Top Five Packers Pass Rushers

Micah Parsons is a Green Bay Packer. You might have heard that by this point.

When it was announced he was joining the Packers, he shared a video with clips of Reggie White.

Later, he would talk about the impact White had on the Packers, and who he is chasing

“Yeah, 100 percent, bro. Reggie is like one of the GOATs,” Parsons said in his press conference on Friday.

“I’m just looking at his stats and the fact he had like 70 sacks in like five years is just outrageous to me. This guy’s this freak. I didn’t even know, I just learned more history about him today, just about how he’s the first free agent and how he came here and won championships. People make the comparisons, but I just looked at him like somebody who won. He came here and did that. I think I can do that too. I think I can do anything I put my mind to. I looked on that wall and I saw Brett Favre,

I saw Reggie, I saw all those legends, and I was like ‘I’ve got to be there.’ You go in the draft room and they’re all having their hands up. They’re all having that moment. I’m looking for that moment. I’m going to take advantage of this moment and maximize it to reach that moment.”

He’s still chasing, but not by much.

Here’s a look at our take on the Packers’ top five pass rushers of all time, taking into account peak, and in Parsons’ case, some projection.

Reggie White

For my money’s worth, there are three players you can feasibly argue about as the greatest defensive player of all time.

Lawrence Taylor of the New York Giants, Aaron Donald of the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams, and Reggie White.

White finished his career with 198 career sacks, including a whopping 70 in his first four seasons as a pro.

That includes an eye-popping 21 in the 1987 season, which was an era where the run game took precedence over everything. Opportunities to sack quarterbacks were few and far between.

That also doesn’t account for the fact that 1987 was a strike shortened season, so White only played 12 games that year. Who knows what he could have done with a full 16-game schedule.

Greatness is about more than just amassing numbers. Plenty of players have done that over the years.

Accolades, winning, and impact also come into play here.

When it comes to impact, it’s hard to overstate the impact Reggie White had on the Packers.

Yes, Brett Favre, Ron Wolf, and Mike Holmgren are all key figures in the restoration of the Packers in the 1990s.

The biggest piece, literally and figuratively, however, was White. White turned Green Bay from the Siberia of the NFL, into a desirable destination for players.

He took the team from good, to great.

For his only Super Bowl title, he had an argument for MVP of the game, after slamming the door shut with three sacks in the second half, which was a Super Bowl record at the time.

Other people might make arguments for Taylor or Donald, but there’s no question in my mind that White is the greatest player to play on defense.

He’s number one on this list with relative ease.

Micah Parsons

Perhaps a surprise here, because there is some projection involved, but Parsons is on a similar pace to the one White was on to begin his career.

Parsons is a unique player, as Brian Gutekunst noted in his media availability to introduce him.

“Obviously a player like Micah, he’s very unique and very rare is it that they’re available,” Gutekunst said.

“As this kind of came together, it was one of those things where it was a unique opportunity for us, and it was going to cost. There was going to be some expense with it, but we just kind of thought it was the best thing for our football team. We’re excited to get him. We’re excited to get him out there and get him with our team so he can get up to speed as fast as possible.”

Parsons’ production through his first four seasons came as someone who is splitting time as a linebacker, and full time defensive end.

He has still piled up sacks at a pace that was only equaled by White.

Parsons is one of two players with 12 or more sacks in the first four seasons of his career.

His 52.5 sacks through four seasons would rank him 10th on Green Bay’s all-time sack leaderboard just behind Aaron Kampman according to Pro Football Reference.

A unique player, who now has a unique opportunity to help put together a similar impact on winning in the way White did 30 years ago.

Willie Davis

Davis was one of the cornerstones of the Vince Lombardi era. For all the Hall of Fame players on defense.

Had sacks been an official stat before 1982, Davis would have been credited with 99.5 sacks in his career, which would be far and away the best in Green Bay history.

Sacking the quarterback was an art in Davis’ era as well.

Every yard was earned the hard way.

Davis was also a great ambassador for the Packers. He was a presence in Green Bay even during retirement before he passed away in April of 2020.

Clay Matthews

The long-haired pass rusher who earned the moniker “The Claymaker” during his time in Green Bay, was a terror on opposing quarterbacks.

Matthews represented a bold move by General Manager Ted Thompson, who traded back into the first round to go get Matthews after securing BJ Raji with the 9th overall selection of the 2009 NFL Draft.

Matthews won Defensive Rookie of the Year, and then finished runner up to Pittsburgh’s Troy Polamalu for Defensive Player of the Year in 2010.

Matthews would get the last laugh over Polamalu, however, with the Packers winning Super Bowl XLV 31-25 over the Steelers, with Matthews forcing a key fumble on Rashard Mendenhall on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Matthews was impactful playing inside and outside during his 10 year career with the team, and was a cornerstone player in that timeframe.

Matthews finished his career as the official all-time leader in sacks with 83.5.

Tim Harris

Harris is a bit of a forgotten man because of the era he played in.

He played for the Packers prior to return to glory that was the 1990s in Green Bay.

Still, his impact in 76 games was immense.

Harris finished his career in Green Bay with 55 sacks, which is 4th behind only Clay Matthews, Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, and Reggie White.

He’s also the owner of the most productive season in team history.

He sacked opposing quarterbacks 19.5 times in 1989, the year of Don Majikowski and the “Cardiac Pack”.

They finished 10-6 and made the postseason, and Harris was a large reason for that.