Ranking the Packers (No. 9): Preston Smith

Coming off a four-sack season in Washington, GM Brian Gutekunst's projection with Preston Smith was right on the money.

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
Jul 30, 2020 1:52 PM EDT

GREEN BAY, Wis. – In a tradition that stretches more than a decade, here is our annual ranking of the 90 players on the Green Bay Packers’ roster. This isn’t merely a look at the best players. Rather, it’s a formula that combines talent, salary, importance of the position, depth at the position and, for young players, draft positioning. More than the ranking, we hope you learn a little something about every player on the roster.

No. 9: OLB Preston Smith (6-5, 265, seventh season, Mississippi State)

For the first four years of his career, Smith played second fiddle in Washington to perennial Pro Bowler Ryan Kerrigan. He was a good but not great player, with 24.5 sacks over that span and just four in his final season with the team.

Nonetheless, general manager Brian Gutekunst handed Smith a four-year deal worth $52 million. It was a lot of money for not a lot of production.

“With Preston, when I was watching him (in 2018), he affected the quarterback,” outside linebackers coach Mike Smith said during the bye week, at which point Smith had a career-high 10.5 sacks in 10 games. “People don’t realize how hard it is to get 10 sacks. Tamba Hali is the second-greatest all-time for the Chiefs and I think he did it three times. It’s hard to get double digits. I watched him affecting the quarterback. I knew he was a smart kid – I knew some guys who coached him before. That’s what I watch for and I saw. It’s really the same thing with Z (Za’Darius Smith) in Baltimore. He had 8.5 sacks last year for Baltimore but I saw him affecting the quarterback all the way across the line. That’s when you get excited, when you see these big, long guys that can rush.”

Mike Smith’s eyes and Gutekunst’s faith were rewarded. Preston Smith had a career-high 12 sacks – as many as the previous two seasons combined. He finished 19th in PFF’s pass-rushing productivity, a metric that measures sacks, hits and hurries per pass-rushing snap, and 23rd with 55 total pressures. Smith tailed off late in the year with 1.5 sacks in the final six games but had two against Seattle in the divisional playoffs. He broke up three passes, intercepted one pass and forced one fumble. From Day 1 in training camp, running bootlegs against him was pure folly.

Earlier in the week, he checked in at No. 63 in NFL Network’s annual player-voted “Top 100 Players” series.

The additions of Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith, who had already formed a relationship, were the driving forces behind a defense that went from 22nd in points allowed to ninth. The Smiths Bros. hit it off at the 2016 Scouting Combine. Playing the same position and sharing the same last name, they went one after the other in drills.

Four years later, they hit free agency together.

“So, it’s time for free agency,” Za’Darius Smith said. “He’s a high outside linebacker and I’m one also. I was telling him, ‘Man, it would be crazy if we would end up on the same team.’ This was three days before signing. I get the phone call and my agent is saying you’re going to be playing with Preston Smith. I said, ‘What? I just talked to him two days ago.”

Impressively, Smith has played in all 80 career games and started all 64 games the past four seasons.

Smith’s not a complete player yet. First, he could get better against the run. Of 61 edge defenders to play at least 50 percent of the run snaps, he ranked 54th in PFF’s run-stop percentage, a metric that essentially measures impact tackles. (For instance, a first-and-10 tackle limiting the play to 3 yards is a run stop; a first-and-10 tackle limiting the play to 4 yards is not a run stop.) Second, it’s knocking the ball loose. He has just two forced fumbles the past four seasons, including only one last year. Last season, 18 players had at least 10 sacks. Of that group, only five had zero or one forced fumble; as a group, they averaged 2.8.

Why he’s so important: Sacks provide fame and riches but all-around player provides victories. Smith isn’t just a one-trick pony. Over his five-year career, Smith is the only player in the NFL with 25-plus sacks (36.5), five-plus interceptions (five) and five-plus forced fumbles (five). A bargain last season with a $6 million cap charge, the meat of the contract kicks in beginning the season. His cap number of $13.5 million ranks 15th among edge defenders.