As the Packers enter a new era offensively, the team’s key to success might come from the opposite side of the football. A Green Bay insider recently joined the Pat McAfee Show to explain what it would take for the team to produce a top-10 defense in the NFL this season.
Matt Schneidman of The Athletic joined the show to discuss Green Bay’s outlook for the upcoming season. Obviously, the team is ushering in a new starting quarterback in Jordan Love, who will replace Aaron Rodgers.
But Schneidman turned his attention on the defense, saying the unit has looked good in training camp leading up to the start of the year.
“They look good,” he said. “What’s been holding them back is probably a combination of coordinator and scheme. … This camp has been about being more aggressive, getting in guys’ faces.”
But “looking good” in training camp and having a top-10 defense in the NFL don’t always correlate. So what does it take for the Packers to produce at a high level in 2023?
It comes down to one player’s health.
“The biggest difference is Rashan Gary,” Schneidman said. “One of my most-telling stats from last season is through the first eight games of the season, Rashan Gary ranked second in the NFL in pressure percentage. … Packers were second as a team in pressure percentage the first nine weeks. Gary tears his ACL Week 9 in Detroit, then they ranked 28th the rest of the year.
“He is in contention for Defensive Player of the Year. He was just activated a few days ago, not fully cleared but he should be ready to go by Week 1 in Chicago. If Rashan Gary is healthy, and this pass rush is clicking, and they have (Rasul) Douglas and (Jaire) Alexander on the back-end, I see no reason they can’t be a top-10 defense.”
Gary enters his fifth season in 2023, spending all of those with Green Bay. He has played in 56 career games with 29 starts. The former Michigan standout has racked up 22.5 sacks, four fumble recoveries and three forced fumbles in that time. In total, he’s tallied 135 stops.
Through four years, Gary has yet to make a Pro Bowl. So, considering him a Defensive Player of the Year candidate feels like a bit of a stretch. But if he’s at full strength, he can be a problem along the Packers’ front line.
Green Bay begins the season against Chicago on Sunday, Sept. 10.
More must-reads: