Plenty to Love About Wyatt After Family Night
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – If Family Night had been a real game, would Jordan Love have had time to throw a touchdown pass to Samori Toure before getting smashed by Devonte Wyatt?
“I would’ve killed Jordan,” Wyatt said with a laugh after Sunday’s practice. “I would’ve killed Jordan.”
Wyatt, the second of the team’s first-round draft picks, had been having a quiet rookie training camp until Friday night. Under the lights, Wyatt pressured the quarterback, stopped running plays and drew penalties.
It’s exactly why the Packers drafted him 28th overall.
“I think I did OK,” Wyatt said. “I think I did a solid job but definitely got little things to work on.”
Such as? Improving his technique, for one. Facing better blockers than he did at Georgia means being more precise with his fundamentals. However, the path to improvement starts before engaging the linemen. How are the blockers lined up, and does that hint that it’s going to be a run or pass?
“Things like that – stuff I haven’t seen in college,” Wyatt said. “Offensive linemen block differently in the NFL than they do in college. You can tell by the formation if it’s going to be a gap scheme or a stretch scheme. Guys like Kenny (Clark) have been in the league for seven years and they can see things, and I’m still a rookie and trying to learn.”
From a talent perspective, spending four seasons in the powerful SEC provided the best possible training for Wyatt. A dozen linemen from the conference were drafted in April, including two of his Georgia teammates. That meant every day, whether it was a Wednesday practice or Saturday game, helped get him prepared.
Still, the NFL is the best of the best and there has been a transition.
“Speed-wise, those big guys are definitely different,” Wyatt said. “They’re moving, they’re running. They’re smarter and they work together.”
Of course, from a speed perspective, Wyatt is no slouch. His 4.77 in the 40-yard dash made him the fastest 300-pound player at any position at this year’s Scouting Combine, the fourth-fastest over the last decade and the sixth-fastest over the last two decades.
That athleticism was on full display when he could have knocked Love into the Bay of Green Bay. He used a nasty spin move against third-round rookie guard Sean Rhyan to get a free run at the passer. Wyatt eased up a bit as he approached, Love threw a beautiful deep pass and Toure did a Lambeau Leap.
Using a spin move was the plan before he got into his stance.
“It’s being confident in what you’re doing,” he said when asked about his thought process. “I went up there and, ‘I’m going to do this.’ If it doesn’t work, you’ve got to have a backup plan. I was confident enough to do it; I beat him in one-on-ones doing the same move so I came back and did it again.”
Wyatt is fighting for playing time on a loaded defensive line. Clark, Dean Lowry and Jarran Reed each entered the league in 2016. Combined, they’ve got 223 NFL starts under their belt. Plus, second-year player T.J. Slaton has been one of the best players on the practice field through 10 practices. When coach Matt LaFleur splits the team into two groups, Clark, Lowry, Reed and Slaton play with the starters and top backups and Wyatt works with everybody else.
Family Night, however, was a big step. Some first-round picks rest on their laurels. Not Wyatt, who is eager to prove the Packers made the right decision.
“I’m definitely getting a lot more comfortable. I’m definitely feeling it now,” he said. “As the days keep going, I feel myself getting better. Compared to when I came in for rookie minicamp to now, I’ve come a long way.”
