Grading on Salary-Cap Curve: Outside Linebackers

The Packers were rewarded handsomly for their huge investments in Za'Darius Smith and Preston Smith.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Player grades have long been a staple of postseason analysis. Ours are different. So much of building a team is doing it within the constraints of the salary cap. Teams need their big-money players to come up big and some bargain players to outplay their contracts. Thus, our annual grades are done on a salary-cap curve.

OUTSIDE LINEBACKERS

ZA’DARIUS SMITH

Cap: $7.25 million (29th among edge rushers, according to OverTheCap.com)

Season: In four seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, Smith started 16 games and recorded 18.5 sacks. With that limited resume, the Packers signed him to a four-year, $64 million contract. Was Smith worth that much money? How would he react to having that much money? Those were legit worries entering the season, though not for long. Smith had a monster season with 13.5 sacks. By the official league stats, he tied for the NFL lead with 37 quarterback hits. By ProFootballFocus.com’s count, he led the NFL with 93 quarterback pressures – the most by any edge defender since Khalil Mack had 96 for the Raiders in 2016. PFF’s pass-rushing productivity metric measures sacks, hits and hurries per pass-rushing snap. Of 117 edge defenders with at least 145 rushes, he ranked No. 1. Smith attacked from the left, right and middle. Offenses slid protection his way. None of it mattered. Smith had his way in almost every game. More than just a pass rusher, he tied Kenny Clark with team-high 11 stuffs (tackle at or behind the line of scrimmage vs. the run). According to Sports Info Solutions, his average tackle was made 1.6 yards downfield. With 78 tackles in 872 snaps, he averaged a tackle every 11.18 snaps. A huge personality and natural leader, he was mentioned countless times by quarterback Aaron Rodgers as a main reason for Green Bay’s revival.

Grade: A-plus.

PRESTON SMITH

Cap: $6.0 million (36th among edge rushers)

Season: Smith had 24.5 sacks in four seasons as Ryan Kerrigan’s sidekick in Washington. However, with just four sacks last year, it was fair to ask if he was worth the four-year, $52 million investment. The answer was a resounding yes. Smith had a career-high 12 sacks – as many as the previous two seasons combined. He finished 19th in PFF’s pass-rushing productivity and 23rd with 55 total pressures. Smith trailed off late in the year with 1.5 sacks in the final six games but had two against Seattle in the divisional playoffs. With 75 tackles in 870 snaps, he averaged a tackle every 11.60 snaps. Compared to Za’Darius Smith, Preston Smith’s run defense wasn’t quite as strong. He had only seven stuffs and his average tackle was 3.0 yards downfield, according to Sports Info Solutions. He broke up three passes, intercepted one pass and forced one fumble. From Day 1 in training camp, running bootlegs against him was pure folly. Over his five-year career, Smith is the only player in the NFL with 25-plus sacks (36.5), five-plus interceptions (five) and five-plus forced fumbles (five).

Grade: B

RASHAN GARY

Cap: $2,886,784 (57th at position)

Season: Gary was the 12th pick in this year’s draft. It was a quiet rookie season. While some of that was due to the dominance of The Smith Bros. resulting in limited playing time, some of it was due to Gary’s level of play. That was evident in the playoffs. Ideally, a team wants its rookies to round into form for the playoffs. Instead, Gary played nine snaps against Seattle and three against San Francisco. Still, his season wasn’t a lost cause. With 30 tackles in 244 snaps, he averaged a tackle every 8.13 snaps. That was the best rate for anyone on the unit. He had three stuffs against the run and two sacks. Of 117 edge defenders with at least 145 rushes – that was Gary’s total – he tied for 59th in PFF’s pass-rushing productivity. At midseason, position coach Mike Smith raved about Gary. At the end of the season, general manager Brian Gutekunst took exception to the belief Gary underperformed. We’ll see if those are empty words.

Grade: D-minus

KYLER FACKRELL

Cap: $2,198,512 (64th at position)

Season: Fackrell had a breakout 2018 season with 10.5 sacks. What did that mean to Gutekunst? Nothing. He went out and signed the Smiths and drafted Gary. Fackrell had just one sack this season (and another in the playoffs). Of 117 edge defenders with at least 145 rushes, he tied for 54th in PFF’s pass-rushing productivity. However, he actually had more pressures this year (25) than last year (23). With 33 tackles in 415 snaps, he averaged a tackle every 12.58 snaps, the lowest rate on the unit. He had just one stuff. Fackrell is headed to free agency. With a huge investment in the Smiths and Gary, he’s probably eager to put his diverse skill-set to a wider use.

Grade: C

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