3 Young Packers Who Will Lead Defense to a Top-10 2019

After years of watching Quinten Rollins get beat deep while Datone Jones struggled to rush the passer, Brian Gutekunst and the Green Bay Packers finally realized that the best way to help Aaron Rodgers out is to get him a terrific defense to take the pressure off of him. To that end, they sunk much of their draft capital in recent years onto that side, drafting players like Rashan Gary and Darnell Savage in the first round. With these three players at the center of Mike Pettine's scheme, expect a Top-10 defense at minimum.

3. LB Blake Martinez

Martinez isn't the fastest linebacker in the league, but turn on a Packers game and No. 50 always ends up near the football. A fourth-round pick out of Stanford in 2016, the 25-year-old Martinez has racked up over 140 tackles in back-to-back seasons, expertly patrolling the middle of the field in Pettine's 3-4 defense. Hopefully 2019 will be the year Martinez gets recognized for the elite linebacker he is.

2. DE Rashan Gary

Draft Twitter wasn't exactly slobbering over Gary given his lack of production at Michigan, but even they had to concede that Gary is a freak athlete with uncommon speed and explosion for a 280 pound end. Even with Preston Smith and Za'Darius Smith in town, Pettine figures to get creative with Gary, potentially lining him up as a 5 tech end, 3 tech inside tackle, and even as a wide outside linebacker. The possibilities are endless.

1. CB Jaire Alexander

The former first-round pick out of Louisville showed that he could play with a solid rookie season in 2018. In 2019, Alexander could make the leap from very good to great or elite. With his stickiness in man coverage and high football IQ, both of which are pre-requisites for playing corner in Pettine's defense, the Packers might finally have a shutdown corner for the first time since Casey Hayward.