Packers: Gutey Looking for Ty Summers to Assume Bigger Role

While GM Brian Gutekunst mentioned that he is excited about the Green Bay Packers’ young group of LBs, he specifically went into more depth about Ty Summers.

On his Zoom call with reporters on Monday afternoon, GM Brian Gutekunst was asked about the young linebackers on this Green Bay Packers team that would be vying for playing time next to Christian Kirksey. And as any good GM does, Gutey mentioned all four of the young backers – Oren Burks, Ty Summers, Kamal Martin, and Curtis Bolton – and said he was “excited” for this entire group.

But of the four, there was one player in particular that he went into a little more depth on, and that was Summers.

As a seventh-round draft pick in 2019, Summers had an up and down preseason where he was able to flash some playmaking ability, but was also inconsistent and missed tackles were prominent.

Summers would appear in all 18 of the Green Bay Packers’ games last season, but only on special teams. Even with some of the question marks surrounding the linebacker position, he was unable to see the field. However, he did leave his mark on the special teams unit, playing 350 snaps – or 72.5 percent of the total special teams snaps – while logging four tackles.

In order to secure playing time on defense this season, Summers will have to show that he has become a more reliable tackler, is able to fight off blocks, and react to plays quicker, which hopefully comes with him now being in the second year of Mike Pettine’s system.

On the flip side, he has a nose for the football, as evidenced by his 317 career tackles at TCU, and he is relentless in chasing down the ball carrier. Not to mention that with his combination of size – 6’1″ and 241 pounds – and athleticism, Summers has the potential to provide the run defense with some much-needed help in the middle.

These qualities, along with what I’m sure are others, are what has stood out to Gutekunst as he mentioned Summers playing a bigger role on defense this season:

"“I thought Ty Summers as a rookie did a really nice job for us, not only as a linebacker but on special teams. So we’ll look for him to improve and move forward and affect the game more on defense than he did last year.”"

As we get closer to the 2020 season starting, it’s another year in Green Bay with unknowns around the linebacker position. While Kirksey is going to be the starter, he has to stay healthy first, which hasn’t been the case the past two seasons as he’s appeared in only nine total games.

Meanwhile, Burks is entering his third NFL season and played less than six percent of the total defensive snaps from last year. Then there is plenty to like about Martin’s game, but he is a rookie in an offseason that didn’t have OTAs, mini-camps, or preseason games, so it isn’t easy to gauge what his impact might be early on.

And with Curtis Bolton coming off a knee injury, we don’t exactly know what to expect from him either.

In the end, it doesn’t matter who, but the Green Bay Packers are going to need one of these four young players to step up this season and provide some reinforcements next to Kirksey. But from the sounds of it, Gutey really likes what Summers can provide in Year 2.