Fresh off a breakout 2021 season, Green Bay Packers outside linebacker Rashan Gary is already off to a disruptive start to training camp as the defense’s No. 1 edge rusher.
Coach Matt LaFleur admitted that facing Gary in practice can make live team drills increasingly difficult for the offense. In fact, he thinks Gary might have ended four different plays with sacks during Thursday’s practice had it been a live game setting.
“Rashan is a tone-setter,” LaFleur said Friday. “He’s got the capability of wrecking practice. He probably would have had four sacks yesterday. He’s relentless. He plays with a great motor and energy and I think it rubs off on everybody. He makes everyone around him better.”
An ability to elevate others is the ultimate compliment of an elite player.
Gary, a first-round pick in 2019, produced 87 pressures over 17 regular-season and playoff games last year, establishing the former Michigan star as one of the NFL’s best young defensive players.
If the first two days of camp are any indication, Gary is ready to continue to ascension as a pass-rusher.
The caveat here is that the Packers don’t have David Bakhtiari or Elgton Jenkins healthy – meaning Gary is facing a lot of Yosh Nijman and rookie Zach Tom – and the first two practices were in helmets and shorts. But nothing about his start suggests anything will change when the competitive or physicality level ramps up.
Gary has elite athleticism and incredible work ethic, a dangerous combination for a young player that has already improved significantly since entering the NFL and who is coming off a third season in which he produced big results.
Expecting Gary to take the next step and become one of the game’s consistently dominant defensive players doesn’t feel like a stretch.
One thing to note here: Gary is currently +7000 to win NFL Defensive Player of the Year at Tipico Sportsbook. Those odds are looking better and better.