Tipa Galeai Among Several Packers Pushing for Playing Time at Edge Rusher

The edge rusher position on this Green Bay Packers team may be the most up in the air entering training camp. If the Packers keep five edge rushers on the initial roster as they have each year under Matt LaFleur, three of those spots are up for grabs, with Preston Smith and Rashan Gary being the only locks.

One specific area where the Packers can be better in 2022 is by getting a more consistent impact from their edge rusher rotation.

With Gary and Smith each playing roughly two-thirds of the defensive snaps last season, about 33% of the defensive snaps came with them on the sidelines—and when that was the case, there was a lack of impact plays. This is the big reason why the team would bring in Whitney Mercilus after he was released by Houston.

Competing for those roster spots and playing time this summer will be Jonathan Garvin, who is entering his third season, along with La’Darius Hamilton, Kingsley Enagbare, UDFA Chauncey Manac, Randy Ramsey, who Brian Gutekunst is excited to have back, Kobe Jones, and Tipa Galeai.

Like Garvin, this is an important year for Galeai. Although a former undrafted rookie, that doesn’t much matter anymore as he is entering his third season with the Green Bay Packers.

Galeai spent most of his rookie season in the practice squad and began the 2021 season there as well. However, as the Packers dealt with injuries at the edge rusher position, he began to see some steady playing time from Week 11 through the end of the regular season.

During that span, Galeai logged six pressures, including a sack, 10 tackles — with no misses — and seven stops—or plays that constitute a loss for the offense, according to PFF ($$).

At 6’5” – Galeai has good length and he came out of Utah State with an array of pass rush moves already in his arsenal. However, that hasn’t quite translated to the NFL yet, although we need to keep in mind that it’s been a very small sample size. Out of 200 edge rushers, Galeai ranked 161st in PFF’s pass rush productivity metric, which measures how efficient a player is at creating pressure.

On the flip side, where Galeai has surprised, is with his ability to hold up against the run. And the reason I say “surprised” is because he is listed at only 229 pounds, which would make shedding blocks and holding up at the point of attack more difficult. Yet Galeai had shown that he can set the edge well, and would rank 28th last season out of 190 edge rushers in PFF’s run-stop rate.

Galeai also played 72 special teams snaps in 2021 on the kick return, kick coverage, and punt return units.

Andy Herman of Packer Report, who grades every play for every player over the course of the season, had Galeai with a final score of -1.45 with zero being considered average. He was well behind Smith and Gary, while in smaller sample sizes, Mercilus and Hamilton finished just ahead of him. Garvin was the worst graded defender overall by Herman’s metrics, finishing the season at -6.15.

Last summer, former Packers OLB Coach Mike Smith told reporters that he believed that Galeai could become a “damn good player,” but where he must improve is on special teams, along with playing more power, and adding some weight.

"“If that joker can put on 10 more pounds, he’s a demon now,” Smith said via Packers Wire. “He plays hard. Very smooth, quick. Great chop and spin, great counter, great get off to beat you on the edge. Gotta get better with his power. He’s learning that’s all they’ll do. They’ll set you soft and wait for you. You have to threaten. A guy with a great get off, he should have great power, because they are going to open up on you early. You have to threaten them with that. If he puts some weight on, he’ll be a damn good player.”"

Special teams contributions will always be important for rotational or back end of the roster players and Galeai with his length and athleticism, has the potential to affect that phase of the game in multiple ways under new coordinator Rich Bisaccia.

Defensively if Galeai can continue to make strides in his third season — which many successful NFL players do — and play with more power, as Smith mentioned, he has as good of a chance as any of the other edge rushers who are fighting for playing time to make this team.

Whether it be Galieai, or any of the other edge rushers on this roster, the Packers need more contributions this season from those not named Smith and Gary.