RockinLoud

October 30th, 2023 at 9:34 AM ^

Not living up to insane levels of hype =/= a bust (not that that is what you're saying, but I definitely recall a sentiment by some on here that he was a bust). Derrick Green was a bust, Aubrey Solomon was a bust, but Rashan Gary was definitely not a bust. Shoulder injury + scheme prevented him from being an unstoppable monster, ok, but 12th overall pick in the draft and now a 4-year $107m contract extension dispel any notion that he was a bust.

ShadowStorm33

October 30th, 2023 at 3:57 PM ^

Honestly, given what Brian/Seth have said about Gary's lack of bend or whatever (which held him back from being a truly dominate edge rusher), and his insane speed and power, I actually think he would have been better playing inside, at like 3T, than out on the edge as an SDE. Problem was he seemed to be pretty adamant about playing DE instead of DT...

Brian Griese

October 30th, 2023 at 9:30 AM ^

I don't recall anyone using the word "bust".  My opinion, shared by almost everyone when he was coming out of high school, was that his highest upside was at 3 Tech.  If Gary could stay healthy he was always going to have a long NFL career at virtually any form of an end or OLB because of his measurables.  However, I still think he could have been a Hall of Fame type player on the inside.  

When you are recruiting a player like Gary in this day and age you aren't going to dictate what position they're going to play.  That said, Brown (and Harbaugh) deserve some criticism for doing nothing creative with Gary in 2017 and 2018 seasons.  I vaguely remember him lining up inside on some passing rushing downs but other than that he was asked to take on double teams on the strong side and his numbers were never what they should have been.  I am sure the coaches had their reasons why but the 2017 and 2018 defenses were designed for Devin Bush (remember Furbush being his fullback?) and Winovich benefited greatly from Gary being met with double teams.  

cypherblue

October 30th, 2023 at 10:11 AM ^

I think Don Brown squandered Gary's optimal usefulness like he squandered Uche's time at Michigan. 

Don Brown did not have the appetite to modify his defense or the desire to keep evolving. He just would go harder on his philosophy even after Day molested him countless times. 

Uche and Gary could have been much more qb hunters had the scheme allowed them to be.

Amazinblu

October 30th, 2023 at 9:05 AM ^

Wishing Rashan continued success.   

Coincidentally, I was in Door County, Wisconsin last weekend - it's "across the lake and a bit north" of Frankfort / Traverse City.   Green Bay is at the base of Door County - so, it's huge Packer country.   A great place to visit if you're ever in the area.

And - if you are traveling through that part (Green Bay) of Wisconsin - definitely visit Lambeau.

TeslaRedVictorBlue

October 30th, 2023 at 9:21 AM ^

Been interesting to see the recent trend in Michigan's impact in the NFL. For a while, I've noted that the skill players (particularly WRs) are littered with ohio state's former players... but more recently, I started noticing that Michigan has guys in the trenches on O and D. Speaks, perhaps, to the shift in the Game results. 

Even guys like Jon Runyan Jr who I saw in the GB game last night... 6th round pick from 2020 making his way.

DL, OL, and some DBs... seems to be our bread and butter. Just need JJ in the league for a nice long career to keep that QB superiority! Just not quite yet!

MGoRedemption

October 30th, 2023 at 10:21 AM ^

i take issue with people saying he didn't pan out at michigan. He drew double teams constantly and helped free up other lineman. It seemed like he was always a step away from a sack but he had a ton of pressures and made a huge impact

jdemille9

October 30th, 2023 at 11:21 AM ^

His impact on the field was massive. His impact in the stat lines was minimal (given his ranking as a recruit), and that's all the casual fans see. Would it have been nice to see him rack up some bigger fancy stat numbers? Sure, but the man was a beast and absolutely had an impact on the field at Michigan.

The Packers saw a 1st round talent and drafted him as such. That tells you all you need to know about how good he is.

tybert

October 30th, 2023 at 11:39 AM ^

It had his biggest impact in 2017, when Hurst and others helped prevent consistent double-teams. I never felt he was dogging it. But instead seemed to be outschemed by his own DC. I remember him being unstoppable at the end of the 2018 Indy game when we needed someone to step up in a game closer than expected. Look at what McDonald did with Aidan. Same for Minter and Mazi being a dissolver in the middle of the line.

The D was designed to enable stars like Bush in the middle. Before that, Peppers.

DB's D was like the Rubik's Cube. Hard to figure out until it wasn't. Then you could solve it in a minute.