As Green Bay Packers outside linebackers coach Jason Rebrovich told reporters on Thursday, there is no replacing Rashan Gary.
Gary was officially placed on IR on Wednesday and will miss the remainder of the season following an ACL tear against Detroit.
Gary’s season ends with him being one of the most disruptive edge rushers in football, ranking fifth in pressures, 11th in sacks, and 10th in pass rush win rate, according to PFF. Even with Gary’s efforts, however, as a team, the Packers still ranked 11th in pressure rate and 20th in sacks through nine games.
This is a defense under Joe Barry that primarily rushes five but doesn’t often blitz or even use stunts or twists. Out of all members of the Packers’ secondary who have seen defensive snaps this season, Adrian Amos leads the way with only six pass rush snaps. When the Packers do blitz, Quay Walker fills that role most often at 15.7% of the time, while De’Vondre Campbell has rarely been utilized in that capacity.
So instead of trying to generate pressures through play design, the Green Bay defensive front is expected to get home by winning their one-on-one matchups – something Barry has the luxury of doing when he has Gary, Kenny Clark and Preston Smith to lean on.
However, this is something that may have to change moving forward.
“We’re gonna miss 52 (Rashan Gary) and what he brings from a mindset and a demeanor and a grit factor, and we are also going to miss his production, there’s no doubt about it,” said Barry when asked about making adjustments. “You hope that you don’t have to completely change everything you do, but when you lose a player like that, you have to adjust.”
The depth at the edge rusher position was one of Green Bay’s biggest question marks this season and still remains an unknown. JJ Enagbare ranks 77th in pass rush productivity, while no other Packers edge rusher (excluding Smith and Gary) has enough snaps to qualify. Along the interior defensive front, Green Bay has not had steady pass-rush production from those not named Kenny Clark.
Without consistent pressure, everything gets more challenging for the defense. It means more time for the quarterback to survey the field and more time that the secondary has to spend in coverage. The Green Bay edge rushers – not named Preston Smith – also haven’t been great at setting the edge this season, which creates running lanes outside. Oftentimes turnover opportunities are tied to pressuring the quarterback as well.
Part of the Packers’ issues on defense this season is that there has been a predictability at times to what they’re doing. If you couple that with Green Bay also not having their most disruptive pass rusher, that isn’t exactly a formula for success. To overcome this, it will likely take Barry making some adjustments – which he has done with the secondary, although they have been sporadic at times and a bit slow to implement – in order to manufacture some pressures.
