Emergence of these 3 Packers can take Team to New Level
By Paul Bretl
Green Bay Packers Edge Rusher Jonathan Garvin
I probably sound like a broken record, but edge depth is a concern for the Green Bay Packers–even with Rashan Gary and Preston Smith on the roster.
As OLB Coach Jason Rebrovich told us, this will be a four-man rotation, and right now, those third and fourth spots are up for grabs. And in general, Green Bay needs more of an impact from these depth players than what we saw a season ago.
Edge rusher is a very heavily rotated position, with both Gary and Smith on the field for about two-thirds of the defensive snaps in 2021, which meant that roughly one-third of the defensive snaps each game were played by other players.
Jonathan Garvin was one of those players as he was on the field for 396 snaps last season but rarely leaped off the screen. He finished the year with 25 pressures and two sacks while ranking 76th out of 121 edge rushers in PFF’s pass-rush win rate and 119th out of 133 in PFF’s run stop metric.
If Garvin can build off of last season and find success — against both the run and the pass — when Gary and Smith are on the sidelines or in those obvious passing situations, it will go a long way in providing this Green Bay Packers defense with a boost. At least on paper, there are very few weaknesses on this Packers defense, but edge depth is perhaps the biggest.