For Packers, It’s a Tale of Two Tackles
GREEN BAY, Wis. – There are two ways to view the creation of an offensive line.
“The best offensive lines are the lines that play together.” – Mike McCarthy
“It’s our job to find the best five to go out there and give us the best chance to win.” – Matt LaFleur
Heading into the 2023 NFL season, the Green Bay Packers are taking an unusual approach to building their starting offensive line, the five-man unit tasked with playing as one.
That approach is partly by necessity. Former All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari’s career was permanently altered by the knee injury sustained on Dec. 31, 2020. After missing the 2020 playoffs, most of the 2021 season and the start of the 2022 season, the Packers are taking it easy on Bakhtiari during training camp.
At one point, he barely practiced for a week. This week, he didn’t practice on Sunday, Monday or Wednesday before getting most of the first-team action for Day 2 of joint practices against the Patriots on Thursday.
But he’s Bakhtiari, which is why general manager Brian Gutekunst took a flamethrower to any speculation he could be traded before the season. Even with a suspect knee and limited practice time, he’s one of the best blockers in the NFL. Last year, he didn’t give up a sack.
Zach Tom (Photo by Mark Hoffman/USA Today Sports Images)
With Bakhtiari having spent the offseason training for football rather than rehabbing from surgery, expectations are he will return to elite form, which is why the team is comfortable taking the most cautious approach imaginable.
“I think he recognizes where we’re at and why he needs to be out there,” Gutekunst said on Friday, a day before Saturday’s preseason game against the Patriots. “At the same time, I think he knows when it’s really good for him to back off and get ready.
“I think as we get into the season, I think there’s a lot of trust with him of what he needs to do to get ready to play. You know, you'd love for those guys to be out every single day at practice and going through everything. But he’s seen a lot. A lot of the things that we're really needing our offense to see, he’s seen.”
At right tackle, Green Bay’s unique approach is equal parts clear and confounding.
The Packers have an incredible asset in Zach Tom. A fourth-round pick last year, he’s ready, willing and able to play any of the five offensive line positions. What a luxury to have a quality blocker with the ability to fill any injury-related hole at a moment’s notice.
However, Tom is the obvious front-runner to be the starting right tackle. He’s taken the No. 1 reps at just about every training camp practice. However, this week, he spent the second halves of practices on Sunday and Monday at left guard. Early in camp, he split the No. 1 reps at center with Josh Myers. He’s also played a few snaps at left tackle.
Maybe Tom is locked in as the starting right tackle. Maybe he’s competing with Yosh Nijman for that job. Either way, isn’t shuffling Tom around the line doing him a disservice? And isn’t it doing the team a disservice to not have its No. 1 right tackle actually playing right tackle and building cohesion with the rest of the unit?
Rather incredibly, offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich didn’t disagree.
“Anytime you take reps away from a guy in the spot that he could be starting at, you’re always doing that,” Stenavich said. “At the end of the day with Zach, he’s not a guy that needs to have a ton of reps here because he can’t mentally handle it. I think it helps him as a whole as an offensive (lineman), just seeing the big picture of playing different positions. There’s pros and cons to it, for sure.”
Whether the pros outweigh the cons will be determined in about three weeks, when the Packers take their “best five” to Chicago for Week 1 against the Bears.
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