Jonathan Garvin’s Return Gives Green Bay Packers Needed Help at Edge

The Green Bay Packers edge rusher room gets some much-needed help with the return of Jonathan Garvin. According to Matt Schneidman of The Atheltic, Garvin has been activated off the reserve/COVID list.

Garvin was placed on the reserve/COVID list prior to the Green Bay Packers Week 12 matchup with Los Angeles, leaving an already thin edge rusher unit even more short-handed.

While Rashan Gary and Preston Smith form a very good one-two punch at the edge rusher position with 86 combined pressures, and both ranking in the top-20 in this category among edge rushers, along with 12 sacks, it’s not as if either player can play every snap over the course of a game.

So with Za’Darius Smith still sidelined, Whitney Mercilus on IR, and Garvin out against the Rams, the Packers were lacking some serious depth at edge. Against the Rams, Gary and Smith were first and second on the team in pressures forced, but when either was on the sidelines, the Green Bay pass rush was lacking.

Although Tipa Galeai comes with a lot of potential, at 230 pounds, he is a bit on the small side, and while he brings quickness to the position, if his speed is neutralized he doesn’t really have a secondary move to rely on. Galeai also has just 63 career regular-season snaps, and La’Darius Hamilton has only 60. The two would total just one pressure in 45 combined snaps this past Sunday.

So, needless to say, the return of Garvin will be a welcomed sight. As the Green Bay Packers’ third edge rusher for much of the season, Garvin has recorded 18 pressures and two sacks, according to PFF ($$). He also ranks 68th out of 120 eligible edge rushers in pass-rush productivity–an efficiency metric by PFF.

"“Garvin’s a damn good football player,” OLB Coach Mike Smith said in August via SI. “The one thing I love about him is he knows who he is. He’s not going to go out there and try to be flashy and do all this finesse stuff. It’s his strength. You can ask any of those offensive linemen, they struggle with him. There’s a lot of things that we’ve got to clean up with him, and he’s still learning – a lot like Rashan was his first year – but he’s going to be a damn good football player. One of the smartest, if not the smartest, in the room. Picks up things very, very fast. He’s going to have a great career. Just love his demeanor. I want to see his birth certificate. I think he’s 35. He’s got an old soul. But he’s going to be a good player. He’s still got a lot of growing to do, but he’s going to be a special player in this league.”"

Without a doubt, Garvin’s return provides some much-needed depth to the edge position, but it’s not as if he’s made a ton of impact plays this season either. The overall depth and productivity of this unit when Gary or Smith aren’t on the field is still a question mark and something to monitor over the final five games of the season. The Packers are also only one injury away from this unit really being stressed.

Hopefully, at some point, we see Za’Darius Smith back in the mix–there seems to be growing optimism that he will be back sooner than later.