No defensive player was more disruptive as an interior rusher during the 2019 season than Green Bay Packers outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith.
According to Nick Shook of NFL.com, Smith produced an interior pressure rate of 19.4 percent in 2019, which led the league by over five percentage points among rushers with at least 100 interior rushes.
A rare ability to rush from anywhere – and be disruptive from everywhere – helped power Smith’s breakout first season in Green Bay.
The Packers signed Smith to be a starting edge rusher but defensive coordinator Mike Pettine wisely devised ways of sliding him inside and producing opportunities to rush the quarterback against guards and centers. He feasted on the interior as a rusher, using both quickness and pass-rushing savvy to consistently beat one-on-one blocks inside.
Smith’s ability to disrupt passing plays from the inside was increasingly clear during his final few seasons in Baltimore. In Green Bay, Smith took off in a bigger role, maximizing production as a versatile rusher and emerging as one of the NFL’s premier disruptors.
In fact, Shook ranked Smith as the second-best disruptor from the 2019 season, trailing only Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns.
By season’s end, the Packers were playing Smith all over the defensive front, even as a stand-up, roaming rusher across from the interior of the offensive line on some snaps.
It’s possible Smith could be as efficient and just as productive as an inside rusher in 2020. Not only does Pro Bowler Kenny Clark return, providing the Robin to Smith’s Batman inside, but second-year edge rusher Rashan Gary is expected to play a bigger role, likely lessening the every-down load on Smith’s shoulders and potentially providing more opportunities for him to play inside on passing downs. Together, Smith and Clark might make up the most disruptive interior duo in football, and Gary’s emergence could be key to truly unlocking Smith’s full potential as a rush-from-anywhere player.
Pettine has long been a proponent of creating pass-rushing value by figuring out ways to get pressure from the inside. Matchups are often better on the interior, and it’s both the quickest route to the quarterback and the best way to truly disrupt the pocket.
“You have to have guys winning inside,” Pettine said last year. “Even if you have great edge rushers, great speed rush, if the pocket’s not collapsed, it’s a clean pocket to step up into. It’s paramount that you have guys that can win inside.”
In Za’Darius Smith, Pettine has exactly what he needs and then some. He’s the NFL’s best at winning inside.
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