Packers Claim DL Anthony Rush (6'4" 361lbs) off Waivers
Packers sign a huge defensive lineman.
By JerseyAl
You wanted some beef for the defensive line? Well Brian Gutenkunst has granted your request. Although reported a few days ago, the Packers have officially claimed massive and well-traveled Anthony Rush off of waivers from the Bears. Rush was an undrafted free agent signed by the Eagles in 2019 an spent a short stint with the Raiders. He played in 9 games for the Eagles in 2019 and four games for the Seahawks this year. He was released by the Seahwaks and picked up by the Bears, but did not see any action for them before being released. In 215 career snaps, Rush has recorded 15 tackles (eight solo), four tackles for a loss, a half-sack, a QB hit and two passes defensed.
#Packers claim DL Anthony Rush https://t.co/HaeCFuq6Jv
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) November 30, 2020
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"Jersey Al" Bracco is the Editor-In-Chief, part owner and wearer of many hats for CheeseheadTV.com and PackersTalk.com. He is also a recovering Mason Crosby truther. Follow Al on twitter at @JerseyalGBP.
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Comments (55)
Coldworld
November 30, 2020 at 04:42 pm
Good. Now will Pettine use him? He still refuses to use Winn, despite his stat line for the few snaps he does get.
MITM
November 30, 2020 at 05:03 pm
yeah i dont get that either. Winn has made a difference in every game we have had to use him. Kamal Martins snap counts are comical also.
The_Justicar
November 30, 2020 at 09:47 pm
Seems like Pettine penalizes players on the d line if they make tackles. M Adams gets a tackle for loss? To the bench! Winn makes an early stop? Ride some pine! Lowery disappears for an entire game? Plays the majority of snaps.
Bure9620
December 02, 2020 at 08:53 pm
Montravius Adams was getting more work on early downs but got injured and placed on IR
Thegravedigger
November 30, 2020 at 11:12 pm
Lowry doesnt stop the run or the pass. Winn stops the run and has batted a few passes. One led to an int. 3 tackles in 7 snaps last week. Wtf is pettine missing here?? Winn is bigger and stronger than lowry. He holds his ground. It took montravious to get injured for winn to even be activated. Just baffling.
croatpackfan
December 01, 2020 at 05:30 am
It is not true. Lowry has 3 pass deflection this year! Isn't that against pass?
Thegreatreynoldo
December 01, 2020 at 06:29 am
Yes, it is against the pass. It means Lowry batted down 3 passes. That probably means he got some penetration and maybe a bit of pressure but not always.
Winn has 2 batted down passes in 38 snaps. Lowry has played 404 snaps. As a note, ESPN and PFR show Lowry with one batted down pass, not three. Still, playing ten times the snaps makes that not important.
With just 1 QB hit, 4 pressures, this is the second year in a row that Lowry has grossly underperformed his contract and expectations. And he hasn't been a plus player against the run, either, probably average minus. He shouldn't survive that in 2021.
Bure9620
December 02, 2020 at 08:55 pm
Lowry will definitely be a cap casualty in 2021.....hopefully Rush can get snaps on early downs and make a difference
dobber
December 01, 2020 at 07:23 am
Lowry made his money playing opposite a disruptive DE (Daniels) and next to an outstanding NT (Clark). He did his best work when nobody was paying attention to him. That's not the case anymore.
Bearmeat
December 01, 2020 at 10:39 am
I'd argue that Gute bet Lowry would continue to improve and locked him up early in 2018 at a "bargain" rate.
Oops.
Bure9620
December 02, 2020 at 08:57 pm
Never understood Gute releasing Daniels and inking Lowry right afterward.....always thought he was a JAG
bjkdad44
November 30, 2020 at 11:46 pm
I agree
Thegreatreynoldo
December 01, 2020 at 01:42 am
As a curiosity, I'd note that the nflgsis lists Winn as a DE. Sure looks like a DT to me.
Dzehren
November 30, 2020 at 05:10 pm
Looks like a possible role player who can take on double teams.
TarynsEyes
November 30, 2020 at 06:32 pm
Why would three teams let him go if he could demand double-teaming.
Dzehren
November 30, 2020 at 08:23 pm
Valid point.
Rush just turned 24 in September & has only been in the league 1 year. Based on his girth & massive size, it’s a possibility.
Also noticed 3 historically strong defenses had the presence of mind to pick him up (Philly, Seattle , Chicago). Too your point, it is questionable why he was available....
Thegravedigger
November 30, 2020 at 11:14 pm
Howard green was available in 2010. Remember 2010?
dobber
December 01, 2020 at 07:19 am
To be fair, Seattle has been one of the weaker defenses in the league--at least statistically--over the last 2-3 seasons.
Bure9620
December 02, 2020 at 09:00 pm
He is not a two gapping 1 tech, more of a hold the point run stuffer immovable guy....not that athletic......I suspect they believe Rush is a better version of Tyler Lancaster
PatrickGB
November 30, 2020 at 05:22 pm
If he is any good, I would love to see him at NT with a move to DE for Clark and Gary.
PackerBacker77
November 30, 2020 at 09:41 pm
Gary is not being moved to DE
Thegreatreynoldo
December 01, 2020 at 01:44 am
I think Gary was moved to DE for the Bears game. I think he plays a 4-3 DE role for 10 plus snaps every game.
jannesbjornson
December 01, 2020 at 11:01 am
It would be best if LeFleur can influence his D coordinator to show more 4-2/4-3 looks and drop the 2-4 in the waste can. A 5-2 press like Rivera uses wouldn't hurt either. Pettine gets paid serious money he should try to evolve beyond the Rex is best stasis.
Bure9620
December 02, 2020 at 09:15 pm
That's a sub package, most the NFL is majority sub now
Lphill
November 30, 2020 at 06:04 pm
Rush at nose, Clark and Winn beside him, and a Smith or a Gary on the end.
13TimeChamps
November 30, 2020 at 07:06 pm
Rush at nose.....seriously? This a JAG who has been released by 3 teams in less than 2 years in the league. This is throwing spaghetti against the wall to see if it sticks. Never hurts I guess.
Lphill
November 30, 2020 at 09:41 pm
Clark is not a true nose tackle he's under 320 lbs, Lancaster did pretty good when Clark was out hurt, the teams that had Rush play 4 man fronts no real nose tackle so I think this big body may free up Clark to be more productive , unless you think the Packers had enough beef on the D line if you do you're alone with that thought.
13TimeChamps
December 01, 2020 at 09:41 am
I'm not saying they don't need help on the DL. It's probably their biggest need overall. It doesn't mean this is the guy. He's an UDFA who's been released by Philly, Seattle, Oakland and Chicago since coming into the league in 2019. You seem ready to declare any signing as an automatic improvement. More often than that, it doesn't work that way.
I at least give Gute credit for always looking for that surprise gem that he might uncover.
stockholder
November 30, 2020 at 06:11 pm
Beef? More like Bologna.
SpikeHyzer
December 01, 2020 at 11:21 am
Or we could invoke the old song by Fear: Beef Bologna!
mnbadger
November 30, 2020 at 06:16 pm
let's hope he can play with good pad level. does anybody know when he can practice and play? GPG
Dzehren
November 30, 2020 at 09:17 pm
Reading his bio & stats, Rush doesn’t
appear to have a injury history so immediately.
Rush also played TE in high school at a trimmed down 280 pounds.
GB needs a Howard Green or Gilbert Brown type guy in a bad way.
jannesbjornson
December 01, 2020 at 11:03 am
Pettine would not use them.
KnockTheSnotOutOfYou
November 30, 2020 at 07:46 pm
If Gute doesn't do anything people complain. Then he makes a move and he gets complaints. LOL!
Rush if he sticks will be a role player against a team determined to pound the ball against the Packers defense. Might be a good pickup! Got to believe if he dropped a little weight it might be beneficial.
We shall see!
stockholder
November 30, 2020 at 08:21 pm
He knew what he had to do from the start. Ignoring a problem that won't go away is why.
Lphill
November 30, 2020 at 09:43 pm
Gute must have realized the Titans are on our schedule.
JohnnyLogan
December 01, 2020 at 07:38 am
Derrick Henry may rush for 500 yards against this team. He'll burst through the line easily enough, run past LBs lost in space, and either carry our small DB's along for the ride or simply swat them away like pesky flies. Honestly, who will tackle him? The fun question is at halftime when he already has 250 yards will Pettine decide to stack the line to try to stop him, or stay in his dime defense, because, of course, in the NFL you have to stop the pass first?
jannesbjornson
December 01, 2020 at 11:09 am
Martin will tackle him, maybe Greene with a helper bee. Yes, we better hope Pettine can scheme a power front vs the Titans from whiskey creek. Winn, Lancaster, Clark and Keke have to see most of the reps.
mrj007
December 01, 2020 at 06:56 pm
Agreed
Since'61
November 30, 2020 at 10:49 pm
I don’t know if Rush will be a good pick up or not but it’s good to see that Gute is trying to help the team and bring in players who might fill a role during our playoff run.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Thanks, Since ‘61
mrj007
December 01, 2020 at 07:00 pm
Replacing Pettine might go a long way to improve D. Maybe Rush can coach? I hope they use his massiveness on offense to convert short yardage...
Thegreatreynoldo
December 01, 2020 at 01:49 am
With Eddie Goldman opting out of 2020 and Chicago playing a 3-4 defense, their release of Rush does give me some pause. GB certainly ran up the middle a lot, so one might have thought Rush could stick with the Bears for a year. But he didn't.
Still, 350 lbs guys don't grow on trees. [Gravity, I guess, would be a problem.] Let's see what he has.
RCPackerFan
December 01, 2020 at 07:11 am
Lets not forget the Bears traded up one spot to draft Trubisky. We won't even mention athat Watson and Mahomes were on the board too. They then traded away a ton of draft picks for Khalil Mack. While he is a great player, they clearly misjudged the talent level on their team.
Another thing to note. Last year Mike Pennel was picked up in October by the Chiefs. He found a home there and fit in well. He was another big DL who had been on several rosters and was available.
Sometimes getting the right fit makes the biggest difference for a player. Perhaps that will be with Rush.
jannesbjornson
December 01, 2020 at 11:15 am
He was in Packertown, but left w/out a deal. He signed with KC the next day and was instrumental in solidifying their front during the stretch run. Spags wants a four man front. They had their chance to bags him and subsequently were destroyed by the 49rs run game fronting Clark and a cast of backups.
mrj007
December 01, 2020 at 07:07 pm
AND the Bears signed Jimmy Graham and like 8 additional TEs.... perhaps even less credit should be given to any decision made by the Bears.
Fabio
December 01, 2020 at 05:27 am
Adding this player could be good and could make Clark perform better. But, as I said in another article, on Sunday I asked myself some questions after watching TB vs KC and in particular SF vs LA. How does Saleh get D to play damn well despite many players being injured? Does SF have that much talent in D? I do not believe. Now I think of the Packers' D and I seem to see so little aggression and so many hesitations and mistakes in tackles (it's my thought and maybe I'm wrong, but how do opponents WR always have so much time after the catch?). Maybe we will be without talent, but doubts arise. Greetings from Italy.
If someone comments (even in a negative way) I am very pleased because it helps me to understand and learn more about the facets of this wonderful sport. Come on Packers
Mvlc1
December 01, 2020 at 08:20 am
Hi Fabio, welcome to the Best franchise in the league! First things first, we say, "GO PACK GO" not "Come on Packers"..... :)
Mvlc1
December 01, 2020 at 08:20 am
Hi Fabio, welcome to the Best franchise in the league! First things first, we say, "GO PACK GO" not "Come on Packers"..... :)
Fabio
December 01, 2020 at 09:17 am
Excuse me all .... GO PACK GO!!!!!!
SpikeHyzer
December 01, 2020 at 11:24 am
To be fair, we all say Come On Packers when they or the front office do something ridiculously bone headed.
SpikeHyzer
December 01, 2020 at 11:48 am
That's a load of beef!
mrj007
December 01, 2020 at 07:12 pm
6-4 and 362#!?!? This guy is bigger than my family! Let’s hope he can tackle Derrick Henry.....
greengold
December 02, 2020 at 04:53 am
Howard Green vibes. I dig that immensely. Long overdue addition at NT, and I wish Rush all the best.
Pettine better damn well use him. A lot. It’s not like he’s got something amazingly effective that he can’t disrupt with Lowry/Lancaster. Imagine a player like this, with an inordinately high number of reps actually developing over and above expectations, and becoming a key member of the Packers D...
It’s only possible if Pettine gives him the reps.
KnockTheSnotOutOfYou
December 02, 2020 at 10:19 am
A good nickname just might be 'Mount Rushmore' since he is just about as big! :)
mnbadger
December 05, 2020 at 08:48 am
Nice, but how about Mt Rush-LESS! GPG