Rashan Gary hasn’t been the same. Since a breakout start to his season, the Packers defensive end has all but disappeared – even with teams devoting double teams and a lion’s share of attention to Micah Parsons on the opposite side of the d-line.
In this case, the numbers tell the story. In his first seven games, Gary racked up 7.5 sacks and 4.5 stuffs. He was dominant against the pass and making plays versus the run. In seven games since, he has zero sacks and 1.5 stuffs.
Losing Micah Parsons hurts in itself, but with Gary falling off a cliff and now promoted to the No. 1 pass rusher, the Packers’ pass rush feels more than just a slightly unmoored moving forward.
Gary’s dropoff just became even bigger concern
Parsons quickly caught up with Gary to lead the Packers easily with 12.5 sacks at the time of his injury. He accounted for 48 pressures via Football Reference and 79 via Pro Football Focus.
Gary, by comparison, has 27 Football Reference pressures and 47 per PFF. Not just in sacks but in something as basic as forcing pressures, he has fallen off. In the second seven-game sample, he has 21 PFF pressures vs 27 in his first seven games. His season PFF grade has dropped from 74.6 (24th percentile) through Week 8 to 68.7 (41st percentile) through Week 15.
Now, with no Parsons, opposing offensive lines can key in on Gary. Getting unstuck is only going to get harder.
Van Ness and Enagbare have been solid, but they’re no Parsons replacement. Like Gary, they will now have even bigger roles. Van Ness, at least, is healthy; he has been limited to seven games thus far. Football Reference gives him 1.5 sacks and 10 pressures. Enagbare has two sacks and 13 pressures in 14 games.
It doesn’t help that Green Bay has also lost the services of defensive lineman Devonte Wyatt, who had four sacks before his season-ending ankle injury in Week 13.
“Replacing” Parsons will be a joint effort. Already a formidable task, it’s even more daunting given Gary’s struggles. All is not lost, but his teammates will have to step up and Gary will have to rise to the occasion himself if the Packers have any chance to generate a pass rush comparable to what they had with Parsons leading the charge.
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