The 90 to 1 Green Bay Packers roster countdown: No. 20 – Rashan Gary

Rashan Gary has flashed his prodigious potential at training camp.

The Green Bay Packers, and their 90 players on the roster, are in the midst of their first training camp under coach Matt LaFleur. In an annual tradition from my 11 years at Packer Report, I rank the players in order of importance from No. 90 to No. 1. This isn’t just a listing of the team’s best players. Our rankings take into account talent, importance of the position, depth at the position, salary and draft history. More than the ranking, we hope you learn something about each player. (Note: The start of this series can be found with my former employer.)

No. 20: OLB Rashan Gary ($2,886,784 cap)

General manager Brian Gutekunst completed his makeover of the edge-rushing group by using his first-round pick on Michigan’s Rashan Gary. Gary’s place in the locker room is right between veteran newcomers Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith.

“That’s big,” Gary said. “They see my potential, and they see my love for the game. Every day I come and I’m ready to work and I’m ready to pick their brains. I know I’ve just got to improve and keep doing what I’m doing so when we get through the preseason and to the season we’re all rolling.”

The Smiths aren’t the only veteran influence on Gary. Another is All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari. Immediately after a practice early in camp, Bakhtiari pulled Gary aside to talk shop.

“When you’re playing offensive tackle, it’s how we think,” Bakhtiari said. “The more he understands what a tackle’s going through and how to manipulate them, the better success he’s going to have. I like to think about myself and my game first before I focus on the person who’s trying to beat me, but it’s always good to have an idea what the opponent’s going to do. My brothers are both outside linebackers and they always taught me what they’re thinking. So, it’s role reversal. For him, I’m telling him this is what the tackle likes to do. If you’re trying to set something up, this is what you want to do.”

In three seasons at Michigan, Gary posted 9.5 sacks, 23 tackles for losses and one forced fumble. It was underwhelming production considering Gary was the No. 1 high school recruit in the nation and one of the freakish athletes in the draft class. His SPARQ score – SPARQ is an acronym for Speed, Power, Agility, Reaction and Quickness – ranks in the 96th percentile. With 34 1/2-inch arms and 26 reps on the 225-pound bench press, Gary also brings elite size and strength to the party. Physically, Gary is the total package.

“I think the best part his game is he’s such a tremendous athlete,” his collegiate position coach, Greg Mattison, said in Packer Report’s annual Coachspeak series. “His first step is as quick as anybody. Again, I think it goes back to character, too. When you’re a great athlete with great character, it’s pretty hard to not be successful. I think that’s what the Packers are going to find out. They’ve got a great one right here.”

Gary got off to hot start in camp, whether it was roaring around the edge to beat the offensive tackle, overpowering left guard Lane Taylor in one-on-ones or blasting up the middle on a stunt.

“He’s good,” Bakhtiari said. “I can see why he got picked in the position that he was. He has all the talent. For him, it’s getting him up to speed and learning how to execute at this level. He has the intangibles. Everyone sees it.”

One thing the Packers have tried to do is kill the notion that Gary doesn’t have a great motor or work ethic. It’s a notion Mattison literally laughed at when it was mentioned, but it somehow made the rounds in the predraft process.

“You can tell football is really important to him,” defensive coordinator Mike Pettine said early in camp. “He just doesn’t want to be good, he wants to be great. He’s got a lot of new stuff to learn just from a mental standpoint and technique-wise, but the one thing about him is you love his effort. Sometimes, we have to slow him down in a walkthrough. He’s a guy who has a great motor, which is great from a coaching standpoint. We’ll always tell our guys, ‘We want to coach you how to play, not how hard to play.’ And that’s a guy who the effort is there every play. Once he gets the assignment stuff down and the technique stuff down, now you apply that effort to it, he’s going to make a lot of plays.”

That’s the expectation for outside linebackers coach Mike Smith. During his predraft scouting, he believed Gary was the No. 1 edge-rushing prospect – putting him ahead of Nick Bosa, the No. 2 overall pick by San Francisco.

“It’s unbelievable. A guy that size and that speed and that athleticism, I’ve never seen it. I’ve been in the league for 11 years,” Smith said. “You can do a lot of things with him. At Kansas City, where I was at before here, I had Dee Ford – he’s smaller, great get-off – and you’ve got Justin Houston that’s a big, strong guy. You get a guy like Gary that’s both of them. When you’re a tackle in this league, they look at what kind of guy you are. You’ve got a guy that’s got a get-off and speed and you’re strong and you’re powerful, it’s a dangerous combination. We’ve just got to learn how to use those tools.”

Those tools are why the Packers selected Gary at No. 12 overall, deeming him worth the considerable investment of a four-year contract worth almost $16 million, even though he didn’t play on the edge at Michigan. With size and athleticism, Gary is viewed as an outside linebacker in the base defense and an interior rusher on passing downs. The hope is Gary, the Smiths and Kyler Fackrell will provide a formidable pass rush.

“I’m just happy to go to work with the outside linebacker group,” Gary said. “We’re pushing each other to be great. To be in space and run and set the edge and rush the passer, that’s what I want to do. I’m happy that Green Bay has put me in this situation.”