Acme Packing Company
With the season-ending injury to Micah Parsons, the Green Bay Packers are facing a serious dilemma at EDGE ahead of their wild card matchup against the Chicago Bears with how to properly utilize and rotate their players at the position.
The Packers’ pass rush has fallen off of a cliff in the weeks following Parsons’ torn ACL. Over the course of their four-game losing streak, the team has had a combined three sacks, two of which came in a meaningless Week 18 matchup against the Minnesota Vikings, and the other being a zero-yard sack against the Baltimore Ravens.
Rashan Gary is a big part of the problem. The team’s presumed No. 1 pass rusher, who is playing in the middle of a four-year, $96 million extension, has been a non-factor for months. His last sack came on October 26 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and his lack of quick pressures has hamstrung Green Bay’s pass rush.
Beyond the lack of production, Gary’s on-field effort has been frustrating at times, most notably when he was spotted jogging in pursuit of Caleb Williams a few weeks before the playoffs.
With Gary’s disappointing level of play, Acme Packing Company’s own rcon14 suggested that he be a healthy scratch for Saturday’s rematch against Chicago. Even if Gary isn’t a healthy scratch, it’s time for an honest assessment of the team’s own EDGE rotation in order to have a more effective and impactful unit for the playoffs.
The hope would be for other EDGEs to get more opportunities over Gary in Saturday’s game. While Lukas Van Ness has been dealing with a foot injury this season, he might have had his best game as a pro in Week 17 against the Ravens, generating three pressures and five defensive stops as an effective run stopper on early downs. A week off to continue recovering could give the Packers a fresh version of LVN who could be even more impactful this week against Chicago.
Kingsley Enagbare will likely be heavily rotated, but fans will be more than interested in monitoring rookie Barryn Sorrell, who has consistently flashed in limited opportunities throughout the season. He was particularly effective against the run as a full-time starter in Week 18 against the Vikings, and could use that momentum to carry himself into the playoffs. Even rookie Collin Oliver, who made his NFL debut in Week 18, flashed for a couple of pressures against Minnesota.
For all of their faults with self scouting in previous seasons, it feels like Matt LaFleur and his coaching staff have done a better job this season, whether it was moving Anthony Belton to guard and Jordan Morgan to tackle, leaning into Javon Bullard over Nate Hobbs in the slot, or creatively pursuing outside reinforcements in the former of DL depth and the recent acquisition of Trevon Diggs.
The hope is that Green Bay can continue to honestly assess itself by limiting Rashan Gary’s usage and leaning on other EDGE players for a difficult matchup this week...
