Za’Darius Smith to IR, Packers Sign LaDarius Hamilton
By Paul Bretl
Za’Darius Smith missed all but one practice during Green Bay Packers training camp dealing with a back injury that landed him on the NFI list.
While he did return to practice last week and participated in the opener against New Orleans, he was used in a limited capacity, seeing only 18 defensive snaps and utilized in only obvious passing situations.
Smith would record no pressures — although one was taken away by a bad roughing the passer call — and one tackle during that game, according to PFF ($$).
Smith would go on to miss Thursday’s practice as the team prepares for Detroit. Then on Friday, Matt LaFleur would tell reporters that Smith was heading to IR until he was fully heathy. He will miss at least three weeks.
"“We’re going to have to shut him down for a while. Do you keep him in a limited or do you shut him down for a while and try to get him up to the snap count we’d like him to be.”"
With a roster spot now open and the Green Bay Packers light at the edge rusher position, the team will reportedly sign LaDarius Hamilton off of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice squad and onto the 53-man roster, according to Tom Silverstein.
Hamilton was a 2020 undrafted rookie out of North Texas. He has no career NFL snaps but has ample college experience, with over 2,300 snaps over his four year career.
During that span, he would record 124 pressures, 23 sacks, 106 tackles, 29 of which were for a loss, and a forced fumble, per PFF.
For a closer look at Hamilton’s game, here is what Lance Zierlein of NFL.com had to say in his 2020 pre-draft report:
"“Played as an odd-front end for much of 2019, but will likely be targeted as a 4-3 base end as a pro. Hamilton plays with good toughness and attitude, but his movement is heavy and extremely rigid. You won’t see him making a bunch of tackles, but he does have edge-setting strength and determination. He has steadily improved as a pass rusher, but athletic limitations could make it challenging to translate his college production into the pros.”"
For the most part, this Packers pass rush was non-existent Week 1 as they generated only nine total pressures.
As a group, they simply have to be better in this area moving forward—something that will be difficult without Za’Darius Smith. However, if the defensive front is able to generate more consistent pressure, the rest of this defense will benefit.
Now more than ever, Green Bay needs Preston Smith to have that bounce back season and for Rashan Gary to make that Year 3 leap. Smith recorded one pressure against the Saints while Gary had four.