Over the course of the offseason, Packers Wire will be rolling out several over/under scenarios for the 2021 season, highlighting mostly statistical rundowns to ponder.
Each scenario will provide a poll option at the bottom for voting.
Up first is final sack total for the Packers’ top three edge rushers:
The over/under: 25 sacks for Za’Darius Smith, Preston Smith and Rashan Gary.
The background: The Packers brought back Preston Smith on a restructured contract, ensuring the defense’s top three edge rushers would get one more chance to hunt quarterbacks together. He will be playing 2021 on a highly incentivized deal based mostly around sacks. Za’Darius Smith, one of the game’s top rushers, has 26.0 sacks over his first two seasons in Green Bay. Gary, the 12th overall pick in 2019, broke out in a big way over the final half of his second season in 2020. Under new defensive coordinator Joe Barry, the Packers plan to figure out ways of getting all three on the field together. Overall, the trio played 2,128 total snaps last season.
Relevant information: In 2019, Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith went over 25 sacks on their own, with 25.5 sacks split between the pair, including a career-high 13.5 from Za’Darius. Although Gary had a career year in 2020 with five sacks, the trio’s total dipped to 21.5, largely due to Preston Smith producing only four sacks.
Make the call
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