Rashan Gary has been an absolute force this season getting after the quarterback. The rest of the Green Bay Packers edge rusher rotation, however, has struggled to find consistency.
Through four games, Gary leads all NFL edge rushers with a pass rush win rate of a whopping 33.3 percent, per PFF. So, on one out of every three of his pass rush snaps, he is either forcing a sack, a quarterback hit, or a hurry.
Even more impressive is that Gary has been on a snap count to start the season as he works his way back from an ACL injury, only being used in obvious passing situations. Despite ranking 75th in total pass rush snaps played, Gary is 13th in total pressures generated with 17.
On paper, the depth of the Packers edge rusher unit is much improved over where it was at this time a season ago—although we haven’t consistently seen the results of that on the field.
By PFF’s win rate metric, Lukas Van Ness, a rookie, is the next best Packers edge rusher in that category ranking 79th out of 115 eligible players. Kingsley Enagbare ranks 96th, Preston Smith is tied for 99th, and Justin Hollins is 102nd. Out of this group, Smith’s seven pressures in four games, which ranks 68th, is the best.
As a defensive unit, the Packers still rank very well in terms of getting after the quarterback. According to Pro Football Reference, Green Bay ranks top-10 in both total pressures and pressure rate this season. However, Gary’s dominant play is helping to bolster those figures as is the Packers’ performance in Week 1 against Chicago, where nearly half of their recorded pressures on the season came from. Overall, things look good, but the consistency hasn’t been there.
Excluding Gary, the play from this group has to improve. The strength of this defense is supposed to be the pass rush, and when there is steady pressure on the quarterback, literally every member of the defensive unit benefits, as it can lead to sacks, turnover opportunities, and less time that the secondary has to defend.
With that said, I do think that in part, the Packers inconsistency in getting after the quarterback is a side effect of a struggling run defense unit. As they say, you have to eat your vegetables on early downs in order to have the opportunity to rush the quarterback and Green Bay hasn’t been doing that. Offenses are in advantageous situations by being in second and third-and-shorts in which the defense has to be mindful of defending both the run and the pass, taking away some of the bite that this unit can have.
It also hasn’t helped that in terms of average time to throw, the Packers have faced two quarterbacks who rank in the top 10 when it comes to getting rid of the ball quickly and three in the top 12. When a quarterback gets rid of the ball quickly, it’s already difficult to get home and that element is exacerbated when a defense is unable to stop the run consistently because the offense is now in short down-and-distance situations, rather than second and third-and-longs where longer developing routes are needed.
It’s now or never for the Packers run defense unit going up against the Las Vegas Raiders and what is statistically the worst rushing offense in football. But the Packers finding success in that area should set up more pass rush situations for the defensive front by putting the Raiders in predictable passing situations. At that point, it’s about the rest of the members of this edge rusher group executing and taking advantage of the opportunities.