As the offseason has carried on, the Green Bay Packers have constantly pushed back Micah Parsons’ timeline to return to play.
The Packers would be foolish to rush back the pillar of their defense, and that’s not what’s going on here. Still, with Parsons’ brother recently suggesting the superstar could miss half the season, can the Packers sustain themselves on the defensive line if that’s the case?
There’s no way to sugarcoat how things looked with Parsons in the lineup and without Parsons after he tore his ACL in Week 15 last year.
With Parsons, Green Bay’s pass defense was 0.22 yards better. Meanwhile, the run defense was 0.11 yards better. Those numbers don’t sound like much, but they matter. Just as importantly, Parsons chewed up and spit out 12.5 sacks. Nobody else on the team had more than 7.5. Only one other player – Rashan Gary – had more than four.
Parsons’ individual numbers stood out on Green Bay’s stat sheets. Still, his influence and impact on the rest of the defense were every bit as important.
Without Parsons, the Packers lacked the punch to get to the quarterback as frequently as they did when Parsons was on the field. That allowed the opposing quarterbacks to settle in and pick apart an already shaky Green Bay cornerback room. The domino effect was real, and the Packers felt it once Parsons suffered his torn ACL.
The Packers tinkered with things this offseason. They brought in veteran Javon Hargrave to help on the interior of the defensive line. They also used a third-round pick on Chris McClellan, who can play a couple of different spots on the defensive line. Green Bay followed that up by taking edge rusher Dani Dennis-Sutton out of Penn State in the fourth round.
Green Bay also lost Rashan Gary and Kingsley Enagbare. They traded Gary to the Dallas Cowboys, and Enagbare signed with the New York Jets.
Two other critical elements to this should offer some hope. Whether it’s foolish hope or not, who knows?
The first comes in the form of Devonte Wyatt. The former first-round pick has shown signs of brilliance throughout his four years in Green Bay. However, Wyatt has suffered numerous injuries in the past two years, and he was out when Parsons also missed the last few games.
Wyatt should be good to go this year during the time that Parsons is still absent. Even with his injury concerns, nobody should ignore his presence and contributions.
Secondly, Jonathan Gannon is taking over as defensive coordinator. That’s not to say it’s an upgrade from Jeff Hafley, who had plenty of well-deserved supporters. However, after blitzing the hell out of Caleb Williams in Green Bay’s first game without Parsons, Hafley tried pushing multiple other buttons that never produced anything consistent from the defensive line.
As a defense, the Packers averaged one sack a game (including the postseason) in Parsons’ absence, and the quarterback pressure and hits numbers tapered off dramatically.
With Parsons set to miss significant time, Gannon will try his own methods and try to solve the riddle in new ways. So if there’s wiggle room for an optimistic thought process, it should stem from the idea that Green Bay isn’t running it back with the same group and blueprint it had last year, when Parsons tore his ACL.
Still, the results aren’t guaranteed. One issue that people will bring up is a couple of familiar faces, and one in particular that Green Bay will be counting on.
After the Packers took him with the No. 13 overall pick three years ago, it’s been an uninspiring three years for LVN. The product on the field hasn’t mimicked that of a first-round selection, and the flashes of excellence have been few and far between.
With Parsons out and Gary and Enagbare gone, the Packers will rely upon Van Ness to deliver as the guy until Parsons returns. It’s a gamble Green Bay is taking that LVN will finally see things click in Year 4.
The question of whether the Packers can sustain themselves without Parsons will largely come down to the production, or lack thereof, from Van Ness, coupled with how well Gannon’s scheme and system click with the rest of the defense.
Even if the Packers struggle to create pressure, they can’t rush Parsons back. Parsons knows that.
I think the goal has always just been not right now, but longevity with my career here, Parson said in early June. I think they want that approach. We have a pretty strong nine-month rule. It’s just all about, just through the research and the data, there’s no good outcomes with players coming back early from (an) ACL. Especially if you had other things that had to get fixed up, so it’s just all about completing the rehab to the best of our ability and then seeing where we’re at from there.
So Green Bay has no choice. It’ll need to figure it out for potentially half the season without Parsons, and one big answer will have to be Van Ness. If he steps up, the Packers can sustain this. If he can’t or if Gannon’s scheme doesn’t click, it could spell disaster for the defensive front.
