Packer Central

Wyatt Displays Potentially Dominant Skill-Set

The Green Bay Packers need a big-time second year from defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt. Tuesday’s practice showed he might be on his way.

Bill Huber

Wyatt Displays Potentially Dominant Skill-Set
Wyatt Displays Potentially Dominant Skill-Set /
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – Devonte Wyatt’s skill-set, so dripping with potential, was on full display at Green Bay Packers training camp on Tuesday.

First came the quickness, with a vicious spin move sending starting center Josh Myers to the Ray Nitschke Field turf.

“Just setting him up. Make him think one thing and doing another thing,” Wyatt explained. “First rep I had, he thought he got me, but I had something else set up when I came back. You look at film. I came back rushing to the ball because I knew if I came out light at the beginning and hit him with the spin, it’s going to mess him up.”

Next came the power, with a tremendous two-hand thrust into the pads of guard Jean Delance sending the three-year starter at Florida flying onto his back, to the delight of the rest of the defensive linemen.

“All off of speed,” Wyatt said. “They all know I’m fast and they’re all going to come out to me. But if you switch it up on them, give them the bull then it’s going to set them down.”

The Packers drafted Wyatt in the first round last year to be a disruptive menace on their defensive line. Perhaps, after a quiet rookie season, Wyatt is on his way.

The Packers are betting on it after allowing Jarran Reed and Dean Lowry, a pair of veteran starters who combined for about 1,200 snaps last season, to leave in free agency.

Wyatt’s quiet rookie year – the second defensive tackle selected ranked 10th in snaps and 12th in tackles among rookies at his position – wasn’t all his fault. With former Pro Bowler Kenny Clark, Reed and Lowry commanding most of the snaps, there weren’t many opportunities available. Through the first five games, he averaged just seven snaps per game. Over the next five games, that bumped up slightly to 12 snaps per game.

However, a late-season injury to Lowry finally got Wyatt on the field. During the stretch run, after playing more than 15 snaps just once all season, he played 24 snaps against Miami, 34 against Minnesota and 32 against Detroit. Wyatt wasn’t great in any of those games but the skill-set that made him worthy of being the 28th pick of the draft flashed enough. Officially, all 1.5 sacks and three quarterback hits came over the final four games.

Of course, Wyatt wanted to play more but was thankful for the time to learn from the veterans.

Now, it’s time to turn his athleticism and knowledge into results.

“I feel a lot more comfortable, a lot more confident with plays,” said Wyatt, who beat Jon Runyan for a sack during team drills. “I’m a lot more focused, not much stress. I hit the rookie wall about the beginning of the year but it’s gone now. Now, it’s just time to take that next step.”

The Packers are counting on it. Aside from Clark, the Packers might have the least-experienced defensive line in the NFL with only Clark, Wyatt and TJ Slaton having played in a regular-season game.

A lot of snaps mean a lot of opportunities to set up blockers, just like Wyatt did against Myers during Round 2 of their one-on-ones on Tuesday.

“You get a better feel about what they’re doing and what they like to do, and what they’re good at and what they’re not good at,” Wyatt said. “If I was in a game and had 30 snaps, and I won against one-on-ones and I keep doing this, keep doing the same move, and I kill him with one move, it’s going to kill him because now I’m comfortable and he knows he think what he’s going to get. That’s all it is, mind games.”

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.

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