson and Stackhouse. This defense should be improved over what we had last year, unless you think that Gary, Enagbare, Wooden, and Hobbs were key pieces for us last year.
This is a veteran defense that has had quite a bit of time together. I suspect this defense will play well enough for us to win most of our games.
PhantomII
July 21, 2026 at 07:39 pm
I'm pretty sure the DC position improved also.
Snap the ball
July 21, 2026 at 10:31 pm
Leather
Other than we played the Ravens. We couldn’t stop a leaking sink
Tuff running teams between the tackles. Better shore it up
stockholder
July 21, 2026 at 05:30 pm
Forget the investment talk.
This is not the stock market.
And you can forget Loyalty, while you're at it.
Rodgers ,Clark, Gary, Mathews, Turnover etc.
But what were they really worth;
always depended on the goal.
And the goal was making money!
The profit is Long Term.
Shortening the window of some.
While extending others; has everything
to do with the evaluations and cap.
And nothing to do with sentiment or hardware.
The pressure isn’t on the Defense.
Because Gute put it on MLF.
The super-Bowl is a Cash cow for any organization.
But power is what Gute wants, rather than hoisting a trophy.
IMO, he has gradually stripped the championship-level depth needed.
GreenandBold
July 21, 2026 at 06:08 pm
July the undefeated season of optimism
Snap the ball
July 21, 2026 at 10:28 pm
Bring back Smith
For 15 plays a game
I think the offense is under more pressure than the defense
Snap the ball
July 21, 2026 at 10:29 pm
I like the picture on this article. Jones probably ran for 8 yards off tackle something we haven’t done since he left.