The Green Bay Packers are expecting 2022 first-round pick Devonte Wyatt to make a big jump in Year 2 and become one of the defensive front’s top playmakers and disruptors in 2023.
“With anybody up front, you want playmakers,” defensive coordinator Joe Barry said Tuesday. “But specifically for defensive linemen, a three-technique, you want disruption…Just to be an all-around disruptive player. He has that ability, he has that quickness, he has that athleticism. Just be a disruptive force in the passing game and the run game as well.”
Wyatt, the 28th overall pick, played only 224 defensive snaps as a rookie. According to PFF, he produced eight pressures (one sack) and five stops over 113 run-defense snaps and 111 pass-defense snaps. The counting stats were limited because opportunities were limited, especially early in the season. Wyatt played 92 of his 224 snaps over the final three games of 2022.
With Jarran Reed in Seattle and Dean Lowry in Minnesota, Wyatt has an opportunity to be a full-time player in 2023. And the Packers need him to be productive; Reed and Lowry combined for 50 pressures and 46 stops last season.
Is a big leap possible?
Barry said all rookies go through the college-to-NFL transition differently, but Wyatt finished his rookie season strong and has since been in the building every day for the offseason workout program.
“He’s in great shape,” Barry said.
Wyatt, who has a 1.66-second 10-yard split at 304 pounds, has the athletic profile of a prolific interior disruptor. And over his last three seasons at Georgia, Wyatt was a consistent producer, creating 63 pressure and 37 stops while playing a little under 1,000 snaps for one of college football’s best defenses.
Now, the Packers need Wyatt to turn his athleticism and penetrating ability into disruption and production at the NFL level. Barry’s defense is light on options along the defensive line behind Kenny Clark, especially in terms of experience. For line of scrimmage players, affecting the quarterback remains the name of the game.
Opportunity won’t be an issue this season. Barring an injury, Wyatt could play 500 or more snaps during his second year in the NFL. Was his finish to 2022 a harbinger of things to come in a bigger role in 2023?
