Packers’ Most Underappreciated Player? NFL.com Nails It

GREEN BAY, Wis. – When the Green Bay Packers activated the fifth-year option for Devonte Wyatt earlier this month, the logic was simple.

He’s an impact player, no matter the perception that he’s a failed first-round pick.

The 28th pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, it’s true that Wyatt has not been dominant. He has 12 sacks in three seasons. He’s started five games in his career – including zero last season. He’s never played more than 50 percent of the snaps in a season.

Those are the broad-brush numbers. Pro Football Focus’ numbers tell a different story, which is why he was NFL.com’s choice for the Packers’ most underappreciated player.

Last year, 81 interior defensive linemen played at least 240 pass-rushing snaps. Wyatt ranked 10th in pass-rush win rate and fourth in pass-rush productivity, which measures sacks, hits and hurries per pass-rushing snap. If not for an early-season ankle injury that sidelined him for three games and slowed him for a few others, he probably would have done much better than his five sacks and 32 pressures.

In 2023, when Wyatt had 5.5 sacks and 45 pressures in 17 games, he ranked sixth in pass-rush win rate and second in pass-rush productivity.

“With Jeff Hafley taking over the defense in 2024 …Wyatt appeared poised for a full-fledged breakout as a gap-shooting 3-tech,” NFL.com’s Gennaro Filice wrote. “And he was indeed a monster in the first three games of the season, racking up three sacks, five QB hits and nine pressures.”

Wyatt injured the ankle against Minnesota in Week 4. Not only did he miss three games, he went without a sack for his first six games back in the lineup. However, during the final four games, he had two sacks and 14 pressures.

“He appeared to get his mojo back late in the season, logging a sack in back-to-back December games, but I want to see a fully healthy season from Wyatt in Hafley’s system,” Filice concluded.

Said Wyatt at the end of the season: “Especially for me, my size. That was a hard one. It took away a lot of my ability. A lot of it. I feel like after we played Detroit (in Week 14), I kind of got it back.”

Wyatt has 10.5 sacks the last two seasons, which might not seem like elite production, but not every defensive tackle is Aaron Donald. Among non-edge rushers, Wyatt is tied for 17th in sacks during that span. From that group, only four players are younger than Wyatt, so with health and additional seasoning, there’s additional upside.

In the 2022 draft class, Wyatt is eighth with 12 sacks. The seven players ahead of him are edge rushers.

As Wyatt enters Year 4, he’ll have a new defensive line coach in DeMarcus Covington, who had been with the Patriots since 2017, including last season as defensive coordinator. It will be up to Covington to bring the best out of Wyatt, not only as a pass rusher but as a run defender.

“I don’t think I’ve ever coached a first-round draft pick,” he said last week. “So, we have first-round draft picks and we do a great job of drafting here. So, you’re talking to a guy who can develop players and guys who’ve already established themselves. You’ve got KC (Kenny Clark), you’ve got RG (Rashan Gary), you’ve got (Lukas) Van Ness, you’ve got Wyatt, you’ve got all these [first-rounders].

“I would say our personnel guys have done a great job of drafting great, talented players, which provides great competition, which sharpens each other. So, when you as a defensive line coach and you’re looking at players and where to go, I mean, sign me up. Anybody would sign up for this job. Not only just being one of 32 to be a defensive line coach [in the NFL], but when you look at the talent we have across the board at each position, sign us up for it.”

Defensive players made the list for the other NFC North teams, as well.

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