Lukas Van Ness handles all the pressure and criticism for an underperforming Green Bay Packers pass rush, but he’s the wrong former first-round pick to identify as the potential missing piece. Not because he’s a bad player or his potential to upgrade Jeff Hafley’s defense doesn’t exist, but because we’ve already seen a different player show more flashes of being an impact player: Devonte Wyatt.
Last year, Wyatt produced just two fewer pressures than Kenny Clark in 185 fewer pass-rush reps. In true pass sets, Wyatt had more pressures (24) than Clark (22). His 12.9% win rate only trailed Brenton Cox on the Packers, and Cox played even more sparingly than Wyatt.
“We’re super fired-up about both those guys’ seasons this year,” Brian Gutekunst said as part of his end-of-season press conference, referring to Wyatt and his draft mate Quay Walker.
“D-Wy was probably our most consistent pass rusher from the inside this year. … I think both those guys had their best years as pros so far.”