Packers Morning Buzz: Za'Darius Smith earns 'All-Analytics' distinction

Welcome to your Morning Buzz, rounding up news and views regarding the Green Bay Packers from around the web and here at PackersNews.com.

We'll start with Za'Darius Smith earning a starting berth at edge rusher on Cynthia Frelund's All-Analytics Team at NFL.com.

Frelund analyzes each player's individual contribution metric, a numerical value that adds (or subtracts) each player's impact on his team's ability to win games, for every snap. The goal is "to better understand player value by capturing production in context, such as down and distance, score and time, type of play called and opponent faced."

Frelund writes:

Za'Darius Smith

Green Bay Packers · Seasons: 5

No one had more quarterback pressures in 2019 than Smith's 71, per Next Gen Stats. NGS also shows that he was able to pressure opposing QBs at the second-highest overall rate in the NFL (14.8%) among those with a minimum of 250 pass rushes. Smith lined up on the edge and in the interior, and this versatility boosted his win contribution overall.

You can read the entire story here:

An inside look via Olivia Reiner at what went down in the Packers offensive line virtual meeting on the subject of racism:

The Packers coaches put their priorities in the right place during a turbulent time:

Rashan Gary believes mastering the little things will pay off big, via Jim Owczarski:

The NFL took a bold stand:

... but how will the NFL owners respond?

Former Packers tight end Jimmy Graham shares his personal experience with racial issues:

Jason Wilde of the Wisconsin State Journal writes about what we can expect when the the Packers are finally back on the field:

Rob Reischel of ForbesSports kicks off his annual series on the "30 Most Important Packers" with a look at erratic wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling:

ESPN's Rob Demovsky talks to former Packers defensive tackle Santana Dotson, who attended the same Houston school as George Floyd:

And finally:

Contact Stu Courtney at (920) 431-8377 or scourtney@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @stucourt