Green Bay Packers: 5 Potential breakout players in 2021

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GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN – JANUARY 16: Rashan Gary #52 of the Green Bay Packers celebrates sacking Jared Goff #16 of the Los Angeles Rams (not pictured) in the third quarter during the NFC Divisional Playoff game at Lambeau Field on January 16, 2021 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

2. Rashan Gary, OLB

This might be the most obvious pick of the bunch, but Rashan Gary has one of the greatest chances of all the players on this list of being one of the most influential forces on defense this season. Now in his third season, it stands to reason that Gary is ready to take on a more prominent role on defense. After all, he took over Preston Smith’s starting job for a handful of games last season.

In limited playing time last season (456 snaps), Gary showed flashes of being one of the NFL’s elite pass-rushers when given a chance. He finished with a “disruption rate” of 15.1 percent, a metric from Next Gen Stats which measures a pass-rusher’s ability to get to the quarterback on a play-by-play basis. A disruption is defined by a hurry, quarterback hit or sack on a pass-rushing snap.

Gary finished the 2020 season with just five sacks, but as demonstrated by Next Gen Stats, we know that sacks don’t tell the whole story. Gary was ranked in the top 10 most disruptive players, a list which includes the likes of Aaron Donald, Shaq Barrett, Myles Garrett and several others.

The Packers are in a great position with Gary, since he’s had two seasons to learn under the Smiths and outside linebackers coach Mike Smith – along with being one of the most athletic players in the NFL, regardless of position. All he needs is more playing time.

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