The 90 to 1 Green Bay Packers roster countdown: No. 13 – Preston Smith
The Green Bay Packers, and their 90 players on the roster, are in the midst of their first training camp under coach Matt LaFleur. In an annual tradition from my 11 years at Packer Report, I rank the players in order of importance from No. 90 to No. 1. This isn’t just a listing of the team’s best players. Our rankings take into account talent, importance of the position, depth at the position, salary and draft history. More than the ranking, we hope you learn something about each player. (Note: The start of this series can be found with my former employer.)
No. 13: OLB Preston Smith ($6,000,000 cap)
For the first four years of his career, Smith played second fiddle in Washington to perennial Pro Bowler Ryan Kerrigan. Now in Green Bay, Smith and Za’Darius Smith are co-stars in an outside linebacker room that was blown up by general manager Brian Gutekunst. Gone are Clay Matthews and Nick Perry, who combined for a woeful five sacks last season. In their place are the Smiths and first-round pick Rashan Gary.
Smith has 24.5 sacks in four seasons, which is hardly prolific production. However, Smith wasn’t only a pass rusher with the Redskins. Of 110 edge rushers who participated in at least 20 percent of the passing plays, Smith’s rush percentage of 89.8 percent ranked 79th, according to Pro Football Focus. That should fit defensive coordinator Mike Pettine’s scheme. Matthews rushed 82.8 percent of the time and the team’s leader in sacks, Kyler Fackrell, rushed a league-low 64.4 percent of the time.
“We can be used in a lot of ways in Coach Pettine’s scheme,” Smith said early in training camp. “We complement each other – all our guys are versatile. We can all switch up and they can mix and match us together.”
Gutekunst is paying Smith a lot of money to help improve a defense that finished just 22nd in points allowed last season. His four-year, $52 million deal ranks 17th among edge rushers in total dollars and 18th with an annual salary of $13 million, according to OverTheCap.com. In the nonsensical world of NFL free agency, he is making more money per season than Kerrigan. Smith never has had more than 8.0 sacks – a figure he reached in 2015 and 2017 – while Kerrigan has seven consecutive seasons of at least 8.5 sacks, including double-digits sacks each of the past three seasons. While Smith’s cap charge for this season is reasonable, it swells to $13.5 million in 2020, $16 million in 2021 and $16.5 million in 2022.
While Smith had just four sacks last season, it should be noted that he generally drew the more difficult assignment, as he rushed from the defense’s right side and against the opponent’s left tackle more than 90 percent of the time. With Pettine, Smith will play on the weak side and Za’Darius Smith on the strong side, meaning more of a 50-50 split and some better individual matchups.
Last year, he ranked 42nd out of the aforementioned 110 edge rushers in ProFootballFocus.com’s pass-rushing productivity, which measures sacks, hits and hurries per pass-rushing snap. His 53 total pressures were more than Green Bay’s top two rushers, Matthews (30) and Fackrell (21), combined.
“I feel like I have a great combination of speed and length and power,” he said. “So I can mix my game up. I can beat you around the edge with speed, I can power through you. I’ve got inside moves, I feel like. And I feel like I have a lot of different moves to go out there and be effective.”
If nothing else, his place in the lineup should be a welcome change of pace. Matthews and Perry had more than their share of injuries during their Packers careers. Smith, on the other hand, played all 64 possible games with the Redskins and didn’t miss any time at Mississippi State, either.
“It’s pretty easy to get hurt in such a violent sport,” he said. “I try to take care of my body week in and week out and make sure I take the right steps to make sure that I can play on Sunday and that I’m healthy enough to be out there for my team each and every week.”
