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GREEN BAY – Rashan Gary couldn’t have asked for a better inroad to the NFL than the one he received with the Packers in 2019.
A first-round pick out of Michigan, the 6-foot-5, 277-pound prospect was drafted a month after Green Bay signed veterans Preston and Za’Darius Smith to help reignite their pass rush.
Gary served as the understudy to the Smith Bros. for two years before starting opposite Preston the next 3½ years. But even as his own star rose, Gary always kept his ears open to any bit of wisdom Smith passed his way.
“Coming in here and him being a big brother, basically (an) open book,” Gary said, describing the invaluable help he received. “I’m telling you, there was times I was calling him, 10 o’clock, 11 o’clock at night – he’s got a wife and kids but he’s answering the phone call from me because I’m up on the iPad just trying to understand this set more.”
The Gary-Smith partnership came to an end last Tuesday when the Packers traded the 31-year-old edge rusher to the Pittsburgh Steelers, who deploy a similar 3-4 front as Green Bay previously utilized prior to an offseason switch to a 4-3.
Smith’s departure leaves both a void and an opportunity for Gary and the rest of the Packers’ pass rushers. While Gary is ready to tackle an even greater leadership role among the defensive ends, the rest of the room aims to step up in Smith’s on-field absence.
Leading that charge are third-year veteran Kingsley Enagbare and former first-round pick Lukas Van Ness, who’ve become more prominently featured in the pass rush over the past month.
A fifth-round pick out of South Carolina in 2022, Enagbare has amassed 87 tackles, 17 quarterback hits, 6½ sacks and three forced fumbles as a rotational edge rusher. As difficult as it was to say goodbye to Smith, the 6-foot-4, 258-pound defensive end recognizes the opportunity before him.
“He’s been here all my three years here and was a big part of my success and growth as a player and partly as a man, and as a teammate,” said Enagbare of Smith. “Losing him has definitely hit us close to the heart, but we got guys in here in our room who are ready to take advantage of the opportunity that’s about to come up in the next few weeks and therefore after.”
In lieu of acquiring anyone to offset Smith’s loss, the Packers are prepared to move forward with a pair of young pass rushers they’ve been developing in Arron Mosby and Brenton Cox Jr.
Playing one of the deepest and healthiest positions on the roster, Cox has yet to play in a game this year but was a former five-star recruit at the time he committed to Georgia in 2018.
Mosby, who entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with Carolina in 2022, spent all last season converting from linebacker to edge rusher on Green Bay’s practice squad before making the jump to the 53-man roster this past summer.
The 6-foot-3, 250-pound Mosby made his defensive debut during the Packers’ Week 10 matchup with Detroit and made his five snaps count – combining with Gary for his first career sack in the second quarter.
“We’re all going to play a role, everyone’s getting more rotations,” Mosby said. “I feel like everyone just having that role, more younger guys, more bodies, faster, more speed like that. Just going in and playing together everyone should play a greater role.”
Smith’s 5½-year run in Green Bay produced the sixth-most sacks (44) in Packers history since sacks became an official statistic in 1982. He never wore a captain’s patch but was widely regarded as one of the locker room’s biggest leaders.
In recent years, Smith had assumed a more vocal presence in the pregame and postgame speeches. Sometimes, Enagbare says, Smith’s speeches were almost too good to be believed.
“All of them feel like they came from a little poem book,” said Enagbare, smiling. “I would joke with him like, ‘Dang, what time you wrote it?’ I don’t know. He says it was a freestyle, but it sounds too smooth to be a freestyle for me.
“The words usage, the story behind it, the tone, the mood, everything was just perfect. I don’t think there’s been one bad ‘P’ speech before a game since I’ve been here.”
Smith’s trade makes a young Packers team even younger, though it has an abundance of established veterans such as Xavier McKinney, Josh Jacobs, Kenny Clark and Jordan Love to fill the vocal void.
There’s also Gary, who’s playing the same role to the young defensive linemen that the Smith Bros. once did with him. To this day, Gary finds many of the lessons he imparts to his young teammates began with the man he considers a brother for life.
“The more years you get into the business, the more you understand the business,” Gary said. “You’ve got to keep everything the main thing and also realize you have to enjoy the moments, the time you have with people, because you never know what may happen.”
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