Linebackers can key pass rush plan without Micah Parsons

Jeff Hafley will have to lean into more simulated pressure and linebacker blitzes to make up for the loss of Micah Parsons.

With all due respect to Brad Pitt’s Billy Beane character in Moneyball, there’s no recreating Micah Parsons “in the aggregate.” No piecing together the 60+ pressures that will be sitting on IR as one of the most feared pass rushers in the NFL recovers from a devastating ACL injury. It’s devastating to Parsons, as well as the Packers, who match him as a team in pressures. But the simplest solution is going to be to send more bodies, and as it turns out, for the Packers, they have the right guys to make that work.

Last January, we posited Edgerrin Cooper could be the player to save Green Bay’s anemic pass rush. This is essentially the same group the Packers took to Philadelphia for the playoffs, with Rashan Gary leading the way. Kenny Clark was a shell of himself due to injury, and Kingsley Enagbare was starting on the edge.

Clark plays in Dallas thanks to the intransigence of Jerry Jones, but Colby Wooden has outplayed Clark’s 2024 season already this year.

Against Jalen Hurts, Jeff Hafley didn’t take the aggressive tactic most teams use, blitzing him and daring Hurts to find quick answers. Hurts’ physical limitations as a thrower, both with arm strength and accessing the middle of the field, make him an obvious target for such an approach.

Instead, Hafley forced Hurts to play from the pocket, and Philly barely scratched together a passing game in that postseason game.

But that’s not going to work against Matthew Stafford, or Jared Goff, or Brock Purdy this year if the Packers can rally to make the playoffs.