Green Bay Packers: Rashan Gary is PFF’s Top Rated Edge Rusher since Week 16

By selecting Rashan Gary at 12th overall in the 2019 NFL Draft, it gave the Green Bay Packers the luxury of time. Gary certainly has all of the physical tools, and perhaps more importantly, he has the work ethic, but what his game needed was refinement. And by having Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith on the roster, the Packers were afforded that.

In a perfect world, nobody wants to see the 12th overall pick brought along slowly, but that’s just what the Green Bay Packers did. During his rookie season, Gary was on the field for only 23.4 percent of Green Bay’s total defensive snaps, with his primary focus being on the development of his game.

In today’s instant gratification world, it was a decision that frustrated many. However, as the Green Bay Packers now find themselves on the cusp of advancing to the Super Bowl, it’s a move that has undoubtedly paid off.

Despite missing two games with an injury, Gary saw his playing time nearly double from a season ago, and he has become the second most productive pass-rusher on this Packers team; behind only Za’Darius Smith.

Gary’s 39 regular season pressures were the second-most on the team, as were his seven sacks. Against Jacksonville in Week 10, Gary had a career game with seven pressures, including a few on the Jaguars’ final drive that helped put the game away. He had a three-sack performance against Philadelphia, six pressures against Tennessee, and a seven pressure, two-sack game this past Sunday in the NFC Divisional Round.

In fact, Rashan Gary has been playing so well that he has been Pro Football Focus’ ($) highest-graded edge defender since Week 16.

Now, by no means are PFF’s grades the be-all-end-all, but they can be a useful barometer showcasing who is playing at a really high-level as well as the other end of the spectrum and who is really struggling. Over these three games, Gary has recorded 14 pressures and two sacks.

Another metric that PFF uses to help illustrate efficiency as a pass rusher, is pass-rush productivity. This measures the rate at which a defender creates a pressure with a heavier weighting towards sacks. And for the entire season, Gary ranks 15th out of 121 eligible pass rushers.

While pressures and sacks get you noticed, Gary has also been very good this season against the run, ranking 19th out of the same 121 eligible edge-rushers in run-stop rate, which is another efficiency metric from Pro Football Focus.

If grades aren’t your thing, I understand. As I said, they’re far from the be-all-end-all. But they can be a useful tool to help either confirm or deny what your eyes are seeing.

With that said, it doesn’t take an expert to see that as the season has progressed, Gary has been one of the more productive players on this defense. Whether it’s against the pass or the run, his presence is being felt, and as of late, he’s been playing like one of the best edge-rushers in the game.

"“It’s unbelievable,” said Packers OLB Coach Mike Smith via Packers Wire. “A guy that size and that speed and that athleticism, I’ve never seen it, and I’ve been in the league for 11 years. You can do a lot of things with him.”"