The Dallas Cowboys have tried to replace Micah Parsons' pass-rush impact and improve their run defense in waves. The first was getting Kenny Clark back in the deal, and the second was dishing one of their picks for Quinnen Williams. And the third was trading for Rashan Gary this offseason.
Unfortunately, Gary hasn't really been as billed thus far, and some Cowboys fans are starting to get buyer's remorse about the fourth-rounder that they sent to the Green Bay Packers. And when looking at his production and some of his troubling trends, it is easy to spiral about the acquisition altogether.
But I am here to say that this, too, shall pass; it always has for Gary. At the very least, it is not time to panic yet about the veteran edge rusher, as his sacks, hits, and general impact have always come in bunches at the NFL level. Just three games into the year, the tide should eventually turn.
Rashan Gary's troubling production has Cowboys fans concerned
A quick glance at the box score would indicate that Gary has not performed very well this year. And to an extent, that is a correct assessment. In three games, Gary has played 64 pass-rush snaps, and he has a measly six pressures, zero hits and zero sacks.
We're talking about a guy who was supposed to help recreate Parsons in the aggregate, and he hasn't touched a quarterback through three games of the 2026 NFL season. He's lined up against Jermaine Eluemunor, Josh Conerly Jr. and Roger Rosengartern. Some fine players, but not the NFL's elite.
And if you still put stock in Pro Football Focus grades, his 49.2 mark against the run is one of the worst on the team and sixth-worst among all qualifying NFL edge rushers. Not exactly a banner start to the year for one of the supposed crown jewels of this offseason.
To expand this data set, Gary hasn't recorded a sack since Week 8 of last season. It has been almost a calendar year since Gary has taken a quarterback home in a regular season NFL game, and fans are understandably running out of patience.
Let's point out some positives first, though, before we dive into his history: Gary has a pass rush win rate of 17.9%, which is actually above average. And that number jumps up to 23.1% in true pass sets, so Gary isn't getting pushed around or bullied. He's actually winning reps.
So, why isn't he getting home? There may be multiple answers to that question. One could be that he is simply getting more attention from opposing offensive coordinators because he's the most established player the Cowboys have on the edge. Maybe it's just dumb luck in a small sample size.
Some of it has to do with the fact that Jaxson Dart, Jayden Daniels, Marcus Mariota and Lamar Jackson aren't exactly the easiest quarterbacks to get on the ground. But it may mostly have to do with the fact that Gary is streaky, and he always has been.
Rashan Gary's history proves Dallas has no reason to freak out
Looking at Gary's pure production over the years makes him look fairly consistent. Here are his season sack totals since fully finding his footing during the 2021 campaign: 9.5, 6.0*, 9.0, 7.5, 7.5. He was never setting the world on fire, but he has routinely been a strong pass rusher in his career.
*Season shortened to nine games due to injury.
Sacks can be fleeting, but his quarterback hits and pressures have stayed fairly consistent over the years as well, at least on a yearly basis. And while his pass rush win rate has steadily dropped in each of the last five years, it is back up again. So, the dam will break, as it always seems to for him.
Gary had four sacks in the first three games of the 2025 campaign before being shut out for two games. Then, he had three more in the next two contests before beginning his no-sack streak that we mentioned earlier. But this isn't the first time he has gone on a sack hiatus.
In 2024, Gary went on a five-game streak where he didn't record a sack and had just one hit. He had 6.0 sacks in the next eight weeks. In 2023, he had four sacks in a span of two games before recording just one in the next six weeks. He responded with five in the next three games, then seven with zero.
Back in 2022, he had five sacks in the first four games. He had just one over the next five contests.
Need I go on? Or can we all just agree that Gary is as streaky as they come, but reliably puts up good sack numbers? He'll disappear for stretches, but he always seems to come back. And while he's at an especially low low right now, Gary has bottomed out before and come back.
This is pretty much rock-bottom for him, but that also means that there is nowhere to go but up.
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