CDTShareTweetShareSharePackers draft reaction: Rashan Gary

reignites debate over athletic gifts vs. proven abilityRick Osentoski-USA TODAY SportsThough far from the biggest surprise of Day Womens Quinten Rollins Jersey , the Green Bay Packers invested the No. 12 overall selection in Michigan pass rusher Rashan Gary. Gary’s selection will reignite some long-running debates in Wisconsin about the value of physical gifts versus that of established production and skills.Any conversation about Gary starts with his athletic traits. The Michigan pass rusher scored in the 94th percentile for overall athleticism, according to 3 Sigma Athlete. That figure looks even more impressive when considering Gary’s massive fame (6-foot-4, 277 pounds) and youth (he doesn’t turn 22 until December). Those physical tools should allow him to play in multiple roles at the NFL level.Of course, a player with such a tremendous athletic profile wouldn’t last until the No. 12 pick if not for some concerns, and Gary fell short of expectations during his collegiate career. In three seasons, Gary amassed just eight sacks and 23 tackles for loss. Pro Football Focus counted just 106 pressures for Gary during that time, a far cry from team leader and fellow 2019 draft prospect Chase Winovich. A number of factors contributed to Gary’s low production figures, some outside of his control. Still, a player so gifted should have manufactured more pressure.Green Bay will start Gary’s pro career at outside linebacker. While that makes some sense given Mike Pettine’s defense, Gary saw little action working in space during his time at Michigan. Accordingly http://www.packerslockerroom.com/authentic-kyle-murphy-jersey , the team will need to exercise patience as he adjusts. At some point, the Packers could also feature Gary as an interior defender in certain sub packages, something they also plan to do with the recently signed Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith.Because the Packers don’t need a rookie edge rusher to start immediately and Gary’s lack of refinement, evaluating the selection presents challenges. He doesn’t look like the Day 1 impact player many expected general manager Brian Gutekunst to add with a rare top-15 draft pick. Moreover, Gary’s profile as a high-upside, low-floor prospect will remind many of former Green Bay draft misses like Justin Harrell and Datone Jones. Gary even reportedly has a labral tear in one of his shoulders that could require surgery.All of those factors, not to mention the presence of “cleaner” pass-rushing prospects like Brian Burns at pick No. 12, will only add to pressure on Gary and the team that took him. Gary’s best-case scenario looks a lot like that of Minnesota Vikings defensive end Danielle Hunter, himself once an underachieving uber-athletic college pass rusher. Hunter did little during the first three months of his rookie season before exploding that December, eventually becoming one of the best edge rushers in the NFL. Gary has a comparable ceiling but comes to Green Bay at a considerably higher price.Now Corey Linsley Jersey White , the burden to make the Packers look smart falls onto Pettine and his assistants. Gary has all the raw ability in the world. They have to find a way to develop and deploy their new charge in a reasonable timeframe. Confidence has placed Mitchell Trubisky and the Chicago Bears offense in a far better situation than at midseason. Or even the beginning of the season.They have to hope it's enough for them to compete with the Green Bay Packers on Sunday at Lambeau Field. If not the remainder of their season will lack much meaning.Trubisky is riding high during a three-game winning streak and no longer feels he's operating an offense mired at the bottom of the NFL rankings — even if that's where the Bears are."I just feel like we have a newfound identity of what we want to do, and everybody is really locked into what they have to do within their job description on the offense," Trubisky said Wednesday at Halas Hall. "We've just got to go out there and play hard and play hungry and come ready to play and execute what we've got to do."Trubisky described the offense as moving freer than in the early portion of the schedule, especially the season-opening 10-3 loss to the Packers. He's at a bit of a loss to describe why the whole offense is no longer pressing as it did earlier."I don't know exactly," Trubisky said. "You could pretty much guess whatever, but we have a bunch of guys that care so much and you tend to press when you're not getting the results you want."And you have a bunch of people, including myself, that care so much and you don't know what's going wrong that you tend to press a little bit when things are going wrong. But you've just got to trust the process and trust the plan and what we're doing here and continue to get better."Trubisky has completed 77 of 110 (70%) for 860 yards, seven touchdowns, four interceptions and has a passer rating of 99.1 in the three straight victories.Wide receiver Anthony Miller has seen the confidence growing in his quarterback with each of the wins over the New York Giants Womens Justin McCray Jersey , Detroit Lions and last week over the Dallas Cowboys."Whenever we go out there, we know exactly what we're supposed to do each and every play," said Miller who has 24 receptions for 313 yards and a touchdown in the last four games. "Mitch's confidence is through the roof right now. And so we're just taking advantage of that."Coach Matt Nagy cited some changes made in the attack as part of the improvement, without wanting to get too detailed."Probably maybe a little just because we were searching, we were really searching for many different reasons," Nagy said. "I told you we're problem solvers, we're looking for solutions. And we feel like we may have found some things, whatever that is and we'll kind of just go with that without getting into schemes."During a stretch of four wins in five games it's been a total turnaround after a four-game losing streak.To Trubisky and the offense, the opening loss to Green Bay now seems so long ago. He completed 26 of 45 for 228 yards and an interception while absorbing five sacks in that game."There's been a lot of growth for us all, and I think the biggest thing that you (media) would agree with Lane Taylor Jersey White , I believe in, is that we’ve all grown and become mentally stronger, a lot stronger from then," Nagy said. "That’s where we’ve kind of figured out who we think we are and now we'll get to put it to the test again here against Green Bay."Injuries played a role to a small extent in their earlier demise, and they can be eliminated from playoff contention Sunday with a loss and a Vikings victory over the Los Angeles Chargers.The Bears are relying on their fourth and fifth tight ends. Four of the five starting offensive line positions are manned by someone different than in the opener with the Packers."I just feel like we're kind of in a rhythm now," Trubisky said. "We're a different team."There were some things that we had to go through in the first game and the beginning of the season that just didn't go our way, and there's things we definitely learned from as an offense."NOTESStarting right cornerback Prince Amukamara went through a full practice after missing the game with Dallas due to a hamstring injury. ... Tight end Ben Braunecker and wide receiver Taylor Gabriel continued missing practice and are in the NFL concussion protocol. Tackle Bobby Massie (ankle), defensive end Roy Robertson-Harris (foot) and wide receiver Javon Wims (knee) all missed practice, as well.