By Marques Eversoll

Every offseason, there seems to be a theme or buzz word for teams, as they enter a new season.

A year ago, head coach Mike McCarthy and the Packers preached about their desire for an improved running game. They wanted to add some balance to an already potent offense led by quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Then, Eddie Lacy happened. Almost 1,200 rushing yards, 11 touchdowns and an Offensive Rookie of the Year award later, the Packers accomplished their goal. In fact, the Packers’ ground game was the crutch for the offense, as Rodgers nursed a broken collarbone for most of the season.

This year, the defense is under the microscope. And the buzz–for much of the offseason–is that the Packers want to scale back on scheme, and instead, let the players play.

But if Tuesday’s practice is any indication, it won’t be as simple as the Packers lining up in their base 3-4 defense and allowing the personnel to roam free.

On one occassion at practice, the Packers lineup in their dime defense with a 2-3-6 alignment. The down linemen were Mike Neal and Datone Jones, and the linebackers were Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers with A.J. Hawk in the middle. Davon House and Sam Shields played on the perimeter at cornerback, Micah Hyde bumped down to the slot along with Tramon Williams, leaving Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and Sean Richardson at safety.

Morgan Burnett missed Tuesday’s practice with an oblique strain, and McCarthy had no timetable for his return. Richardson has enjoyed a great training camp to this point. In his third training camp since going undrafted in 2012, Richardson recorded the first two interceptions of camp and flashed impressive range on a deep ball down the right sideline in this year’s Family Night Scrimmage.

It’s no surprise that Richardson has found himself getting some run with the first team.

But perhaps most interesting about that particular 2-3-6 alignment was Neal, at a slender 263 pounds, playing over the guard with his hand in the ground. By cutting weight to play primarily outside linebacker, it was widely assumed that his days of battling opposing 300-pound guards were over. But that’s clearly not the case on obvious passing downs.

By adding Peppers in the offseason, the Packers now boast a level of flexibility they haven’t had before. Peppers is the bookend linebacker that Matthews has never had in Green Bay. He gives the Packers a legit threat on the opposite side that Brad Jones, Frank Zombo, Erik Walden, Dezman Moses and Nick Perry weren’t or haven’t been since Matthews was drafted in 2009.

Peppers and Matthews may be the building blocks of the Green Bay defense, but the strongest and deepest part of the defense is the secondary where Hyde, Clinton-Dix and Richardson have each made their presence felt, and four cornerbacks have performed like starters this summer.

Casey Hayward, who missed all but 88 snaps of his second NFL season, has shown up on a daily basis. His instincts and knack for the football were clearly missed in 2013. Hayward has been the regular nickel back for the Packers, manning the slot with Williams and Shields on the perimeter.

In the dime, however, Hayward hasn’t always been on the field. Instead, the Packers have put House and Shields on the outside and Hyde and Williams in the slot. With six defensive backs, it appears the Packers would rather have bigger and more physical players to come up and make tackles against the run.

Obviously, it’s still early August and the Packers have yet to even play a preseason game, but it’s clear they have options. Options they haven’t had in recent years on the defensive side of the ball.

[NOTE: Wes Hodkiewicz of the Green Bay Press-Gazette reports that guard/tackle Don Barclay suffered a torn ACL at Tuesday’s practice. The injury will put an end to Barclay’s 2014 season before it even got started. Although Barclay was not slated for a starting role this season, it’s a tough blow for a Packers line that appeared to be as strong as it’s been in McCarthy’s tenure. Now, 2011 first-round pick Derek Sherrod likely assumes the backup job at both left and right tackle, while Lane Taylor will fulfill Barclay’s duties as the top backup at guard.]