Concern about Rashan Gary – the Green Bay Packers’ leading rusher – is rightly growing. According to Pro Football Focus charts, Gary has a four-game winning percentage in 2024 of just 3.0. For comparison, Gary’s winning percentage was 17.1 in 2022 and 16.0 in 2023.
His 3.0% win rate ranks among the worst marks among Edge Rush players over the last four weeks. But forget about the number. Gary simply doesn’t impact the quarterback enough to start the 2024 season.
An enhance in concern is probably required with the Packers’ entire pass rush. No player had a passing and rushing winning percentage above 10.0, and the team’s two best players, Gary and Kenny Clark, combined for just one sack (on a fumble) and 15 pressures. Devonte Wyatt and Preston Smith flashed, but were overall inconsistent. The same goes for substitutes Kingsley Enagbare, Lukas Van Ness and Karl Brooks. Gary doesn’t lead the offense, and his teammates don’t consistently win elsewhere in the offense.
It’s worth considering that games against Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles and Anthony Richardson and the Indianapolis Colts likely have an impact on the numbers. The Packers attacked athletic quarterbacks in a different way. However, Gary had just three seconds to play 31 snaps on a pass rush in an extra-game matchup against the Tennessee Titans in Week 3, and on Sunday he was held out of the game after 22 snaps on a pass rush against the Minnesota Vikings.
Gary also got fooled by scoring on Jordan Addison for one of the Vikings’ first-half touchdowns.
Rush Productivity (PRP) is another way PFF tracks rush productivity. After four games, Gary’s PRP is 3.5, which ranks him 42nd among 47 passers this season with at least 75 rushing snaps (note: not all Week 4 classes attend school on Monday in the morning). Last season, Gary’s PRP was 9.0, which placed him 10th overall. In 2022, it was 11.5, the third best result. Once again, the numbers highlight the lack of productivity and effectiveness of one of the Packers’ most critical players in the forward role.
On Sunday, Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold had been spotless in 22 of 33 games. When Darnold didn’t have anything in the pocket, he completed 73 percent of his passes, averaged 9.1 yards per attempt and threw three touchdown passes. He played from spotless pockets far too often, especially in scoring areas and in obvious passing situations.
Gary and the Packers needed a pass rush to control Sunday’s game. Both Jaire Alexander and Carrington Valentine were injured and the best way to protect cornerbacks is to pass difficult. The Packers didn’t get it, and Darnold hacked and hacked as a passer, especially in the first half when the Vikings built a commanding 28-0 lead.
Two of the Packers defense’s most impressive plays came during blitzes. Quay Walker finished one drive with a second sack in an A-gap tackle, and Keisean Nixon made a game-changing striptease in a slot tackle. When the Packers needed a four-man rush to break down the pack, they were largely unable to. This reality forced Jeff Hafley to play more aggressively, which created additional pressure in the second half.
At some point, Gary and the Packers are going to have to prove they can disrupt the quarterback when they’re playing good offensive lines. No chance was taken on Sunday. For the Packers to reach Super Bowl level, Gary must move past his sluggish start and rediscover his methods of destroying games as a passer.
