Grading Packers on Salary Cap Curve: Defensive Line

In the sixth of a series of season-ending report cards, we look at the Green Bay Packers’ defensive linemen through the lenses of performance and the salary cap. Who was the biggest underachiever?

GREEN BAY, Wis. – When breaking down the underwhelming play of the Green Bay Packers’ defense in 2022, it’s easy to focus on coordinator Joe Barry’s scheme, Rashan Gary’s torn ACL, the usage of Jaire Alexander and the benching of Darnell Savage.

However, as with all things in football, success or failure starts in the trenches. With veteran Jarran Reed and first-round pick Devonte Wyatt added to the established corps of Kenny Clark, Dean Lowry and promising T.J. Slaton, Green Bay’s defensive front looked like a potential powerhouse.

It was not.

Here is Part 6 of our annual series of player grades as viewed through the lens of the salary cap. All cap figures are from OverTheCap.com. Analytical stats are from Pro Football Focus and Sports Info Solutions.

Of note: PFF has a stat called run-stop percentage. A run stop is identical to Green Bay’s win/loss grading standard. On first-and-10, a tackle that holds the play to 3 yards or less is a win/stop. A second-down tackle that holds the play to less than half the required yards is a win/stop, as is any third-down tackle that keeps the play short of a first down.

Kenny Clark ($10.0 million; 15th at position)

Kenny Clark was a Pro Bowler in 2021 with 48 tackles, including four sacks and six for losses, plus 13 quarterback hits in 16 games. In 2022, Clark finished with similar production – 53 tackles, four sacks, five tackles for losses and 10 quarterback hits.

The fact is, though, Clark didn’t have a Clark-like year. His dominating presence was felt at times. Just not often enough. He had five quarterback hits in the first three games, for instance, but none in the next six.

First, the glitzy stuff: Out of 100 interior defensive linemen with at least 152 snaps on passing plays, Clark ranked 17th in PFF’s pass-rushing productivity, a metric that measures sacks, hits and hurries per pass-rushing snap.

Now, the not-as-sexy but vitally important: Out of 100 interior defensive linemen with at least 149 run-defending snaps, Clark tied for 89th in run-stop percentage. When he earned Pro Bowl honors in 2019, he was eighth. His average tackle came 3.0 yards downfield, worst of his career. He had six stuffs (a tackle at or behind the line vs. the run), down from 11 in 2019.

His rates were one tackle for every 16.8 snaps – worst on the unit – and one stuff for every 49.7 run snaps.

A team captain, Clark will be entering his eighth season next year. He’ll still only be 27 when the season kicks off. Green Bay needs him to regain his vintage form.

Grade: C-minus.

Dean Lowry ($6.88 million; 26th at position)

Steady Dean Lowry had 43 tackles in 15 games in 2022, one more tackle than last season and just four off his career high. The impact plays were lacking – a half-sack, one tackle for loss, five quarterback hits and one pass defensed this year compared to five sacks, five tackles for losses, nine quarterback hits and four passes defensed in 2021. Some of that was due to usage, with Jarran Reed taking Lowry’s snaps on a lot of passing downs.

Lowry finished 32nd out of 100 in PFF’s pass-rushing productivity and 72nd out of 100 in run-stop percentage. His average tackle came 2.3 yards downfield and he had five stuffs. His rates were 11.2 snaps per tackle and 57.0 run snaps per stuff, second-best and worst, respectively, on the unit. He had more run stops than Kenny Clark even while missing the final two games.

Lowry has been a bit underappreciated during his seven seasons. It's also true that you can't have a player with his cap charge playing less than half the snaps and providing just one tackle for loss.

Lowry is set to hit free agency. Whether he’s here or not, he’ll count about $3 million against the cap.

Grade: D.

Devonte Wyatt ($2.34 million; 71st at position)

The second of the team’s first-round picks, Wyatt was the last man in the rotation for most of the season until playing 24 snaps in Week 16, 34 in Week 17 and 32 in Week 18. Of his 16-game total of 15 tackles, 1.5 sacks, three quarterback hits and eight pressures, all the sacks and hits and five of the eight pressures came during the final four weeks.

Had he played enough snaps to make our top-100 lists, Wyatt would have tied for 32nd in pass-rushing productivity and 96th in run-stop percentage. He had two stuffs. Wyatt’s rates were 14.9 snaps per tackle and 56.5 run snaps per stuff. His average tackle came 2.4 yards downfield.

Wyatt was the second defensive linemen off the board in the 2022 draft. He ranked 10th in snaps, 12th in tackles, fourth in pressures and tied for 13th in stops. He played 10 or fewer snaps in eight games. Not a lot was asked of him, which explains some of the lackluster numbers, but this is a bottom-line business and not a lot was produced, either.

With Lowry and Reed set to hit free agency, the Packers might be banking on Wyatt to take a big step forward in Year 2. That will mean playing tougher vs. the run.

Grade: D-plus.

Jarran Reed ($1.76 million; 80th at position)

Reed was one of a few low-cost signings by general manager Brian Gutekunst that paid big dividends. Reed tallied 52 tackles, including 2.5 sacks and five for losses. His 14 quarterback hits were second on the team and second-most for his career. His strip and recovery at Miami might have saved the season.

Of the 100 interior linemen to hit our snap thresholds, Reed ranked 32nd in pass-rushing productivity and 40th in run-stop percentage. His 33 pressures matched last year’s total in Kansas City while playing 144 fewer pass-rushing snaps. He finished second on the team (behind Preston Smith) with 10 stuffs. His rates were 13.6 snaps per tackle and 31.0 run snaps per stuff.

Reed signed a one-year, $3.25 million contract in free agency. With the insertion of four void years to lessen the immediate cap burden, he was cheap in 2022 but will count $1.49 million in 2023 even if not on the roster.

Grade: B-plus.

T.J. Slaton ($895,130; 126th at position)

The big second-year tackle had 31 tackles and two tackles for losses in 17 games (two starts). He had no sacks or quarterback hits but batted two passes in Week 17 against the Vikings, one of which was picked off.

When he was good, he was really good. Slaton had seven stuffs vs. the run, which is one more than Kenny Clark in 149 fewer run-defending snaps. That shows the upside. He was an unsung hero with his goal-line work in the aforementioned game vs. the Vikings. However, he ranked 72nd out of 100 in run-stop percentage, a disappointing number. Better tackling – he missed a unit-high four – would have improved that number.

Had he played enough snaps to make our top-100 list, he would have ranked 91st in pass-rushing productivity. He had five pressures in 127 opportunities. That’s OK, though, so long as he’s a menace vs. the run. And he was: His rates were 10.7 snaps per tackle and 28.4 run snaps per stuff were the best on the unit.

Grade: B-minus.

Jonathan Ford ($730,272; 158th at position)

A seventh-round pick, Ford was given a roster spot based on draft status and long-term potential and nothing he did on the practice field or preseason. He was a healthy inactive for all 17 games. Even when veteran Dean Lowry went on injured reserve and missed the final two games, the Packers opted to go short-handed on the line rather than give Ford a chance. This obviously will be a big offseason for Ford to show he's ready to play.

Grade: F.

Grading the Packers

Aaron Rodgers and the quarterbacks

Aaron Jones and the running backs

Christian Watson and the receivers

Robert Tonyan and the tight ends

David Bakhtiari, Zach Tom and the offensive line

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