Packers with one of most productive pass rush combos through 5 games
By Paul Bretl
Through five games this season, the Green Bay Packers combination of Rashan Gary, Preston Smith, Kenny Clark, and Devonte Wyatt has been one of the most disruptive pass rush combinations in football.
According to Arjun Menon, using data from PFF, the combination of Wyatt, Clark, Smith, and Gary has the third-highest pressure rate when on the field together, producing a hurry, hit, or sack on 52.6 percent of their snaps together. This group also utilizes stunts nearly 50 percent of the time to cause additional chaos for the offensive line.
The truly absurd stat is that Gary, Smith, Wyatt, and Clark are generating a sack 31.9 percent of the time. For reference, the next highest sack rate among the top 10 of these pass-rush combos is at 16.6 percent.
Overall, as a defense, the Packers’ ability to get after the quarterback has been hit-and-miss this season. The unit ranks just above league average in pressures and pressure rate, according to Pro Football Reference, coming in at 13th in both categories.
Green Bay’s most recent game against the Raiders is a good synopsis of how the pass rush unit has performed this season. The defense was able to come up with some key pressures, including three third-down sacks, but overall, Jimmy Garoppolo was pressured on about 25 percent of his dropbacks, which, for some context, would have ranked 33rd over the course of the first five games of the season.
The play of Rashan Gary has single-handily boosted the Packers’ overall pass-rush numbers. Gary’s win rate of 28.9 percent is the second-best rate in football among edge rushers. Despite ranking 70th in pass rush snaps due to being on a pitch count as he returns from injury, Gary still ranks 16th in total pressures generated.
The next highest-ranked Packers edge rusher in terms of pressures is Smith, coming in at 51st overall, followed by Lukas Van Ness at 90th. Everyone else is outside the top 100. Along the interior defensive line, Wyatt and Clark have been among the best, ranking ninth and 16th, respectively, in total pressures. Colby Wooden and Karl Brooks are tied for 50th.
Individually, Gary, Wyatt, Clark, and Smith have been the Packers’ most productive pass rushers, so it makes sense that collectively, this group has been one of the better combinations in football this season. However, this group has only been on the field for 19 snaps this season. This, in part, is a product of Gary being on a snap count, but it also reflects the defense’s struggles against the run.
In order to have the opportunity to get after the quarterback, teams have to eat their vegetables on early downs and stop the run. This then puts the offense in obvious passing situations where the front can pin its ears back and really get after the quarterback. The Green Bay defense as a whole has been very effective at generating sacks on third downs, but they need to give themselves more of those opportunities.
The name of the game in football is pressuring the quarterback, and that is an aspect that should be a strength of this Packers defense. This combination, in particular, shows that it’s not only a strength but one of the best combinations in the NFL. The next step is to give these four players more snaps together, and that all starts with the collective defensive unit being better against the run.