A Key at Outside Linebacker: Gary Needs To Grab Some of Smiths’ Load

The Smith Bros. played too much and Rashan Gary played too little. That has to change in 2020.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – As great as Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith were for the Green Bay Packers last season, sometimes, perhaps, less is more.

Za’Darius Smith was sixth in the NFL with 13.5 sacks while Preston Smith was eighth with 12 sacks. Without them, the Packers wouldn’t have vaulted from 6-9-1 to 13-3 and on the cusp of a trip to the Super Bowl.

Because they were so good, they played a lot of snaps. Among all edge rushers, Za’Darius Smith was 14th with 872 snaps while Preston Smith was 15th with 870 snaps. For comparison, in his final three seasons in Green Bay, Clay Matthews averaged 681 snaps.

Perhaps the heavy workloads showed up at the end of games. Preston Smith tied for 13th with 3.5 sacks in the fourth quarter and overtime. Za’Darius Smith tied for 33rd with 2.5 sacks. That’s a combined six sacks; Detroit’s Trey Flowers and Tampa Bay’s Shaquil Barrett had six sacks apiece in those late-game situations.

“I do think at times where Preston and Z probably played maybe a little too much, that we do want to take some off their plate,” defensive coordinator Mike Pettine said recently.

If the Packers are going to reduce the Smith Brothers’ workloads, it’s going to be up to last year’s top pick, Rashan Gary. Gary not only didn’t play much with 244 snaps but he was well behind Kyler Fackrell, who played 415 snaps. Fackrell signed with the Giants in free agency, leaving a lot of snaps to be absorbed.

The Packers used the 12th overall pick on Gary because of his size-speed-strength upside. He didn’t play a lot in a traditional edge role at Michigan, so the team was well aware there would be a learning curve. With the free-agent additions of the Smiths and the presence of Fackrell, there was no need to force Gary into the lineup.

If there’s a reason to be concerned, it’s that Gary didn’t earn a bigger role as the season progressed. He failed to play even 20 snaps in any of the final 11 regular-season games; he played a not-so-grand total of 12 snaps in two playoff games. Then again, using the coaches’ count of 30 tackles, he averaged a tackle every 8.13 snaps. That was the best rate for anyone on the unit. He also had the best run-stop percentage – a Pro Football Focus metric that essentially counts impact tackles – among the team’s outside linebackers.

Heading into 2020, there’s no doubt Gary is going to have to show he’s worthy of the opportunities he’s going to be given. Behind the Smiths and Gary, it’s seventh-round rookie Jonathan Garvin, waiver-claim Tim Williams (a third-round pick by Baltimore in 2017) and some undrafted free agents.

“Rashan proved to us that he’s not only a guy that can rush outside but he could rush inside,” Pettine said. “He didn’t get that many opportunities to do it during the season but we certainly think that’s a role that he can take on. I do think he can play more on early downs, that he was one of our better guys when we even went back and just looked at outside ‘backers setting an edge in the run game, just how physical and how violent Rashan was against tight ends and certain blocking patterns. We realized, ‘Hey, we need to get him on the field more.’

“We’re excited about a Tim Williams. (He) had some pass-rush production in his history and did some good things for us down the stretch on the practice field. Jonathan Garvin and some of the other additions to that room that we feel good about. There will be some interesting competition for that fourth, fifth, sixth spot in that room. This is as deep as an outside linebacker room as I’ve been a part of in a long time. It’s a great problem to have is finding ways to get creative to use them.”

A KEY AT EACH POSITION

Quarterback: Too many incompletions

Receiver: Too many drops

Running back: How will the carries be divided?

Tight end: For starters, it’s Sternberger

Offensive line: Wagner vs. stud pass rushers

Defensive line: Fixing the run defense