Trading Rashan Gary has left the Green Bay Packers rather thin at edge-rusher, particularly with Micah Parsons likely to begin next season on the PUP list. Pursuing immediate depth in free agency should be on the table, but the draft offers another way to build future equity at the position.
Among the names in Green Bay's range with the 52nd overall pick, their first of the 2026 NFL Draft, Michigan's Derrick Moore stands out.
Wait, though. Another imposing Michigan pass-rusher with a limited repertoire of moves? Where have fans seen that before? The similarities are such that the Packers might think twice before inviting the same mistake they made seven drafts ago.
Rashan Gary offers a cautionary tale that could apply to Derrick Moore
The 2025 season provided a perfect microcosm of the former Wolverine's career as a Packer. He started the year off hot, rattling off 7.5 sacks in seven games, plus 4.5 stuffs. Here was the Robin to Parsons' Batman in a dynamic duo off the edge.
Over his final nine games, however, Gary recorded zero sacks and 1.5 stuffs. He fell completely off the map. Parsons' presence may have had more to do with his scorching start than anything Gary did himself.
That's about how his Packers tenure went, from first-round hype to underwhelming, from resurgent to the subject of fans' collective disdain.
In the end, it's nothing short of miraculous that Green Bay found a trade partner for Gary and his bloated contract, flipping him to the Cowboys for a 2027 fourth-round pick. Of course it was the Cowboys. If Jerry Jones hadn't ponied up for another fleecing, Gary would have simply been cut.
With that context in mind, is Moore a legitimate replacement or a doppelganger to eschew?
Being fooled twice would bring shame on the Packers
Ranked 61st by NFL Mock Draft Database, Moore could be called Gary's Day 2 equivalent. Their NFL Combine profiles are eerily similar.
The knock on both? Lack of consistent effort in run defense and lower-body bend. Their strengths? Physical build and a dominant bull rush. As a draft prospect, Gary was listed at 6-foot-4, 277 pounds, with 34 and 1/8-inch arms.
Moore clocked in at 6-foot-4, 255 pounds, with 33 and 3/8-inch arms.
He does not boast Gary's same athletic upside, although it's worth noting that Moore cited a hamstring injury as holding him back from certain activities at the combine. NFL.com awarded him a combine score of 6.29, projecting him as an eventual average starter. Gary registered a 6.80, setting him up as a Day 1 starter.
Of the two, however, Moore stuffed a superior statsheet. He totaled 10 sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss as a senior, and 21 sacks in his four-year career (53 games).
Gary, meanwhile, came up with 10.5 sacks in three Michigan seasons, though he matched Moore in TFLs (24.5) in fewer games.
While the latter is an intriguing force, the product of a program known for churning out NFL defenders, his similarities to a player who tantalized and tormented Packers fans for seven seasons might give Green Bay pause on draft day. For some, his connection with the Maize and Blue is enough: it's simply too soon.
Ultimately, Cheeseheads can trust GM Brian Gutekunst to make an objective evaluation, even if that means risking a lower-floor repeat of the Gary experiment that reached its end so recently. With plenty of edge-rushers in range across the Day 2 big board, we'll see how the Packers spend their picks. As other roster needs loom, they might not address defensive end at all until later on in the draft.