Packers OLB Rashan Gary making presence felt to start Year 2

Green Bay Packers outside linebacker Rashan Gary was a controversial pick at No. 12 overall in the 2019 NFL Draft because of his underwhelming three-year career at the University of Michigan and the recent free-agent signings of Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith, who play the same position.

As a rookie, Gary did nothing to dissuade his critics, but as a second-year player, he’s beginning to show why GM Brian Gutekunst and the Packers scouting department thought so highly of him coming out of college.

Against the Detroit Lions in Week 2, Gary had what could be called his first breakout game as an NFL player. With four tackles, a career-high 1.5 sacks and four quarterback pressures, he showed he can be a disruptive presence.

In one of his highlight plays, Gary came off the right edge, avoided a cut block from Lions running back Adrian Peterson and applied pressure to quarterback Matthew Stafford, who forced a throw that turned into a pick-six for Packers cornerback Chandon Sullivan.

To earn his first sack of the season, Gary split a double team from Lions rookie running back D’Andre Swift and backup right tackle Tyrell Crosby. With a hesitation move to set up his rush plan and a rip move to eliminate Crosby’s outside hand at the top of his rush arc, Gary got himself free and finished the play with a quarterback takedown.

Defensive lineman Kingsley Keke and outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith also deserve praise for making the above play happen. It was a great all-around effort from the trio of Packers’ pass rushers.

Smith got upfield and drew a triple team, while Keke beat his 1-on-1 matchup and applied pressure from the interior, giving Stafford no room to step up and away from Gary’s pressure.

Earlier in the game, Gary made another impact play by helping to force an incompletion. Midway through the second quarter when the Packers were trailing 10-14, cornerback Chandon Sullivan got beat on a route for a potentially big gain by Lions wide receiver Danny Amendola. Because of the pressure from Gary, Stafford slightly overshot his target and the pass fell incomplete.

Last Sunday against the Vikings, Gary helped create another game-changing play.

After looping inside on a T-E stunt, he bull-rushed Vikings center Garrett Bradbury into quarterback Kirk Cousins’ face and got his arms up to disrupt the throwing window.

Because of the pressure from Gary, Cousins’ throw ended up behind wide receiver Adam Thielen and wound up in the hands of Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander for an interception.

As a rookie, Gary played in all 16 games, but finished his first NFL season with only two sacks. Through two games as a second-year player, he already has 1.5 sacks and currently leads the Packers with seven quarterback pressures.

Next week against New Orleans, Gary will have the much tougher task of facing offensive tackles Terron Armstead and Ryan Ramczyk, two of the best players in the league at their positions. The arrow is certainly pointing up for Gary in his second NFL season. Now he just needs to prove he can make an impact consistently and do it against better competition.

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