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The Green Bay Packers have seen plenty of turnover on the defensive staff this offseason, as Jonathan Gannon is the defensive coordinator going into the 2026 season.
With a new voice leading the charge, there's a ton of excitement around Gannon, and linebacker Isaiah McDuffie was the latest player to rave about his new DC.
During an episode of The Insiders, McDuffie told Ian Rapoport and Sara Walsh that Gannon is certainly crafting an exciting plan for the defense.
"He's great. He definitely brings a lot to the table. Him being a head coach and having the head-coaching experience brings a lot of leadership," McDuffie said. "He definitely brings that juice, and we're having a lot of fun. We're going to do some cool things. I don't want to get too much into it. It’s gonna look a little different, but it's going to be fun to watch us, I'll say that."
And McDuffie wasn't the only defender to heap praise on Gannon. Xavier McKinney and Javon Bullard were two other players to publicly support Gannon this offseason, which should give fans some excitement going into the season.
Isaiah McDuffie is the latest Packers player to join the Jonathan Gannon hype train
Earlier in the month, McDuffie landed a one-year extension that is set to pay him $8.8 million over the next two seasons. He has been in Green Bay for his entire NFL career, suiting up in five seasons.
During his tenure, McDuffie has played under Joe Barry, Jeff Hafley, and now Gannon. He has seen several schemes in Titletown, while finding ways to be impactful under multiple coaches. That has gone a long way with the Packers' decision to keep him, but it goes to show that Gannon is also a fan of McDuffie.
In 80 games (38 starts) with the Packers, McDuffie has compiled 320 total tackles, 11 TFLs, five pass deflections, and two sacks.
So the fact that McDuffie is telling fans it'll be fun to watch them is a great sign. McKinney and Bullard both expressed that Gannon brings a ton of versatility to this defense. In addition to the on-field tactics he's implementing, Gannon brings some fire and passion to the sideline.
For a defense that was really good under Hafley and has key pieces all over, it seems like the sky is the limit under Gannon, and McDuffie is the latest defender to express that.
With pads coming on in the near future, fans will finally get some insight into what their defense might be doing this season.
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This article was originally published on lombardiave.com as Isaiah McDuffie just gave Packers fans a reason to believe in Jonathan Gannon.
