Why the Packers need Micah Parsons, how he fits their defense - ESPN

When a player like Micah Parsons becomes available, you trade for him.

Football is rarely simple, but it's simple that way. When a 26-year-old three-time All-Pro pass rusher becomes available, you do whatever it takes to get him. And the Green Bay Packers did just that, sending two first-round picks and defensive tackle Kenny Clark to the Dallas Cowboys for Parsons. Parsons would have been a steal, a godsend, a boon for pretty much any team looking to acquire him, but for the Packers in particular, Parsons is what the team specifically needed. I truly believe that if every single player in the NFL were available (contracts and quarterbacks aside), and the Packers could have traded for any single one… it still would have been Parsons.

Don't get me wrong, the Packers' defense looked great last season. After years of traditional schemes and passive play under coordinator Joe Barry, new coordinator Jeff Hafley breathed life into the unit, along with free agent safety Xavier McKinney and rookie linebacker Edgerrin Cooper. Green Bay's defense ranked sixth in points per drive allowed and fourth in EPA per drive, largely on the back of an excellent takeaway game. It generated a turnover on 16.2% of their opponent's drives — the third-highest rate in the league last season. And the Packers generated more than 111 expected points in takeaways — the seventh highest number of any team over the past five seasons. They didn't just take the ball away a lot; they did it in high-leverage moments.

Hafley was the primary engine behind these turnovers. As the coach at Boston College, his defenses were fairly mundane: a lot of Cover 1 and Cover 3, a lot of four-man rushes and not a lot of deception. But out of nowhere, his first year as an