Micah Parsons rightfully takes up a lot of the spotlight on the Green Bay Packers defense, whether he wants it or not. Others, like Edgerrin Cooper, Xavier McKinney, and Keisean Nixon, also receive their fair share.
Devonte Wyatt, on the other hand, has quietly been one of the critical pieces on Jeff Hafley’s defense. It’s fair to wonder how the defense will fare if Wyatt misses time with his knee injury.
Per Pro Football Focus, nobody on the Packers outside of Parsons has more quarterback pressures than Wyatt. Wyatt’s standout performance quelled any concerns about the interior of the defensive line struggling with Kenny Clark going to Dallas in the Parsons trade. The former first-round pick out of Georgia ranks No. 8 out of 179 qualified defensive linemen in pressures, according to PFF. Wyatt ranks No. 29 out of 179 in overall grade.
His impact, especially following Clark’s departure, is impossible to ignore. It might become abundantly clear if he misses time coming out of the bye week.
Head coach Matt LaFleur listed Wyatt as “week-to-week,” a sign that Wyatt could miss some time.
Wyatt has been good throughout this young season, but the game against Dallas was especially eye-opening. Dallas’ offense struggled in a major way for most of the first half. After Wyatt exited with the knee injury, Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott had all the time in the world to sit back and carve up Green Bay’s secondary in what ended up being a 40-40 tie.
It would be foolhardy to put all the focus on Wyatt because the Packers still have Parsons, Rashan Gary, Lukas Van Ness, and other talents on the defensive front. Even without Wyatt, the defense shouldn’t have looked as shoddy as it did against Dallas in the second half.
The domino effect, however, is very real.
Rookie Nazir Stackhouse played 27 snaps against Dallas after Wyatt’s departure. To put some perspective on that, the undrafted Georgia Bulldog played a combined 21 snaps at defensive tackle in the first three games.
What was supposed to be a fun idea, keeping Stackhouse on the 53-man roster as a redshirt season of sorts, has now turned into Stackhouse needing to play valuable snaps. It would be unfair to bury the rookie for his performance when he wasn’t expected to be a major contributor in 2025, but Stackhouse had a team-low 30.1 grade against Dallas, per PFF. It’s an otherworldly poor grade.
When Parsons was asked after the game in Dallas what changed for Green Bay’s defense in the second half, he immediately noted Wyatt’s absence.
We missing D-Wyatt… That dominant player that he is. His energy is so contagious. I think he’s under-looked with his value on this team. He’s telling me he’s going to go get healthy and hopefully we get him back soon. When you lose a great player like that it stings.
And sting it did.
The quick start isn’t something new to Wyatt. In 2024, he had three sacks and six tackles for loss in the first 3.5 games before exiting Week 4 against the Minnesota Vikings. Wyatt missed the next three games and was never quite able to regain that momentum. Green Bay is hoping for different results this time when he returns from an injury.
If he does miss Week 6 against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Packers will have to lean on Stackhouse, Karl Brooks, and potentially Warren Brinson a lot. They could even flirt with the idea of putting Van Ness on the inside even more than the few occasions Hafley has done so this year.
Regardless of the script, missing Wyatt for any period of time is a huge blow for Green Bay’s defense. Imagine being told before the season that the defense would be without Clark and Wyatt.
Now, the caveat, of course, is that the Packers now have Parsons, who can be a one-man wrecking crew. The expectations for Parsons are already sky high, and he has delivered. But navigating without Wyatt for any period of time won’t be easy. His impact is felt and directly reflected in the numbers this year. His comfort level in Hafley’s system, which he discussed in the offseason, has helped Wyatt’s game improve.
I definitely do love the system we’re in. I’m a lot more comfortable and I can move a lot faster. Just being aware of what’s going on in the system. … Definitely playing in this system for this first year, it gives me an advantage for next year and being in this system again.
The Packers have the tools in their toolbox to get by without Wyatt, but it won’t be easy. Of course, Wyatt may be back for the Bengals game, but his “week-to-week” listing isn’t the most optimistic indicator. Hafley will have to tinker with things up front and accept that his crew won’t be the same in any combination that doesn’t include Wyatt.
