GREEN BAY – By most measures, the first year for the Packers' defense under the direction of coordinator Jeff Hafley was a resounding success.
Green Bay finished fifth in the league in yards allowed and sixth in points allowed, posted its best run-defense ranking (seventh) in 15 years, and finished the campaign by holding the Eagles to a modest 22 points in the NFC Wild Card playoff game – before Philly went on to post 28, 55 and 40 points en route to a Super Bowl title.
No one's satisfied with that by any means, least of all Hafley himself, who told the media last month he sees so much more out there for his unit, in terms of playing consistently and generating takeaways.
Not that he needed to hear it from Hafley, but All-Pro safety Xavier McKinney is delivering the same message as one of the defense's leaders. He sees things much the same way as his coordinator.
"That next step I think is to have one of the best defenses in the league," McKinney said following an OTA practice last week. "That's what we're aiming for. We're trying to be a defense that always creates turnovers, that plays with a level of intensity where the offense can't match us, and I think we got the guys to do that.
"It's going to be fun."
Several components will be needed for that fun to be had.
One is for McKinney to continue playing at the All-Pro level that resulted in a career-high eight interceptions to rank second in the league. That should be the least of anyone's worries, as McKinney has made no secret of his personal goal to become a Hall of Famer.
Complacency has no chance of setting in with him.
"I'm not going to let off the gas for nothing or nobody," he said. "That same intensity, that same energy, it's going to stay the same."
Another element will be an improved pass rush, which doesn't necessarily mean climbing from the Packers' ranking in sacks (tied for eighth) in 2024. The pass rush needs to be steady enough to show up against high-powered offenses.
Last year, in two damaging late-season losses to the NFC North-rival Lions and Vikings, QBs Jared Goff and Sam Darnold combined for 84 pass attempts and were sacked just twice. That made life way too difficult for the defense as a whole.
In 2025, the Packers are counting on the growth of young pass rushers like Lukas Van Ness and Karl Brooks, the health of interior rushers Kenny Clark and Devonte Wyatt, the hiring of DeMarcus Covington as defensive line coach, and the addition of draft picks Barryn Sorrell and Collin Oliver to make a difference.
A third factor will be the full-season impact of linebacker Edgerrin Cooper, who battled injuries as a second-round draft pick but was receiving votes for NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year by season's end.
Multiple coaches have noted Cooper put on 10 pounds of muscle this offseason to reach 240, almost 20 pounds more than when he arrived in Green Bay last spring following the grueling pre-draft process.
That added size is not at the expense of his explosiveness, either, as that was his ticket to a team-best 13 tackles for loss in barely more than 50% of the defensive snaps last season.
"Nah, it's still there," Cooper said of his quick twitch. "That was my main focus to make sure I'm feeling good at that weight. I'm fine with it and I'll stick with it."
No one's putting any limits on what a healthy Cooper could accomplish as an every-down player unleashed by a creative mind like Hafley's.
"He had a hell of a first year, and he's just going to keep building," McKinney said. "He knows how talented he is, so we've just go to keep pushing him.
"Like, he got bigger. You could tell that he's serious about what he wants to do and he's being very intentional about it as well."
A fifth component is sorting out where everybody fits best in the secondary. The group is loaded with versatile pieces, which provides options and depth in case of injuries, but figuring out everyone's most effective role will be a process.
Cornerback Jaire Alexander's situation remains unresolved, and while McKinney noted "we would all like him back," uncertainty lingers there. Meanwhile new arrival Nate Hobbs is off to a strong start, bringing an energy and spirit teammates have noticed already.
Add it all up and the Packers' defense possesses high aspirations.
"We're all young, so I can't wait," Cooper said. "We've got a lot of impactful players, so once we get everything dialed in, everybody playing with each other, it's going to be a good season."
There's much work to be done until then, though, which will focus on a sixth and final component – the details. Fine-tuning those, led by leaders like McKinney, will allow what the Packers did well last year to be even better.
"I'm happy that Haf is still here," McKinney said. "Everybody's happy that he's still here, that the defense is still the same. We're just finding little, small things to correct and make sure that it's clean."
