Green Bay Packers: 5 Breakout players set to shine in 2019

1. Za’Darius Smith, OLB

Even though outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith is being paid a handsome sum after signing a lucrative four-year, $66 million contract this offseason, he still isn’t a household name. That should change based on what we saw in training camp and preseason, though. Smith was unstoppable in summer practices against the NFL’s best pass protector, left tackle David Bakhtiari, so imagine what he might do to lesser competition.

Smith was never a regular starter for his former team, the Baltimore Ravens, but was still a key cog for defensive coordinator Wink Martindale in 2018. He finished last season with 60 total pressures, 25 quarterback hits and a team-leading 8.5 sacks.

Perhaps most impressively, Smith did so on only 690 defensive snaps, meaning he generated a pressure on the opposing team’s quarterback on 8.7 percent of his snaps.

There’s a case to be made that Smith is the Packers best player on defense entering 2019. Depending on your standards, you might even believe Smith has already broken out as an NFL star.

He should blow his previous numbers away, though, especially if he performs anything like we’ve seen this summer. Smith is the perfect pass rusher in Packers defensive coordinator Mike Pettine’s system. Expect big things for ‘Z’ in 2019.