Matt LaFleur’s decision to hire Jonathan Gannon as the Green Bay Packers’ defensive coordinator has been polarizing.
Regardless of how anyone feels, it’s done. Now is the time to focus on what could be in store for Green Bay’s defenses under Gannon. Given what Gannon did in his two years as the Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator, is it possible he could unlock new levels with Green Bay’s defensive front?
Let’s start with the broad view of what the Eagles — primarily the defensive front — did in Year 2 of Gannon’s tenure there. That defense piled up 70 sacks. To put that in perspective, the 1984 Chicago Bears hold the NFL record with 72 sacks in a season.
The naysayers will point to the immense talent on the defense and declare that any coordinator would’ve had similar success. What about the individual successes, though? How come there were at least three players on that defensive front who had career-best years? Shouldn’t Gannon get some of that credit, and isn’t it fair to wonder if he can help elevate players on Green Bay’s defensive front?
Look at veteran Brandon Graham, who came out of retirement this year to play in his 16th season. For any NFL player, that’s incredibly impressive. But that’s unheard of for an NFL defensive lineman.
Graham has spent all 16 seasons with the Eagles. In those 16 years, Graham had just one season with double-digit sacks. It came with Gannon as the defensive coordinator in 2022 when Graham racked up 11 sacks.
The veteran defensive end was coming off a 2021 campaign where he played just one game before suffering a torn Achilles. At age 33, entering his age-34 season and coming off that injury, there was no assurance of which version of Graham would show up. Still, he pieced together the 11 sacks and finished fourth in the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award voting.
He wasn’t the only player who set career marks on the defensive front under Jonathan Gannon. Haason Reddick has been in the NFL for nine years. It’s another example of a player with a lengthy résumé and a substantial sample size to compare and contrast.
Reddick had three quiet years to start his career with the Arizona Cardinals before an impressive 2020 season. He built on that year with another standout performance in 2021 with the Carolina Panthers. But nothing compared to his 2022 season with the Eagles under Gannon.
Reddick had a career-high 16 sacks, a career-high 26 quarterback hits, and led the NFL with five forced fumbles. When it was all said and done, Reddick was named to his first Pro Bowl, was a Second Team All-Pro, and finished fourth in the NFL Defensive Player of the Year voting. It is still the only year in Reddick’s career when he received significant votes for that award. It’s also the only season he was named an All-Pro.
Still not enough evidence for you? Then consider a third example in Josh Sweat.
Sweat has never had more tackles for loss (15) or quarterback hits (23) in a season than he did in 2022 in Gannon’s defense. He also had 11 sacks that year, a career high until he recorded 12 in 2025. While the Pro Bowl has become a running joke (see Shedeur Sanders), Sweat’s one year as a Pro Bowler came in 2021, when Gannon was still the defensive coordinator.
Many people will say the 2022 Philadelphia defense was an outlier. Regardless, it’s impossible not to give Gannon at least some credit for what the unit accomplished under his leadership.
Could the Packers have used a more aggressive defensive coordinator to really ramp up the pressure? Sure. Could they have used someone who didn’t fall into the category of being a typical LaFleur hire? Maybe.
Still, Jonathan Gannon has credible experience as a defensive coordinator and head coach in the NFL. It’s hard to imagine looking back on this hire a year or two from now and seeing it as an unmitigated disaster.
Supporters of the hire will point to Gannon’s two years as defensive coordinator in Philadelphia. Those who oppose it will bring up his failed stint as head coach in Arizona, or claim his defenses in Philadelphia were ineffective against top-tier competition. Of course, things are rarely as great or as terrible as the most passionate fans expect.
Time will tell, but history suggests the most vocal detractors aren’t objectively considering all the evidence.