been spent on the defense. Brian Gutekunst now must work on the offense in day two of the 2019 NFL Draft." />Skip to main contentclockmenumore-arrownoyesAcme Packing Company homepageHorizontal - WhiteAcme Packing Companya Green Bay Packers communityFollow Acme Packing Company online:Follow Acme Packing Company on TwitterFollow Acme Packing Company on FacebookFollow Acme Packing Company on InstagramLog in or sign upLog InSign UpSite searchSearchSearchAcme Packing Company main menuFanpostsFanshotsSectionsPackersOddsAboutMastheadCommunity GuidelinesStubHubMoreAll 321 blogs on Horizontal - WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections The APC PodcastPackers Film RoomFantasy Football AdviceCDTShare this storyShare this on FacebookShare this on TwitterShareAll sharing optionsShareAll sharing options for:Packers went defense again in round one Quinten Rollins Jersey , but now must answer questions on offense TwitterFacebookRedditPocketFlipboardEmailPhoto by Stacy Revere/Getty ImagesMike Pettine must be grinning on this Friday morning. Last night, Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst provided him with two exceptional athletes in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft, one for the front and one for the back of the defense. Gutekunst was aggressive on Thursday night, identifying the players that the Packers wanted early — months early in the case of 12th overall pick Rashan Gary — and making a big move upward to grab safety Darnell Savage at 21.New head coach Matt LaFleur, however, could be excused for thinking “what about me?”APC reactsSubscribe to the Acme Packing Company podcast!After all, the new head man in Green Bay is an offensive guy who will call the team’s plays and is installing a new scheme this spring (or at least a significantly different version of the West Coast offense). And so far, of all the Packers’ significant additions this offseason, only one — offensive lineman Billy Turner — has come on that side of the football.Za’Darius Smith, Preston Smith, and Adrian Amos in free agency, and now Rashan Gary and Darnell Savage in the draft ... that’s a lot of capital, both in terms of the draft and future salary cap money, invested to give Pettine every tool possible to improve the Packers’ defense. Now, with picks 44 and 75 on day two of the draft in his pocket, Gutekunst must look to the other side of the football.He even alluded to this in his press conference late Thursday night. “This obviously was a focus of ours,” he said about the overall investment in the defense. “We’ve added a number of bodies to that and guys we’re really excited about.” But he joked that LaFleur might like to see some more athletes as well: “I’d like to think we’re gonna still stay true to allowing the best player available to come to us (but) I do have an offensive coach sitting to my left in the room.”All told, the board set up for a strong draft on defense to start Brett Hundley Color Rush Jersey , but it was still a bit of a surprise that Gutekunst did not draft an offensive lineman on Thursday. Perhaps the biggest shock was the Savage pick coming — that trade up felt at the time like a spot where the Packers were moving up for a falling tackle like Washington State’s Andre Dillard. Either the team views Turner as a long-term answer at tackle, a real possibility, or they feel that they can find contributors on days two and three this weekend, because there are still major question marks at guard and right tackle.Heading into day two, Dalton Risner and Jawaan Taylor look like the most plausible Packers linemen with that 44th pick, if they fall all the way there. Gutekunst’s one prior offensive line draft pick, Cole Madison, had a less-than-stellar workout; Risner’s athletic testing was better than Madison’s, plus he can play multiple positions. Taylor is a tackle only, but he did not work out this spring and has a knee injury that reportedly caused his fall out of round one. Adding Oklahoma’s Cody Ford to the mix and you see a group of linemen who should be in the mix at least the next time the Packers are on the clock.Then there are questions about pass-catchers, particularly tight ends. The two Iowa players, Hockenson and Fant, both went in the top 20 picks. That leaves Alabama’s Irv Smith as a possibility if he falls to 44, though his overall athleticism does not match the kind of level that Gutekunst has tended to draft so far in his brief career. Instead, a player like San Diego State’s Kahale Warring (who visited the Packers before the draft) or LSU’s Foster Moreau are much better athletic fits for the Packers and will likely be available on day three.Gutekunst could also grab a free-falling wide receiver. DK Metcalf’s fall out of round one probably should not be a shock, but between him, teammate A.J. Brown, South Carolina’s Deebo Samuel https://www.thepackersfanshop.com/Kyle-Murphy-Jersey , and Ohio State’s Parris Campbell, there should probably be one exciting receiver available when we reach 44. There are a number of players who could slip all the way to 75 as well — keep an eye on Missouri’s Emanuel Hall as a sleeper there.Regardless of what specific position they target, however, after all the investment in the defense it’s now time for Gutekunst to turn his attention back to providing protection and options for Aaron Rodgers. The defense has its impact players now; the offense can use some help on day two. When Mike Pettine’s defense gets teams behind the sticks, he crushes them with blitzes and disguise, but struggles on first down prevented that from happening more last season. Can a talent influx change that?" />Skip to main contentclockmenumore-arrownoyesAcme Packing Company homepageHorizontal - WhiteAcme Packing Companya Green Bay Packers communityFollow Acme Packing Company online:Follow Acme Packing Company on TwitterFollow Acme Packing Company on FacebookFollow Acme Packing Company on InstagramLog in or sign upLog InSign UpSite searchSearchSearchAcme Packing Company main menuFanpostsFanshotsSectionsPackersOddsAboutMastheadCommunity GuidelinesStubHubMoreAll 321 blogs on Horizontal - WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections The APC PodcastPackers Film RoomFantasy Football AdviceCDTShare this storyShare this on FacebookShare this on TwitterShareAll sharing optionsShareAll sharing options for:Mike Pettine wants to clean up Packers’ first down pass D after finishing worst in 2018TwitterFacebookRedditPocketFlipboardEmailPackers DC Mike Pettine has to find a way to keep teams from throwing on his team on first down. Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty ImagesOn its face, it seems counter-intuitive: bring in pass rushers to help on first down. We usually think of this as a third-down solution. Create more pressure, keep quarterbacks from completing passes and extending drives. And to be sure, the Green Bay Packers struggled on third down last season, finishing among the worst in the league in third down success rate when teams took to the air.But the problems started much earlier on downs. “I think we just need to have a better win rate on early downs,” Pettine said this week. “We need to get teams behind the sticks more because that really plays into what we do.” Packers opponents were successful throwing the ball on first down 58% of the time according to Sharp Football, the worst defensive number in the league. That was just ahead of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who were by far the worst defense in the NFL last year. This is where adding the Acme Sackers and Rashan Gary come in.Last season, Pettine tended to play bigger on early downs, going to his cadre of sub-package personnel groupings on second and third down. The Packers, as a result, had a solid first-down run defense, finishing 12th in success rate there. Set up Pettine to put together his exotic looks and he can kill teams on blitzes and coverage disguises. But while Green Bay’s pass rush finished with solid numbers overall last year, a significant portion of that came off blitz looks. With the Packers in bigger personnel Justin Vogel Jersey , blitzing on first down would leave them more susceptible to coverage issues in the back end with guys like Antonio Morrisson or Blake Martinez having to cover in space. Put Za’Darius and Preston Smith on the field in those situations though and the run defense can thrive with those big bodies, while they also provide the pass rush necessary to prevent teams from throwing it all over the yard on the Packers on first down. Adding pass rush while not giving up any beef upfront should mitigate some of the issues we saw last season, but it won’t be enough on its own. As Pettine rightly points out, one of the big struggles for the Packers last year was a specific kind of throwing on first down. Play-action sucks up linebackers and safeties to create openings behind them. Oren Burks’ ascension into the every-down rotation along with the additions Brian Gutekunst made at safety should add to the salve on this first-down wound. Burks isn’t a great run defender, but showed flashes of coverage ability in the preseason, his specialty in college as well. Darnell Savage has the speed to recover from a mistake, as well as the explosiveness to erase ones made in front of him. And Adrian Amos is one of the most assignment-sure safeties in football. To be sure, having these guys on the field on any down should improve the defense overall. This group, though, has specific qualities that could uniquely position them to improve on early downs. Burks brings a linebacker body with safety speed, keeping the size in the front seven up while not giving up the athleticism to cover. Za’Darius and Preston Smith are each excellent run defenders to go along with their pass rush prowess and if Rashan Gary is on the field, he might just be the best run defender of anyone. But all three can still get after the quarterback as well. Add in the improved safety group and suddenly this is a defense ideally suited to stop first-down throws, including and especially off play-action. If the cornerback group can stay healthy, they have the talent to handle their end of the equation as well. And for the first time in a long time, the Packers have enough talent around the cornerback room to pick up the slack if they do suffer injuries.Pettine won’t be able to go to exotic looks to fix this major first-down issue. He has to hope Brian Gutekunst did the work he couldn’t. As we stand here in June, it looks like that’s exactly what happened.