Green Bay Packers: Rashan Gary a superstar in the making?

Following a breakout season in 2021, Rashan Gary continues to impress in training camp displaying superstar-level tendencies and effort.

Superstars in the NFL fail to grow on trees, but luckily for the Green Bay Packers, their tree still bears fruit when it comes to drafting elite talent and the latest example is pass rusher Rashan Gary poised to take a massive leap after already having a career year in 2021.

Upon being selected 12th overall in the 2019 NFL Draft, nobody was nearly as emotional as Michigan EDGE Rashan Gary when he received the call saying he was going to play for the Green Bay Packers with Aaron Rodgers and Co.

However, this selection left many Cheeseheads wondering if this was the right pick after Gary was criticized for not living up to the hype in Ann Arbor and had the label “bust” tagged onto him.

While fans didn’t receive the scouting report from the brass, the Green Bay Packers adored the pass rusher given his incredible athleticism, agility, and explosiveness while standing at a freakish 6’5″ – 277 pounds.

At Michigan, Rashan Gary played what is known as the “anchor” role, in which his job on the defensive front was to have his hand in the dirt on the line and eat up double and triple-team blocking assignments to allow teammates Josh Uche and Chase Winovich, both of whom were drafted to the New England Patriots, to attack the quarterback.

While his stat sheet listed just 9.5 sacks, with 3.5 during his draft year, the Packers saw a versatile defender who has the power to line up anywhere on the interior line with his hand in the dirt while having the explosiveness to play on the EDGE and dominate offensive tackles, which he’s doing with ease as of late.

Now that we’re inching closer to the 2022 NFL season, Rashan Gary is proving that he’s only getting started after leading Green Bay last season in sacks (9.5), QB hits (28), and pressures (47).

According to Matt LeFleur and the rest of the coaching staff and players, Gary is taking on a larger role and is finding his voice as a leader on the defense while simply dominating his opponents during training camp.

After the loss of Za’Darius Smith in the offseason, Rashan is going to have to accept the role as the clear number one threat when it comes to rushing the quarterback, and it seems like he’s going to do so with pleasure.

The Green Bay Packers may have lost Smith, but the talent that Gary has is a once-in-a-generation type of combination. In the event, that he’s in contention for defensive player of the year, let’s just say nobody will be surprised.