INDIANAPOLIS – At edge rusher, no offseason story for the Packers will garner more attention than Micah Parsons' rehab and recovery from his knee injury.
Then there's Rashan Gary's contract situation, plus the pending free agency of Kingsley Enagbare, Brenton Cox Jr. and Arron Mosby, the latter two restricted free agents.
But at the NFL Scouting Combine this week, Brian Gutekunst did not sound like a GM fretting over all that uncertainty at one position.
On the contrary, there was genuine enthusiasm in his voice when discussing three of the Packers' young edge rushers, all of whom he drafted – Lukas Van Ness, Barryn Sorrell and Collin Oliver.
Beginning with Van Ness, Gutekunst's first-round pick in 2022, the Packers saw a promising start to his third season derailed by injury.
Van Ness posted 1½ sacks in the first five games, earning praise from Parsons for his impact and trajectory, but he hurt his foot on a red-zone sack of Bengals QB Joe Flacco in Week 6. The injury turned out to be more troublesome than originally thought, as Van Ness missed the next five games, tried to return before Thanksgiving but couldn't keep going after just a handful of snaps, and missed two more games.
Then in December, he worked his way up to playing 47 snaps against the Ravens in Week 17 and recorded a career-high six tackles. Two weeks later in the wild-card playoff loss at Chicago, he had a sack and forced fumble.
It was a strong finish to an otherwise frustrating season that leaves Gutekunst with an interesting decision on Van Ness' fifth-year option, which must be exercised by early May. Despite the injury setback, Gutekunst indicated picking up the option is in play.
"I would've liked to get those games back that he missed this past year because … it kind of stunts you a little bit," he said. "He was playing very well for us. It's always tough to get back to that level when you have that pause in the season.
"We feel really good about him, where he's headed, what he's done for us so far and what he'll do for us in the future."
Last year, the Packers had two fifth-year option decisions, on linebacker Quay Walker and defensive lineman Devonte Wyatt. They passed on Walker's but exercised Wyatt's despite the latter's own injury interruptions along the way.
For his career, Van Ness (6-5, 272) has 8½ sacks in 43 games, plus two more in four postseason contests. More has been expected as a first-round pick, but the Packers don't feel his career has peaked by any means.
"It's about what we think he's going to do in the future, not what he's done in the past," Gutekunst said of the option decision. "So, that's kind of how we look at things. We did that with Devonte last year. If that's the decision we decide to do, I won't have a problem with that at all."
The other two rising edge rushers were draft picks last year, Sorrell in the fourth round and Oliver in the fifth.
Sorrell (6-3, 256), from Texas, played sparingly over 14 games but cashed in on a Week 18 start at Minnesota when the Packers were resting their regulars for the playoffs.
He led the defensive line with 52 snaps played, tied for second on the team with eight total tackles, and recorded his first full NFL sack (giving him 1½ on the season).
Prior to that, he had played more than 13 defensive snaps in a game only once, but he showed he belonged and earned himself 28 snaps in the playoff game the following week. Again, it was another finish by an edge rusher that made an impression.
"Really excited about Barryn," Gutekunst said. "With the opportunities he was given last year, I thought he performed very very well, especially late in the season when we needed him. I think he'll be a major part of that core group moving forward."
With Oliver, the Packers didn't even know if they'd get him on the field his rookie season, as he arrived from Oklahoma State dealing with a significant hamstring injury. Encountering setbacks along the way, Oliver remained on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list until late December, was finally activated, and then made his NFL debut in the Week 18 game at Minnesota, playing 31 snaps (plus 10 on special teams).
Considered a tweener size-wise at 6-2, 240, Oliver is viewed as a prospect who could play on the edge in passing situations, or as an off-ball, strong-side linebacker. He showed a little of both against the Vikings, notching a tackle for loss against the run and two QB hits as a pass rusher.
At the combine, Gutekunst referred to Oliver as a "wild card," and he's curious where he might fit in new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon's scheme. Stay tuned, it seems.
"That last game was really nice to get him out there to see what he could do," Gutekunst said. "He can really run, and then his ability to chase the quarterback is something that you need in this league. I think there's a lot of versatility and upside in Collin."
