It Is Time For Karl Brooks To Anchor The Interior

Devonte Wyatt became the Green Bay Packers’ top option on the interior defensive line after they sent Kenny Clark to the Dallas Cowboys in the blockbuster trade for Micah Parsons. The move was a vote of confidence from Matt LaFleur and Brian Gutekunst, who believed the former Georgia Bulldog could help absorb the loss of Clark and anchor the middle of the defense. Wyatt backed it up early, opening the season with 13 pressures and two sacks over the first three games.

Wyatt went on to suffer a knee injury in Week 4 against the Dallas Cowboys and didn’t return until Week 8 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He never fully regained his early-season form, recording just nine pressures over the next seven games before a season-ending ankle injury against the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving cut his year short.

In need of depth after losing Wyatt, the Packers signed Jordon Riley off the New York Giants’ practice squad on Wednesday, per ESPN’s Rob Demovsky. Riley stands 6’5”, 325 lbs., and will probably be used to bolster the run defense. Still, if anyone is going to take over Green Bay’s interior, it’s Karl Brooks.

Brooks has been on the field for more than 1,300 snaps in his career, has stacked two straight seasons with 20-plus pressures, and has delivered multiple pressures in seven games this year alone. Furthermore, ESPN charts him with the 17th-best pass-rush win rate among defensive tackles.

"I think Karl is hard on himself, which is a great quality to have,” LaFleur said of Brooks on Thursday. “Most great players that I've been around are critical of themselves and think that there's room for improvement. ... We're going to need him to play big down the stretch."

The former sixth-round pick has quietly worked his way into the top four in pressures for Green Bay, matching Wyatt’s total. The difference is volume, since Brooks has played 65 more pass-rush snaps than Wyatt, and his win rate is only 10th on the team.

Still, he has been Green Bay’s most reliable interior pass rusher not named Kenny Clark or Devonte Wyatt over the last three seasons. His 30 pressures in 2023 ranked fifth among all rookie interior linemen. He followed that with 28 pressures in 2024, finishing only four behind Wyatt, and his 10.0 win rate that year was the second highest among the team’s interior defenders.

The only concern Green Bay might have with Brooks is his run defense. Throughout his three-year career, he has not been a particularly prolific run stopper. This season, he ranks 13th among all members of Green Bay’s front seven in stop rate and ninth in total stops and tackles. For comparison, Colby Wooden is second in stops and fourth in stop rate. Still, Brooks is posting the best run defense grade of his career at 56.2, while Wooden sits just slightly higher at 57.8.

Brooks ranks 69th in run defense grade among interior linemen with at least 40 run defense snaps. They will have to find a smart and flexible way to deploy him against the run. The NFL is a passing league, and the Packers need their best interior pass rusher on the field consistently, but they also need to protect themselves on early downs.