The writing is on the wall. It was probably there during the Green Bay Packers’ 2016 season: inside linebackers are dead.
We have long discussed the devaluation of the position in Green Bay. We complained when the Packers refused to draft a playmaking inside linebacker high in the draft. We complained when they passed on free agents like Danny Trevathan.
But maybe the Packers were just ahead of the curve.
They drafted Blake Martinez in 2016 to be a coverage linebacker, but he didn’t really own that role. Instead, the Packers ended up playing the undersized Joe Thomas almost exclusively down the stretch.