Dean Lowry’s 2022 season came to an unfortunate end during Sunday’s win over the Miami Dolphins. The Green Bay Packers defensive lineman suffered a calf injury in the first half, forcing the team to put him on injured reserve on Tuesday. That means the Packers will ask more of Devonte Wyatt, who has been eagerly awaiting this opportunity since his 28th overall selection back in April.
Wyatt knows that just because you might be a first-round pick doesn’t mean you’re automatically a starter.
Much like they do with their wide receivers, Green Bay will rarely ask a defensive lineman to step in and play extensive snaps in their first season. Before he was a two-time Pro Bowler, Kenny Clark played only 32 percent of the defensive snaps as a rookie. Lowry played half of that as a fourth-rounder in 2016.
Wyatt was given the same treatment despite being one of the best defensive tackles in the country during his final season at the University of Georgia. In four of his first five NFL games, Wyatt never eclipsed double-digit snaps.
That changed as the season progressed, and Wyatt’s splash plays eventually caught the attention of his coaches, leading to an uptick in snaps even before Lowry got hurt.
“He’s earned that because of the way he’s worked and improved,” defensive coordinator Joe Barry said Thursday.
Now Barry expects Wyatt’s role to increase even more after playing a career-high 24 snaps against the Dolphins.
One thing the Packers can have been able to count on regardless of playing time is Wyatt’s effort. It was on full display when he was chasing down Miami’s quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to force an incompletion or making a downfield tackle on tight end Durham Smythe last Sunday. Making those types of hustle plays is a large part of who Wyatt is as a player.
It definitely didn’t dwindle in the previous two games when Wyatt’s snaps dipped back down into the single digits. In week 13 against the Chicago Bears, Wyatt was the team’s top-graded defender by Pro Football Focus. Two weeks later, against the Los Angeles Rams, he received the second-highest grade and contributed to his first career sack with some help from Justin Hollins.
In both games, Wyatt played only nine snaps but still made the most of them.
“The thing that I think he’s done a great job with is he’s such a diligent worker,” Barry said. “The way he plays the game- at least once he gets out on the grass- is he plays his tail off and with unbelievable effort.”
Wyatt has only played 19 percent of the defensive snaps, but he has two regular season games and hopefully a playoff run to show he is ready to take on an expanded role in next year’s defense.
