Pete Dougherty chat: Readers have mixed views on Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst

GREEN BAY − Green Bay Press-Gazette and PackersNews columnist Pete Dougherty responds to reader questions ahead of the Green Bay Packers ' Week 6 game against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday at Lambeau Field .

We pulled out a couple of questions about Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst.

Eric: Do you think (Brian) Gutekunst is one of the most underrated GMs in the league?

Dougherty: He’s probably not real well known among fans leaguewide, but from what I can tell he’s well respected around the league. The Athletic ranked the NFL’s front offices a few weeks ago based on a poll of 35 front-office executives and five coaches (they couldn’t vote for their own teams), and the Packers ranked sixth, behind Baltimore, Kansas City, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Detroit. Gutekunst’s drafting of (Jordan) Love and patience waiting to play him, and handling of and then trading (Aaron) Rodgers, surely had to help his standing among his peers. His recent drafts look very good, and the (Josh) Jacobs and (Xavier) McKinney signings are off to good starts. Here’s the quote from an anonymous front-office executive The Athletic included in the capsule about the Packers: “Gutekunst’s humility and authenticity and being a smart football guy really shows up. He’s very process-driven. There’s no panic there. They’ve made good decisions in free agency. They know their roster. They know their head coach. It’s more of a methodical, process-driven deal where they don’t rush to make a quick fix. They trust their process.”

Tim Koenig: Everybody is now asking what’s wrong with Rashan Gary, but I think the real question is what’s wrong with Gutekunst’s judgment? Gary has always been high on potential and low on performance. In three years and 35 games at Michigan, he delivered only 10.5 sacks and 55 solo tackles. As a Packer in five-plus seasons and 78 games he has 32.5 sacks and 110 solo tackles. He constantly gets beat on outside runs, and decent RTs just let him rush to the outside until he’s past the QB. His pedestrian performance is not new and shouldn’t be a surprise. How could Gutekunst compound a poor draft pick by giving Gary a huge contract extension making him the fourth-highest paid edge rusher? Doesn’t he watch film or pay attention to actual game impact?

Dougherty: A lot going on with this question. First, I have to say that, unlike you, I’m surprised Gary hasn’t rushed a lot better this season. This system seemed tailor-made for him, putting his hand on the ground, emphasis on penetrating. You’re right that his college sacks production was very low (six sacks in his second season, only 3½ in his third, which was his final year) for a guy drafted as high as he was. A couple of scouts I talked to before that draft liked him as an upper-half-of-the-first-round prospect but wondered if he just wasn’t a good finisher, that was the question on him. Maybe that’s who he is. But in 2021, his third season, he had 9½ sacks and finished fourth in the league in pressures (sacks, QB hits and hurries combined). I thought he was going to take off from there. He was on pace for an 11-sack season before blowing out his knee in Week 9 in ’22. Now, two years removed from ACL surgery he should be full go. So I’m not sure what’s going on with him, whether he will always have finishing issues, or if something else is up. I suspect it’s the latter but don’t know that. Sounds like you’re convinced it’s the former. Saw a tweet Tuesday (couldn’t find it on a search just now) that his get-off time as a rusher according to NFL Next Gen Stats is the slowest of his career. Not sure why that would be. Gutekunst paid him because he liked how well Gary had returned from ACL surgery last year — Gary was ready for the opener about 10 months after his surgery and played pretty well the first half of the season. In fact, four weeks after signing the deal — he signed the extension Oct. 30 – Gary had three sacks against Detroit. Again, looked like he was on his way. Since that day, he’s had 1½ sacks in 13 games (playoffs included). The biggest mystery of the season to me, as I wrote in a column last week , is that he has only one sack, and that one was a gift when Lane Johnson thought the Packers were offsides and barely came out of his stance. Maybe Jeff Hafley needs to move Gary around more on passing downs, let him rush against interior OLs or from different angles on the outside. Right now, yeah, his $24 million-a-year contract looks like a really bad investment. But at the time Gutekunst did it, I can’t say I thought it was a bad move. One of Hafley’s priorities has to be some how, some way, getting more out of Gary, and Kenny Clark, as several questioners have pointed out as well. It bears remembering there still is more than two-thirds of the season to go. I actually thought Gary rushed a little better this last game but still didn’t have any sacks or hits, so take that for whatever you think it’s worth. Regardless, you might have seen this coming from Gary, but I surely didn’t. I thought he’d be a top-15 rusher in the league this year, maybe even fringe top-10. Not even close so far.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Pete Dougherty chat: Readers have mixed views on Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst