Rashan Gary led the Packers in sacks last season. The former University of Michigan star got off to a strong start rushing the passer this season, but his production has dropped off in recent weeks. With the Packers facing a daunting schedule in the final seven weeks of the season, they will need more from Gary down the stretch.
The addition of Micah Parsons was supposed to benefit Gary. Despite his high draft position, Gary had never recorded double digit sacks in a season. His play against the run had improved, but most opposing offenses made blocking Gary their priority in recent seasons, so he often faced double teams when rushing the passer. With Parsons on board, the double teams would shift to the former Cowboys star giving Gary more opportunities to face single coverage and get after the quarterback.
The addition of Parsons had an immediate impact on Gary. He had 4.5 sacks in the first three games this season and now has 7.5 sacks on the season, matching his total for all of 2024. His career high of 9.5 sacks in a season was set back in 2021, and he is just two sacks away from matching it with seven games to go.
But Gary has slowed down over the past three games. He has not recorded a sack since the Packers win in Pittsburgh back on October 26th. In fact, he hasn’t even recorded a quarterback hit in the last three games this season and has just two pressures total for those three contests.
Gary’s snap count has also gone down over the last three games. Against the Giants, he played a season-low 54.2 percent of the team’s defensive snaps. Backup Kingsley Enagbare actually saw more game action than Gary did.
Head coach Matt LaFleur addressed the issue during his Wednesday press conference this week. “I would say it's a byproduct of the game,” LaFleur explained. “He's never been a huge snap count guy, if you look at the course of his career. But every game could unfold a little bit differently, and I think [Enagbare] has been doing a heck of a job. I'd say it's more a credit to how [Enagbare] has gone in there and done his job.”
Another factor has been the increased predictability of the Green Bay pass rush this season. With the addition of Parsons, Jeff Hafley has been very comfortable rushing the front four and having seven men back in coverage. Last season the defense also usually rushed four players, but Hafley often put six or seven men near the line of scrimmage and tried to make offenses guess which four were going to blitz the quarterback. This season, the pass rush has been more predictable.
In the first three games, the pass rush was very effective. But as the league got more game footage of what the Packers were doing, opposing coaches were able to make adjustments and alter their play calling accordingly. Opposing quarterbacks are also trying to release the ball quickly to neutralize the impact of the Green Bay pass rush. That is a tradeoff that Hafley is willing to make because it limits big plays and forces offenses to march downfield on long drives which are more difficult to sustain.
Gary also needs to return to his more disruptive, earlier season form. He has the ability to make a big an impact on any game he plays in. Gary did come up with a big fumble recovery in the win over the Giants that helped the Packers clinch the win in the final minute of the game, but the team needs more from him and the other pass rushers not named Micah Parsons.
A combination of mixing up the pass rush formations and strategies and a return to form for Gary would go a long way towards helping the Packers navigate the difficult part of their schedule. The potential return of a healthy Lukas Van Ness could also give offenses more to think about and further free up Gary to make more plays.
Regardless of the reasons, the Packers need more production from Gary and the other pass rushers besides Parsons if they hope to win enough games to qualify for the playoffs this year.