Green Bay Packers seeing a push from DT Lavon Hooks

By Keegan Matheson | Jun 17, 2015

The Green Bay Packers kicked off their mandatory minicamp on Tuesday, which should finally allow us to scratch the surface on how this team will look in September. While much of this roster is set to carry on as a carbon-copy of the 2014 team that fell just short of the Super Bowl, several depth roles are wide open to competition on the defensive side of the football. Along the defensive line, don’t sleep on undrafted rookie DT Lavon Hooks.

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Not only was Hooks not drafted, he did not receive a signing bonus when he latched on with the Green Bay Packers in undrafted free agency, which is quite rare. In his final NCAA season, the 6’3″, 312 pound Mississippi product recorded 27 tackles, nine tackles for a loss and three quarterback sacks.

After causing some early rumbles at OTA’s, ESPN’s Rob Demovsky noted again on Monday that Hooks was “turned some heads” this offseason in Green Bay. Demovsky does soften the expectations, though, by pointing out that it’s especially difficult to make judgements on linemen until the pads come on.

His ability to occupy multiple positions may be Hooks’ best shot at cracking the final roster spot when Green Bay narrows down to the final 53, but his situation further highlights a logjam along the Packers defensive line.

B.J. Raji, Mike Daniels, Letroy Guion and Datone Jones are all locks to make the roster, while Josh Boyd, Mike Pennel, Bruce Gaston and Khyri Thornton will fight for what should be the final two spots in a six-man group. When you factor in 2015 sixth rounder Christian Ringo, even if you generously stretch the defensive line group to seven, you’re left with a very limited game of musical chairs.

Of course, having this level of competition throughout the offseason is not a bad thing. The Packers are loaded with options at the defensive line position, but remain quite thin on truly game-changing impact players with Mike Daniels leading the way as the unit’s one true stud.

Nov 30, 2014; Green Bay, WI, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) gets pressure from Green Bay Packers defensive end Mike Daniels (76) in the third quarter at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

At Ole Miss, Lavon Hooks played in a 4-2-5 scheme under defensive coordinator Dave Wommack, which is wonderfully illustrated here by Saturday Down South’s Murf Baldwin. The scheme operated with one “Mike” linebacker and one “Stinger” linebacker, which called for an athletic, sideline-to-sideline playmaker.

While this seems to be entirely counter-intuitive to the 3-4 scheme run by Dom Capers and the Packers, it’s important to view Hooks in a much smaller bubble. As a big body with some athleticism to speak of, he did show the ability to occupy multiple blockers during his time at Ole Miss, allowing for the “Stinger” linebacker and “Huskie” (a hybrid of the linebacker and nickel corner) to attack and create plays.

When left with a single blocker Hooks did force his way behind the line of scrimmage, but let’s not forget the fact that he was undrafted for a reason. His impact will need to be shown on a much more consistent basis, but moving between these two schemes is something that could spark any defensive lineman’s game to click or crumble.

The practice squad may be a more realistic option here for Hooks, but an injury or sub-par camp from one of his competitors could allow the door to creak open even further. Hooks has been taking 11-on-11 snaps with the second team defense recently, so at the very least, he’ll be given the full opportunity to win a job.

Next: Andrew Quarless one to watch for Packers?

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