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Throughout the year, I’ve been keeping tabs on Rashan Gary’s production because, despite recording some clean-up sacks early in the season, his down-to-down rate of generating actual pressure has been terrible. Don’t believe me? Let’s take a look at some data for the Green Bay Packers pass-rusher.
Let’s start with this chart. The X axis measures how many pass-rush attempts players have posted in edge alignments (per NFL Pro) in the 2025 season. The Y axis is how many quick pressures (defined as pressures generated in three seconds or fewer, per NFL Pro).
Obviously, Gary sticks out like a sore thumb. No player in the league gets more opportunities to rush the passer than him, while also having less of an impact on the quarterback within three seconds of the snap.
Why does three seconds matter? Well, first of all, every NFL team in the league is averaging a time to throw under three seconds, except the Kansas City Chiefs. So, in general, that’s about how quickly you can expect the ball to be out in this league, unless a quarterback gets thrown out of rhythm (likely by a quick pressure!)
I looked at NFL Pro’s data, which dates back to the 2018 season, to try to answer this question: Has anyone ever done less with more opportunities than 2025 Rashan Gary? The answer is yes, but barely.
Since 2018, there have been 206 edge defenders who have, in a single season, played at least 377 snaps as pass-rushers, like Gary. Among those players, the average was 24 quick pressures per season. Gary has just six in 2025. The average quick pressure rate in this group was 5.5 percent. Gary is at 1.6 percent.
So, Gary is playing at less than one-third of the efficiency of a player who typically commands his level of playing time, which is maybe one reason why he was finally out-snapped by both Lukas Van Ness and Kingsley Enagbare in Week 17.
Out of those 206 edge defenders, only two posted fewer than six quick pressures in a single year:
After the 2021 season, Reed only made four more starts in his NFL career, spending the next two years with three franchises. He has been out of the league for the last two seasons.
From a quick pressure percentage standpoint, only four seasons from this group (of 206 players, mind you) have been worse than Gary’s 1.6 percent rate:
After spending four years with the Minnesota Vikings, D.J. Wonnum signed a two-year, $12.5 million ($6.25 million APY) deal with the Carolina Panthers, where he’s posted six sacks over 21 starts. Those numbers are well below both Gary’s $24 million APY and his $28 million cap hit in 2026.
At one point (specifically 2022), Gary was a great pass-rusher. Those days are now over.
Even using an eight-year window, it’s hard to...
