{"id":26149,"date":"2025-06-18T15:36:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-18T15:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=26149"},"modified":"2025-06-18T15:36:00","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T15:36:00","slug":"breaking-news-who-will-start-next-to-walker-and-cooper-in-green-bays-4-3-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=26149","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING NEWS: Who Will Start Next To Walker and Cooper In Green Bay&#8217;s 4-3 Defense?"},"content":{"rendered":"<section id=\"post-hero-1\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/zonecoverage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/USATSI_24921169_168402173_lowres-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Who Will Start Next To Walker and Cooper In Green Bay's 4-3 Defense? - Zone Coverage\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Photo Credit: Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<div>\n<p>The Green Bay Packers\u2019 off-ball linebacker corps is the position group with the least competition on their roster heading into training camp. Quay Walker and Edgerrin Cooper should open the season as starters, but who will line up alongside them in 4-3 looks is a mystery.<\/p>\n<p>The remainder of Green Bay\u2019s off-ball linebacker room includes Ty\u2019Ron Hopper, Isaiah McDuffie, Isaiah Simmons, Kristian Welch, and Jamon Dumas-Johnson. McDuffie and Hopper were with the team last season. Still, McDuffie is the only one in that group with reliable starting experience, which could give him an early edge in the competition for depth roles.<\/p>\n<p>McDuffie has been with the Packers since 2021. He\u2019s average against the run but struggles in coverage. Last season, he posted a 46.4 coverage grade and gave up a 129.6 passer rating when targeted. Jeff Hafley coached him at Boston College and has praised his toughness. That trait, plus their connection, could boost his chances in the competition.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/X1T50vUMfJYzrFL6ZL6w5A--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTY0MDtoPTk2MDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/milwaukee_journal_sentinel_natl_articles_362\/f380cb53ceb2e17aad8dca4aed78f2c2\" alt=\"Matt LaFleur gets heavily criticized after Packers' playoff loss to the  Eagles, season-long failures, struggles vs top-tier teams - Yahoo Sports\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou wanna talk about tough? I mean, that guy\u2026 you gotta give him so much credit for how much he cares about this team and how badly he wants to play football on a short week,\u201d Hafley said about McDuffie\u2019s ability to play through injuries following Green Bay\u2019s Thanksgiving clash with the Miami Dolphins.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo get his body ready to play in that game (vs. the Miami Dolphins), I mean, that guy is what is right about football, and it\u2019s incredible what he was able to do. And then the way he played? I mean, that guy had some huge plays in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Last year, the Packers took Hopper in the third round of the draft. He appeared in only three games last year but didn\u2019t start any. Hopper played just 18 defensive snaps total, with seven against the San Francisco 49ers, three versus the Seattle Seahawks, and eight against the New Orleans Saints. His ceiling is still a mystery, and we should see more from him in the preseason.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Ty\u2019Ron Hopper actually got in on a play in base defense early in the third quarter well before the garbage time snaps. Good to see! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/eG0AbmPzZj\">pic.twitter.com\/eG0AbmPzZj<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Andy Herman (@AndyHermanNFL) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AndyHermanNFL\/status\/1861089285165728064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 25, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Isaiah Simmons is one of the most versatile players on Green Bay\u2019s roster. He lined up at safety and linebacker during his time with the Arizona Cardinals and the New York Giants. While Simmons will likely be a core special teams contributor in Green Bay, he\u2019s also the type of athlete Hafley could have fun moving around and building special packages for on defense.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re excited about getting him,\u201d Hafley said in May. \u201cI loved him coming out of school; think a lot of us did. He\u2019s a big, fast, physical guy that can run, and he\u2019s made plays before, so we\u2019re hoping to put him in position to help him help us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Green Bay also brought back Welch, who spent the 2023 season with the team, and signed undrafted rookie Dumas-Johnson. Welch will likely be a special teams contributor if he makes the final roster.<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, Dumas-Johnson has a solid chance to continue Green Bay\u2019s two-decade streak of at least one undrafted rookie making the team. He can rush the passer, cover, and bring another layer of versatility and dynamism to the second level.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Tackles. Sacks. Picks. Six. Jamon Dumas-Johnson does it ALL. A game-changer on every down, he\u2019s got the numbers to back it up:<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udd25 192 career tackles<br \/>\ud83d\udcaa 25 TFL | 13 sacks<br \/>\ud83d\udd12 2 INT | 1 TD<\/p>\n<p>Welcome to our 2025 NFL Draft Class! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/iXgsPMnC8z\">pic.twitter.com\/iXgsPMnC8z<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Equity Sports (@EquitySports) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/EquitySports\/status\/1884674867640836218?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 29, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>So, who will start alongside Cooper and Walker in the 4-3?<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s still too early to lock anything in, but I assume that McDuffie will open the season as the third starter. However, the Packers could rotate in Isaiah Simmons or even Javon Bullard on second-and-medium or third-and-long situations to improve coverage over the middle. Ty\u2019Ron Hopper might be able to crack the rotation and earn more playing time, but there\u2019s just not enough evidence yet to say whether he will \u2014 or won\u2019t \u2014 be able to do that.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Green Bay Packers\u2019 off-ball linebacker corps is the position group with the least competition on their roster heading into training camp. Quay Walker<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26150,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-green-bay-packers"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BREAKING NEWS: Who Will Start Next To Walker and Cooper In Green Bay&#039;s 4-3 Defense? - Breaking News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=26149\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING NEWS: Who Will Start Next To Walker and Cooper In Green Bay&#039;s 4-3 Defense? - Breaking News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Green Bay Packers\u2019 off-ball linebacker corps is the position group with the least competition on their roster heading into training camp. 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