Packers 2025 Season Report Card: Grading Micah Parsons and Defensive Ends

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Micah Parsons was the Green Bay Packers’ “closer.” When he suffered a torn ACL at Denver, it was closing time for the Packers’ Super Bowl chances.

In Part 7 of our season-ending report cards, we turn our attention to the defensive ends. As always, we grade on a salary-cap curve because of the importance of finances on building a championship roster.

Note: All salary-cap figures are from OverTheCap.com. Advanced stats are from Pro Football Focus, Next Gen Stats and Sports Info Solutions. Rankings for PFF’s pass-rush productivity, which measures sacks, hits and hurries per pass-rushing snap, and pass-rush win rate are based on the 110 edge rushers who had at least 150 pass-rushing opportunities.

Rashan Gary

2025 cap charge of $25.77 ranked second at the position.

When the Packers traded for Micah Parsons, it seemed Rashan Gary would be the prime beneficiary. Gary had been the focal point for opposing offenses. Not anymore. After flirting with 10-sack seasons but never quite getting there, the sky seemed to be the limit for Gary, who was coming off his first Pro Bowl season.

Almost predictably, after a two-sack game at Pittsburgh, Gary had 7.5 sacks through seven games. That put him on pace for 18 sacks. Incredibly, Gary didn’t have another sack the rest of the season. Or a tackle for loss, for that matter.

When Parsons suffered a season-ending knee injury, the Packers desperately needed Gary to step up. Instead, Gary continued to be just a background player. In fact, during Week 16 against Chicago, Week 17 against Baltimore and the playoffs against Chicago, the Packers’ $96 Million Man played the third-most snaps among their defensive ends.

Gary finished with 7.5 sacks for the second consecutive season. His seven tackles for losses were his fewest since he played behind the Smith Brothers in 2020. His average tackle was made 2.6 yards downfield; it was 1.9 in 2024, 1.8 in 2023, 1.2 in 2202 and 1.8 in 2021.

Gary ranked 56th in PFF’s pass-rush win rate and 40th in pass-rush productivity. His pressure percentage was the lowest of his career and his time-to-pressure was the slowest of his career. According to Next Gen, he averaged 18.3 quick pressures the previous four seasons, defined as a pressure in less than 3.0 seconds. This year, he had eight.

Touted for his run defense, Green Bay allowed 0.64 yards more per carry when Gary was on the field.

Unless he was playing hurt – coach Matt LaFleur said that was not the case – his career has fallen off a cliff. With an $18.0 million base salary, Gary’s cap number will creep past $28.0 million for 2026. Given how he played during the second half of the season, he’s untradeable. The Packers can dump him and save almost $11 million against the cap.

Grade: F.

Micah Parsons

2025 cap charge of $9.97 million ranked 27th at the position.

It cost the Packers two first-round picks, Kenny Clark and $186 million to secure the services of the indomitable Micah Parsons. It might be an exaggeration to say Parsons would have been a bargain at twice the price, but he lived up to every expectation.

Parsons delivered elite production as a pass rusher. He played better run defense than the critics argued. He played hard. He led. It was almost as if this quote at the end of the season was directed at team captain Rashan Gary.

“I challenge the guys today,” Parsons said. “Do more than what your job’s required. If you’re in shape, run more, do more. If we got to play 80 snaps, we play 80 f***ing snaps. We shouldn’t be tired doing that. We got to strain. Look how many plays we lost because we got outstrained.

“That’s things that can’t happen. When your effort matches what you’re trying to say in the locker room, then it carries over more, man. I dare people to beat me to the ball. You know what I mean? I’m running to the ball like my life depends on it. And it do! My life depends on the outcome of how this team plays.”

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett (7) is sacked by Green Bay Packers defensive lineman Micah Parsons. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

In 14 games, Parsons had 12.5 sacks and 12 tackles for losses to earn first-team All-Pro. Even while missing the final three-plus games following his torn ACL, he finished third in the league in pressures, according to Next Gen Stats. He finished fourth in PFF’s pass-rush win rate and pass-rush productivity.

When Parsons was on the field, the run defense was 0.11 yards per carry better and the pass defense was 0.22 yards better. His average tackle was made 1.4 yards downfield, the best of his career.

That’s a lot of numbers. Ultimately, this is the only number that matters: Starting with the game in which he was injured, the Packers lost their final five games. The fate of next season could hinge on how quickly he returns to something close to peak performance.

Only the injury prevents the grade from being an A-plus.

Grade: A.

Lukas Van Ness

2025 cap charge of $4.74 million ranked 60th at the position.

A foot injury limited Lukas Van Ness to nine games. He started twice – his first starts since high school – and wound up with 1.5 sacks and three tackles for losses. The 13th pick of the 2023 draft ranks 16th in the draft class with 8.5 sacks.

Nobody is a bigger fan of Van Ness than Micah Parsons. Maybe some of Parsons’ brilliance rubbed off on Van Ness, who finished 28th in pass-rush win rate and 21st in pass-rush productivity. When he was on the field, the run defense was 0.36 yards better and the pass defense was 0.28 yards better.

The greatest ability is availability, and that dings the final grade. With Parsons coming off a knee injury, Rashan Gary a potential cap cut and Kingsley Enagbare headed to free agency, the Packers will need Van Ness to finally play to expectations. That will start with playing more than 23.5 percent of the snaps, as was the case this year. In three years, he’s averaged only 352 snaps.

Grade: D-plus.

Kingsley Enagbare

2025 cap charge of $3.47 million ranked 75th at the position.

A fifth-round pick in 2022, Kingsley Enagbare for the fourth consecutive season played in every game. This season, he started three games and finished with two sacks and six tackles for losses. While the sacks matched a career low, he set a career high with nine quarterback hits. After Micah Parsons’ injury, Enagbare played by far the most snaps of the defensive ends.

Green Bay Packers defensive end Kingsley Enagbare (55) celebrates after sacking Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams. | Tork Mason / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Enagbare finished 80th in pass-rush productivity and 75th in pass-rush win rate. He went from 11 quick pressures in 2024 to three in 2025. The run defense, however, was 0.42 yards per snap better when he was on the field. It seemed like he made one high-impact play against the run every week. The pass defense was 0.11 yards per snap worse.

Enagbare will be a free agent this offseason. With Parsons’ injury and Rashan Gary’s bloated salary, the Packers probably need to re-sign him.

Grade: C-plus.

Barryn Sorrell

2025 cap charge of $1.08 million ranked 140th at the position.

Barryn Sorrell, a fourth-round rookie, saw his play time ebb and flow based on the state of the injury report. In 14 games, he had 1.5 sacks and one tackle for loss. Other than rookie Collin Oliver, he had the lowest pass-rush win rate among the team’s defensive ends. The run defense was 0.02 yards worse when he was on the field, a negligible figure.

Of his six pressures during the regular season, two came against Washington in Week 2 and two came when he started against Minnesota in Week 18. However, he had only one pressure in 20 opportunities in the playoff loss.

There’s always room on the roster for a try-hard defensive end. He’s got a chance to be a solid contributor for years to come.

Grade: C-minus.

Brenton Cox

2025 cap charge of $1.03 million ranked 145th at the position.

Following last year’s trade of Preston Smith, Brenton Cox had four sacks during the second half of the season and finished the year with a team-best pass-rush win rate of 17.0 percent. This year, a groin injury sent him to injured reserve. In four games, he had one sack and a pass-rush win rate of 6.8 percent.

Grade: D.

Collin Oliver

2025 cap charge of $552,132 ranked 162nd at the position.

Collin Oliver missed most of his senior season at Oklahoma State with a foot injury. At the Scouting Combine, he suffered a hamstring injury, which he reinjured shortly after being drafted in the fifth round. He didn’t practice with the team until December.

Finally, in Week 18, he made his NFL debut in the empty-the-bench game against the Vikings. He had one tackle (a tackle for loss), two quarterback hits (official stats) and four pressures (Next Gen).

We’ll see if the “Baby Micah” nickname leads to anything.

Grade: F.

Arron Mosby

2025 cap charge of $515,000 ranked 166th at the position.

Arron Mosby opened the season on the practice squad but became a key contributor on special teams. In 12 games, he played 17 snaps on defense but was fourth on the team with 221 on special teams, where he contributed eight tackles and consistently showed physicality.