Center Competition: LaFleur Seeks Consistency
When Josh Myers showed up to his first rookie camp, it was like he never left college.
Myers left Ohio State as the starting center and jumped right into the starting lineup in Green Bay.
When that happened, Myers became only the second rookie to start on the first day of practice under Matt LaFleur, joining safety Darnell Savage.
Myers started six games that year, battling through knee and finger injuries that kept him out of the lineup.
He started all 17 last year, going through an up-and-down season.
Myers had taken all of the reps with the first team through the offseason program.
Then Wednesday hit, and Myers was standing with the second group as Zach Tom was snapping the ball to Jordan Love.
Tom has been a do-it-all player for the Packers since coming to Green Bay.
"Last year they had me playing everything. I think this year just being able to focus on right tackle, makes a pretty big difference because the footwork is consistent. It’s helping me out a little" Tom said.
He's right. He did do everything last year. He played every position except for center.
That is the position Brian Gutekunst said he thought was Tom's best position when they drafted him.
Tom has been competing for the right tackle job this offseason with Yosh Njiman, but he took to a new position on Tuesday with Njiman starting at right tackle.
Matt LaFleur always says the team is trying to get their best five players on the field. It's hard to imagine at this point they don't view Tom as one of their best five.
He's likely to start in 2023, it's just a matter of where the coaches view the bigger dropoff.
Is Tom better than Njiman at right tackle? Maybe, but are they better with Njiman at right tackle and Tom at center?
Those are the questions that need to be answered.
Myers is not out of the running either. The team clearly valued him when they used a second-round draft choice on him.
He's started every game that he's been healthy enough to do so despite the team having other options each of the last two years. For Myers, it's about consistency.
"Just a level of play that is consistent and up to a standard that we have for that position. Certainly, I think that's a key part. They're the guy talking to the other five, getting everybody on the same page.," LaFleur said before Thursday's practice.
James Empey works against Josh Myers. (Photo by Tork Mason/USA Today Sports Images)
"Josh has done a really good job, but we need more consistency and got complete confidence that he's fully capable of doing that and we've seen that from him. But it's just like every other position that we have. We need to pull out the best of everybody and so when you have capable people it naturally creates some level of competition and ultimately that makes us a better football team when we have guys pushing to compete for starting jobs."
Consistency is the name of the game in the NFL. The best players are the ones coaches feel they can count on each week.
LaFleur pointed out before practice that TJ Slaton, Jonathan Ford, and Kenny Clark have all been tough to block throughout camp, but the Packers will face tough defensive linemen during the season.
They'll need to block those guys if the offense is going to have any chance of success.
That's one place where whoever starts at center, will need to grow, but it's where Myers has struggled early in camp.
"They’ve been tough to block up front to be honest with you. You can’t discount that," LaFleur said.
"But at the same time, it’s tough to get anything going when you got guys running through A-gaps or whatever it may be. More consistent play. Obviously, it’s not like that all the time but you can’t have that."
With a new quarterback, the Packers need to protect him for success to follow. Consistency is the name of the game. Whoever keeps the quarterback clean will have the best chance to win the job.
"You can’t have people in the quarterback’s face. You gotta make sure we’re able to read shades and whatnot, whatever run scheme we’re deploying. I just think it’s overall more consistent play." LaFleur said.
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