Special teams were a major issue for the Green Bay Packers in 2021, and largely cost the team its NFC Divisional playoff game against San Francisco.
As a result, the Packers parted ways with special teams coordinator Maurice Drayton and made a splashy hire to replace him, bringing in Rich Bisaccia from Las Vegas.
Bisaccia has two decades of experience as an NFL special teams coordinator and also went 7-5 as interim head coach of the Raiders last season. He is tasked with rebuilding what longtime NFL writer Rick Gosselin ranked as the worst special teams unit in the league in 2021.
According to Green Bay kicker Mason Crosby, Bisaccia has set a high standard already.
“I have a lot of respect and a lot of love for Rich,” Crosby said Tuesday, via Matt Schneidman of TheAthletic.com. “There’s a high expectation and you can feel it in our meetings already, just guys needing to know exactly what they’re doing at a high level and be responsible for that.”
Last year, Bisaccia’s Raiders special teams units finished 11th in Gosselin’s rankings and 21st in DVOA according to Football Outsiders. Being in either of those spots this year would constitute a massive improvement for the Packers.
It also just might be the difference between another early round playoff exit and a run to the Super Bowl.
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