Player
Rashan Gary
EDGE · Packers
Rashan Gary: facts drawn from the play-by-play.
Career arc: a year-3 breakout, an ACL tear that should have derailed him, and a return at exactly the same level.
TrendGary regular-season defensive line by year
| Year | G | Sacks | QB Hits | TFL | FF | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 10 | 2.0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | 12 | 5.0 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| 2021 | 16 | 9.5 | 28 | 8 | 2 | 0 |
| 2022 | 9 | 6.0 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 1 |
| 2023 | 17 | 9.0 | 22 | 7 | 2 | 2 |
| 2024 | 16 | 7.5 | 15 | 9 | 1 | 1 |
| 2025 | 16 | 7.5 | 20 | 7 | 1 | 1 |
Sacks per season
| Season | Sacks |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 2.0 |
| 2020 | 5.0 |
| 2021 | 9.5 |
| 2022 | 6.0 |
| 2023 | 9.0 |
| 2024 | 7.5 |
| 2025 | 7.5 |
The 2021 breakout (9.5 sacks, 28 QB hits in 16 games) was the season the No. 12 overall pick finally clicked. Then 9 games into 2022 he tore his ACL — a season-ending injury for an edge rusher whose game depends on burst.
The striking thing is how cleanly he picked up where he left off. 2023: 9.0 sacks in 17 games. 2024: 7.5. 2025: 7.5 with a month to play. The post-ACL Gary is statistically indistinguishable from pre-ACL Gary — see the next card.
Pre-ACL vs post-ACL: identical sacks-per-game, identical QB-hits-per-game. The injury didn't take anything.
SplitCareer split: before vs after the November 2022 ACL tear
| Era | G | Sacks | S/G | QB Hits | QBH/G | TFL | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-ACL (2019 - 2022 W9) | 47 | 22.5 | 0.48 | 54 | 1.15 | 23 | 3 |
| Post-ACL (2023+) | 49 | 24.0 | 0.49 | 57 | 1.16 | 23 | 4 |
This is one of the cleanest 'no decline after a major knee injury' lines in the database. 0.48 sacks per game before, 0.49 after. 1.15 QB hits per game before, 1.16 after. Identical TFL count (23/23) across the same number of games.
The 2024 dip (7.5 sacks) reads as a worry until you see the QB-hit rate held steady. He's getting to the QB at the same rate; finishing has wobbled, not pressure. Edge rushers historically lose 10–25% of their pass-rush production after a torn ACL. Gary lost zero.
His 2019 draft class is a pass-rusher graveyard for everyone else — Burns, Crosby, Bosa, Hines-Allen, Sweat. Gary is the 6th-best of a historic group.
ComparisonMost career sacks among 2019 draft-class edge defenders (regular season)
| Player | G | Sacks | QB Hits | TFL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brian Burns | 109 | 71.0 | 144 | 98 |
| Maxx Crosby | 108 | 69.5 | 164 | 133 |
| Nick Bosa | 81 | 64.5 | 168 | 91 |
| Josh Hines-Allen | 106 | 61.0 | 150 | 75 |
| Montez Sweat | 108 | 58.0 | 131 | 75 |
| Rashan Gary | 96 | 46.5 | 111 | 46 |
The 2019 first round produced an absurd run on edge rushers: Bosa (No. 2), Sweat (No. 26), Burns (No. 16), Hines-Allen (No. 7), Gary (No. 12). Five of the top six in this group are Pro Bowlers; Crosby (4th round, 106) is the steal of the decade.
Gary's 46.5 career sacks — the 6th-best of the class — would lead almost any other recent draft. The gap is real (24.5 behind Burns) but skewed: Gary missed 13 games to the ACL while every other player above him has played 100+ games. On a per-game basis (0.48), he's right with Burns (0.65) and Sweat (0.54) when adjusted for that lost half-season.
Two 3-sack games in 2023 — including a Thanksgiving night with 3 sacks AND 2 forced fumbles vs Detroit.
MilestoneGary's biggest single-game pass-rush outings (regular season)
| Year | Wk | Opp | Sacks | QB Hits | TFL | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 3 | @NO | 3.0 | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| 2023 | 12 | @DET | 3.0 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| 2021 | 7 | @WAS | 2.0 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| 2021 | 16 | vs CLE | 2.0 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| 2025 | 3 | @CLE | 2.0 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| 2022 | 4 | vs NE | 2.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Both 3-sack games came in 2023 — his first season back from the ACL, and the loudest statement that the burst was still there. The Thanksgiving game at Detroit (3.0 sacks, 2 forced fumbles) is the signature outing: Jared Goff was sacked 5 times that night and Gary owned three of them, with two strip-sacks to flip field position.
No career 4-sack games. The pattern is frequent 1-sack production with the occasional 3-sack explosion — eight career multi-sack games across seven seasons, almost evenly distributed.
In his 2021 breakout he generated 25.0% of every Packers sack — a top-line edge season hidden by being on a Rodgers team.
RareGary's share of Green Bay team sacks by year
| Year | Gary | GB total | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 2.0 | 41.0 | 4.9% |
| 2020 | 5.0 | 41.0 | 12.2% |
| 2021 | 9.5 | 38.0 | 25.0% |
| 2022 | 6.0 | 34.0 | 17.6% |
| 2023 | 9.0 | 45.0 | 20.0% |
| 2024 | 7.5 | 45.0 | 16.7% |
| 2025 | 7.5 | 36.0 | 20.8% |
25% of Green Bay's 2021 sacks is borderline elite-edge territory — a number you'd expect from a top-10 pass rusher in the league that year. The 2021 Packers went 13-4 and that defense's pressure had a Gary fingerprint on it.
The 2025 share (20.8%) is up despite a smaller individual season because Green Bay's team sack total fell to 36 — the team is leaning on him more, not less, even as the rest of the front rotates.
He gets to the QB on third or fourth down at a 60% clip — only one Packers edge rusher in the database has hunted third downs better.
AnomalySacks on 3rd/4th down vs total sacks by year
| Year | Total Sacks | 3rd/4th Down Sacks | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 2.0 | 0 | 0% |
| 2020 | 5.0 | 3 | 60% |
| 2021 | 9.5 | 4 | 42% |
| 2022 | 6.0 | 4 | 67% |
| 2023 | 9.0 | 7 | 78% |
| 2024 | 7.5 | 5 | 67% |
| 2025 | 7.5 | 5 | 67% |
Pass rushers eat on third down — that's where defenses pin their ears back and offenses run obvious dropbacks. Even so, Gary's recent pace stands out: 78% of his 2023 sacks came on 3rd or 4th down. 2024 and 2025 are at 67%.
The career bend (post-2020 the share has held above 40% every year, with three seasons above 65%) suggests he's used as a designated 3rd-down rusher in Green Bay's sub packages. The 2019 zero is sample-size noise (just 2 sacks on the year as a rookie).
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