Disconsidering positional value for a second, off-ball linebacker is probably the biggest need of the Green Bay Packers' roster. Not only the depth is questionable, but even the starters are not the ideal pieces for the defense — especially considering the switch to a 4-3 base under Jeff Hafley.

At this point, even pondering that the defense will play at least 75% to 80% of the time with only two off-ball linebackers on the field, the starters are Quay Walker, who hasn't lived up to his first-round status, and former seventh-round pick Isaiah McDuffie. The Packers released underperforming De'Vondre Campbell and haven't added other pieces to the room. The backups are mostly special teamers: Eric Wilson, Kristian Welch, and Christian Young.

Situation

The Packers were in a tough spot. Linebacker is not a premium position, so spending a lot of capital there would be a mistake — and one Green Bay made two years ago, when they decided to extend Campbell to a five-year, $50 million contract, and to draft Walker in the first round. Therefore, the decision to pass up the opportunity to sign expensive free agents is respectable.

There are two problems, though. First, this year's draft class is terrible. No off-ball linebacker is in the top 40 of the consensus big board, and only five are on the top 100: Edgerrin Cooper (42), Payton Wilson (44), Junior Colson (49), Jeremiah Trotter Jr. (78), and Cedric Gray (94).

To get things worse, Cooper and Gray, who are aligned with the type of player the Packers usually like to take, are much more similar to Quay Walker — more Will linebackers than Mikes, which wouldn't solve the main issue.

Moreover, linebackers usually take time to develop. It's a hard position to play these days, especially with smart offensive coaches (hello, Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay) exploiting their mistakes all the time. It's hard and unrealistic to expect a day 1 starter coming out of this class.

McDuffie is the best option

At this point, it's hard to imagine any option being an upgrade over Isaiah McDuffie. Going into his fourth NFL season, the former seventh-rounder is approaching his prime. If he keeps the trajectory he is on, the Packers can extract good value out of his contract season.

Last year, according to PFF, McDuffie was significantly better than Walker in pass coverage (59.0 vs 52.6 in grades) and pass rush (64.4 to 60.7), which is slightly surprising.

While Walker allowed a 109.8 passer rating when targeted, McDuffie's number was 98.7. It's not great either, but still significantly better.

Additionally, McDuffie knows Jeff Hafley and his system pretty well, as he played at Boston College before being drafted by the Packers in 2021.

"It was crazy because in my fourth year of college, I had him as my head coach. And now in my fourth year in the NFL, I have him as the DC," McDuffie told the Packer Central recently. "He came in and he definitely changed the culture of our program. And we had a winning season that year. Defensively, a lot of guys got opportunities, me being one of them, to take the next step in my play. Definitely he brings that energy, and he's super-smart, super-detailed. I think he's going to do a great job. I'm just excited to reconnect."

As McDuffie recalls, Hafley helped him find his best position on the field and develop as an off-ball player.

"The years previous, I didn't really play in the box that much," McDuffie added. "I was kind of on the line of scrimmage. That year, I got a chance to really be an off-the-ball, inside-the-box inside linebacker. It was my first time really doing it, so it was kind of a learning curve but, at the same time, I felt like they coached me up to a point where I got really comfortable after camp and everything. So, things were just kind of rolling, and I got a lot of opportunities to make plays."

Hope

As previously mentioned, linebacker is an extremely hard position to play in the NFL. Even players who are elite now had tough stretches early on. Roquan Smith, for example, had PFF grades of 64.2 and 52.4 in his first two seasons. Fred Warner had 64.1 and 66.9 grades, before breaking out in his third season, in 2020. They were already good, but not nearly as good as they became later on.

Hope is not a plan, but either way the Packers can still realistically expect growth from Quay Walker. It's fair to question the decision to draft him so early two years ago, while acknowledging that he played better in year 2 (his defensive grade went from 52.0 to 60.0) and that his athletic ability indicates another jump is still possible.

Overall situation

Unlike the safety position, there are not great free agent options at off-ball linebacker at this point. The most likely scenario is that the Packers will draft one or two mid- to late-round developmental guys, while banking on Jeff Hafley's scheme and on linebackers coach Anthony Campanile's ability to develop players to extract the most out of what they have.

In the worst-case scenario, it's a valid opportunity to understand how valuable linebackers are in today's game.

The Packers learned the wrong lessons with their search for an elite off-ball linebacker duo

Green Bay invested in De’Vondre Campbell and Quay Walker