The 90 to 1 Green Bay Packers roster countdown: No. 25 – Dean Lowry

Dean Lowry's success last season paved the way for a starting job and contract extension.

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. 25: DT Dean Lowry ($2,120,848 cap)

Injuries last season obliterated what should have been a standout defensive line, with the starting trio of Muhammad Wilkerson, Mike Daniels and Kenny Clark winding up on injured reserve.

All of those injuries created openings for the backups. Lowry took advantage with an excellent third season that earned him a three-year contract extension two days before the start of camp. Lowry’s success helped lead to the release of Daniels and the clearing of the way for Lowry to become a full-time starter.

“I think it shows that I’m viewed as one of the core players of the team, and that means a lot,” Lowry said. “There’s a lot of guys that can do different things with the guys we added in free agency and the draft. That’s one of our strengths as a defensive line is we can line up anywhere and attack.”

In 16 games that included eight starts, Lowry tallied 57 tackles, three sacks, four passes defensed and one forced fumble. In 31 games (11 starts) during his first two seasons, Lowry had a combined 48 tackles, four sacks, three passes defensed and zero forced fumbles. Strong enough to hold the point and athletic enough to exploit some linemen, Lowry is a jack of all trades for a defense that likes jacks of all trades.

“A lot of times, guys that are young players think too much, just try to do the right thing and be in their gap,” Lowry said in June. “But towards the end of the year, I wanted to go out there and play and just play fast, and not really have anything holding me back. I was coming off the ball better, getting great knock-back, and getting off blocks.”

All three of sacks and all four passes defensed came during the second half of the season. With eye-opening production, the Packers dumped standout veteran Mike Daniels and made Kenny Clark and Lowry – two members of the team’s standout 2016 draft class and “pillars” of the team, in the words of GM Brian Gutekunst – the main cogs of the defensive line.

“He’s ‘Steady Eddie,’” Gutekunst said. “He’s consistently improved from the time we got him. He’s a true professional, effort, work ethic, and he’s gotten better. I think he played the most snaps that we’ve asked him to play last year and handled it very, very well. And you just see how he’s really worked himself into being a really good NFL football player, and he’s been very reliable and dependable.”