One of the more underrated matchups going into the Green Bay Packers‘ regular-season opener against the Minnesota Vikings, at least to me, is how running back Chris Brooks will do against defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ blitz-heavy front. The Packers have said that they will be trying out a running back-by-committee approach early on in the season, but I want to talk about blocking, not ball-carrying, when it comes to what Brooks can bring to the table.
Everyone and their mother knows that Flores wants to blitz. It’s in his DNA. It’s who he has been, who he is and who he will want to be in the future.
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Arguably, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur’s best trait as a coach has been his team’s pass-rushing plans, as there have been few players up front who have been allowed to take over games, even when the team has matched up against the Aaron Donalds, Myles Garretts and Aidan Hutchinsons of the world.
His line gets a lot of chip help from tight ends, funky spacing that puts rushers in bad positions pre-snap and running backs who add on to the protection. That’s where Brooks had thrived in the past.
Below is a clip from Week 1 last year, where Brooks, against a mugged-up Detroit Lions front, passes off a linebacker and takes on a defensive tackle on a stunt to allow Jordan Love to make a big throw in the middle of the field. Yes, a defensive tackle.
Last year, PFF graded Brooks as the fourth-best running back league-wide in pass protection. To make this short and simple: He’s a really good blocking back.
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I’d expect that the Packers will want to lean into Brooks’ blocking ability, especially on obvious passing downs, against Flores’ aggressive scheme. Especially when three of Green Bay’s starting offensive linemen are currently on the injury report and were limited during Wednesday’s practice.
So don’t discount Brooks being a difference-maker in the Week 1 matchup, even if he’s not going to receive the bulk of the carries out of the backfield. It also probably helps the Packers that they just signed safety Kahlef Hailassie, who was with the Vikings for all of training camp and was just released two days ago, to their practice squad. Teams usually spend two weeks of game planning for their Week 1 opponent, rather than one, because they receive that extra week between cutdowns and the start of the regular season.
Maybe Hailassie knows a little about the pass-rush plan that Flores has for the Packers and had installed over the last week, and he’ll want to share that with Brooks. You’ve got to love a little gamesmanship.
