NFL.com Picks NFC North Breakout Stars

“This defense, if they can stay healthy, this guy coming along, this can be the best defense in National Football League,” former Packers standout James Jones said.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – If he’s not already a star, Green Bay Packers outside linebacker Rashan Gary is about to become one during the 2022 NFL season.

During a “Baller Alert” segment on NFL Network, the analysts, Adam Rank and former Packers standout James Jones, zeroed in on the 2019 first-round pick as a “potential breakout star” in the NFC North.

“He is an excellent player who’s on the cusp of taking his game to the next level,” Rank said.

Last season, Green Bay finished 13th in points allowed, ninth in total defense and fifth in yards allowed per passing attempt. Coordinator Joe Barry’s defense ran hot and cold. After a 17-0 victory over Seattle, the Packers the next four games allowed 34 points to the Vikings, 28 to the Rams, 30 to the Bears and 30 to the Ravens.

However, a superb performance against San Francisco in the playoff loss, paired with the return of Jaire Alexander, the re-signings of De’Vondre Campbell and Rasul Douglas, and the additions of veteran Jarran Reed and first-round picks Quay Walker and Devonte Wyatt, has the arrow pointed straight up.

“This defense, if they can stay healthy, this guy coming along, this can be the best defense in National Football League,” Jones proclaimed.

The play of Gary will be key. In 2021, he paced the Packers with 9.5 sacks and 28 quarterback hits, the latter figure almost doubling Preston Smith’s second-ranked 15. According to Pro Football Focus, of the 80 edge defenders with at least 214 rushes, Gary ranked third in pass-rushing productivity, a formula that combines sacks, hit and hurries per pass-rushing snap, and second in pressures (81) and pass-rush win rate (26.0 percent).

To become recognized as a star, Gary will have to turn more of those pressures into sacks. Right or wrong, sacks are the stat in which edge defenders are judged.

“Just basically clean up my technique,” Gary said recently. “And when I have those opportunities to win one on one, I have to win and have to finish at the quarterback. So, just watching a lot of film, studying these linemen and finding a way to beat them.”

Click here for more on Gary and their choices for the other NFC North teams.