The Green Bay Packers were certainly happy to see Rashan Gary back on the field in Week 1 against the Chicago Bears. While it wasn’t anywhere near his normal workload, it was an encouraging sight after how his 2022 campaign ended.
In Week 9 against the Detroit Lions, Rashan Gary suffered a torn ACL, ending his season. It could not have come at a worse time as the 2019 first-round pick was in the midst of a breakout season. When the injury occurred, he was top 10 in the NFL in multiple pass-rushing stats, including sacks, with 6.0.
Being back in the lineup in Week 1, even on a snap count, was certainly a nice thing to see. Despite the limited role, Rashan Gary still made a huge impact on the field. He was on the field for only 12 plays but showed that he is one of the best defensive players in the NFL.
Of those 12 plays, 10 were considered pass rushes by PFF. He made the most of them, recording an overall grade of 83.4 and a pass-rushing grade of 77.8. The overall grade was second on the team behind linebacker Quay Walker and the pass-rushing grade was the highest on the Packers.
It was certainly easy to see why he graded out so well as Rashan Gary was living in the Bears’ backfield. He registered five hurries in the game, which also led the team. According to Matt Schneidman of The Athletic, the Packers charted him with seven hurries. Had it not been for a penalty for too many players on the field, he would have had his first sack of the season as well.
“I thought he was pretty darn effective,” head coach Matt LaFleur said of Gary. “I don’t know what the rest of the gurus out there had him for, but I think we had him for seven pressures on the quarterback (PFF gave Gary five). So I’d say that was pretty effective.”
That is an unsustainable number, but extremely impressive given the fact this was Rashan Gary’s first action in so long. He is also hearing cha-ching as his price tag is going up if he keeps producing near this level.
The Packers are going to have to buck up if they want to keep the Michigan product long-term. Their only hesitation to giving him an extension during the offseason was that they wanted to see how his knee responded to being back on the field.
The Carolina Panthers are also keeping a close eye on negotiations between the Packers and their star pass rusher. Carolina has an edge rusher of their own, Brian Burns, who is looking for a new deal as well. After seeing the contract that Nick Bosa received from the San Francisco 49res, it is clear the edge rushing market is booming.
If Week 1 was an indication of things to come, this isn’t the same Rashan Gary that the Packers had in 2022 before the knee injury. This version could be even more productive, as his numbers could take off once he sees his full allotment of weekly snaps.
