Consistency, Repetition Keys as Packers Search for Best Offensive Line

With multiple moving pieces along the Green Bay Packers offensive line, the group is working to gel as a unit during training camp.

Joey Van Zummeren | Jul 30, 2024

Green Bay Packers center Josh Myers (71) is shown during organized team activities Wednesday, May 29, 2024 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. / Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

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Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Creating the best group of five along the offensive line is a task that involves plenty of experimenting during training camp. For the Green Bay Packers, it's a yearly contest that usually includes some surprising competitors.

When its time to trim the roster down to the final 53, the Packers will have plenty of tape to base their decisions off of. Green Bay has rotated multiple pieces in and out of its first- and second-string offensive lines early this training camp.

One player who has found his consistent spot after a few practices has been Jordan Morgan. The Packers’ versatile first-round selection will start out with a focus at right guard. Though he could’ve competed with incumbent starting left tackle Rasheed Walker, the coaching staff doesn’t want Morgan to become overwhelmed by asking him to play multiple positions.

“With young guys, you kind of want to start them at a spot, and you don’t want to move them around as much,” offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said Monday. “Just so they can hone in on the techniques and the assignments and all that stuff. When you look at the big picture, where you think he would compete best this year for a starting role, we looked and thought the right guard position was the spot.”

Lining up next to Morgan at right tackle has been Kadeem Telfort, one of the biggest surprises of training camp thus far. Telfort, who was signed as an undrafted free agent last season, is filling in for Zach Tom as he works his way up to full availability following a torn pectoral.

“He’s been a good surprise and he’s been just a steady guy,” Stenavich said. “He’s not the most athletic. He’s not all that stuff. When you look at the numbers, he’s a big guy. …

"He’s very football intelligent. He’s just one of those guys that I’m excited to just see how he plays and how he keeps developing. We’ll see at the end of camp how it all aligns.”

Outside of the two right-side players, there is continuity for Green Bay’s offensive line. Left guard Elgton Jenkins, center Josh Myers and Tom are all expected to reprise their starting roles from last season.

When it comes to creating the best group of five, this continuity is significant. The group does work as a singular unit, especially on the interior. When picking up assignments and blitzes, communication and trust is needed. A blitzer crashing in can turn two linemen into baseball outfielders with a fly ball in the air — faulty communication or a lack of it in the split seconds could lead to a straight shot to the quarterback.

“That’s part of it, certainly,” coach Matt LaFleur said of the importance of chemistry along the line. “But I think that’s why that time on task together is so important, just building that continuity and the only way you do that is through repetition. So, the faster we can figure that out the better for all of us.”

An important leader in forming this chemistry will be Myers, entering his third season as Green Bay’s starting center.

“As a center, I do most of it,” Myers said of the line’s communication. “With the experience that I've gotten, I'm comfortable, kind of telling guys and talking it out.”

The Packers offensive line will still have to work to gel together with new pieces that will be rotated in the lineup through the course of the season. According to Myers, this process is progressing smoothly.

“It definitely takes some time, for sure. I mean, there's a lot of new guys at a lot of new spots and that I've never played with, they've never played with me and vice versa across the board. So, it'll take a little time to get those finer details down, but I think we're well on our way.”

The competitions along the offensive line for the Packers won’t end once Tom returns to the lineup. Besides Morgan, there are two other rookies, Travis Glover and Jacob Monk, lining up with the second team alongside veterans Andre Dillard and Royce Newman.

Monk, who has been taking center reps, believes an important part of creating trust and chemistry is consistency from each player on and off the field.

“There's no certain time limit on it,” Monk said. “I think the biggest piece is just coming in and being the same person every day. (The) person to your left and to your right, know what they're gonna get.”

Putting together banked reps together will be a key for Green Bay over the next few weeks of practice before roster cutting time. As LaFleur said, the time the offensive line spends working as a collective unit is imperative to its development and performance.

More Green Bay Packers Training Camp News

From the Play of the Day (Eric Stokes' third interception) to the Player of the Day (Romeo Doubs) and everything in between, here is what you missed during a steamy Tuesday at #Packers training camp. ⬇️https://t.co/nPaMrk8POd
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) July 30, 2024

Published Jul 30, 2024

JOEY VAN ZUMMEREN