Elgton Jenkins (74) and David Bakhtiari (Photo by Dan Powers/USA Today Sports Images)
Packers Training Camp Preview: Offensive Line
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers have a first-year starting quarterback and a bunch of receivers who were just sprung from daycare.
What they do have as they transition to Jordan Love is a veteran offensive line. David Bakhtiari and Elgton Jenkins are decorated veterans. Josh Myers is a former second-round pick. Jon Runyan is an underappreciated veteran. Whoever emerges at right tackle between Yosh Nijman and Zach Tom should be an asset. The entire group is back from last year.
“It’s great,” Bakhtiari said. “You’ve got a bunch of guys, not too many new faces, so we can really get going with a little more complex stuff and start establishing ourselves early.”
Let’s take a closer look as we preview the offensive line in advance of Packers training camp.
Projected Opening Depth Chart
Here’s a simplified version based on how they lined up during offseason practices. This does not reflect the multitasking ways of many of the blockers. Zach Tom, for instance, would be the next man up at center in a game.
Left tackle: David Bakhtiari, Caleb Jones, Rasheed Walker
Left guard: Elgton Jenkins, Royce Newman, Sean Rhyan
Center: Josh Myers, Jake Hanson, D.J. Scaife
Right guard: Jon Runyan, Chuck Filiaga, Jean Delance
Right tackle: Yosh Nijman, Zach Tom, Luke Tenuta, Kadeem Telfort
Related Story: Projecting 2023 Training Camp Depth Charts
Position Group Ranking (out of 11)
Third.
Strength
The left side of the offensive line, consisting of David Bakhtiari and Elgton Jenkins, is as good as it gets.
While Bakhtiari might never return to his top-two status, it appears he’s moved beyond the knee injury that sidelined him for the end of the 2020 season, most of 2021 and the start of 2022. In 11 starts last year, Bakhtiari didn’t give up any sacks. If Bakhtiari and the Packers were worried about the knee, would he have taken first-team reps during the offseason practices?
Jenkins had the double-challenge last year of coming back from a torn ACL while playing a new position. Even for an elite player, that was just too much. When he returned to left guard, where he earned Pro Bowl honors in 2020, it was business as usual. According to PFF, he allowed two sacks and 12 pressures in five games at right tackle and one sack and five pressures in 10 games at left guard. Furthermore, he allowed just one pressure the final seven games.
Weakness
Center Josh Myers is the weakest link but perhaps not a weakness. The Packers had the pick of the entire center class when they took Myers in the second round in 2021. With the next pick, the Kansas City Chiefs selected Creed Humphrey. It might not be the same as taking Kevin King instead of T.J. Watt but it’s still a bad result through two seasons.
Myers, the coaches said, would have to fight to keep his job in the starting unit – though no competition materialized during the offseason practices. Humphrey, meanwhile, was second-team All-Pro last year.
“I thought it was a strong year,” Myers said during minicamp. “There was a lot of improvement, a lot of things that I’ve been working on. I think at this point, it’s mostly just like tweaks, subtle things in my game that I’ve been working on and trying to fix. It was a solid year. Just want to be better.”
Key Questions
1. For years, Aaron Rodgers had total command over the offense, including changing protections to account for whatever the defense was presenting. That duty usually falls on the center. So, how will Josh Myers fare as the quarterback of the offensive line?
2. How will the offensive line adapt to the more athletic Jordan Love at quarterback? During Rodgers’ prime years, offensive linemen benefitted from his scramble ability but challenged by a somewhat helter-skelter style. With Love stepping in, quarterback mobility will become a thing again.
“We have a little motto in the O-line room: We block to infinity,” offensive line coach Luke Butkus said at the start of OTAs. “If it’s No. 10 back there, No. 12, No. 8 [Sean Clifford], it doesn’t matter. We’re going to still block to infinity. That’s our job to protect that quarterback.”
3. Is David Bakhtiari’s knee problems officially a thing of the past? If so, what an amazing benefit for Love to drop back in the pocket and feel good about his blind side being protected at an elite level.
“I really like how I’m feeling,” Bakhtiari said during OTAs. “Comparatively, I have finally not had a surgery for the first time in the last two or three offseasons. I had four surgeries in 20 months. That sucked, so finally to have a breath of fresh air, I get to have an offseason to train, to get away, to finally relax and not freak out my body. Being a dad has been amazing and mind, spiritually, mentally, physically. I just feel very light, and that’s been very pleasing and I’m enjoying that and hopefully I can reap benefits from that.”
4. Where’s Zach Tom? As a rookie fourth-round pick, Tom played 295 snaps at left tackle, 96 snaps at left guard, 84 snaps at right tackle and 14 at right guard, according to Pro Football Focus. Center, where he started as a sophomore at Wake Forest, was the only position he didn’t play in a game.
Tom spent part of the offseason as the No. 1 right tackle. Will he beat out Yosh Nijman for that job? Will he get a chance to battle Myers at center? Or will he once again be the ultimate utilityman – a key role as it would help the team avoid playing musical chairs to get the best five blockers on the field following an injury?
5. Is Sean Rhyan the next third-round flop? A third-round pick last year, Rhyan was buried on the depth chart. While fellow rookie Tom thrived, Rhyan never made a push for playing time. He played one snap on special teams before serving a six-game suspension for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs to end the year. A left tackle at UCLA and a guard as a rookie, he spent part of the spring working at center.
Biggest Battle
Zach Tom (Photo by Mark Hoffman/USA Today Sports Images)
Zach Tom vs. Yosh Nijman at right tackle. Based on the five offseason practices that were open to reporters, right tackle is the only position that will be up for grabs on the line during training camp.
With Bakhtiari struggling through his comeback, Nijman delivered a lot of high-quality snaps at left tackle in 2021 and 2022. The midseason move to right tackle was a challenge. Along with a late-season shoulder injury, he was benched in favor of Tom for about 90 snaps during the final two games.
“Guys pushing to get better,” Butkus said. “That’s how you get better, right? Good vs. good. Those guys are pushing themselves. Before Game 1, we’ll figure it out.”
Star Search
David Bakhtiari remains a high-quality starter at a critical position. Imagine being so good that you need only minimal practice time – or perhaps no practice time at all – and can deliver winning performances. That was Bakhtiari last year. According to PFF, 81 offensive tackles played at least 300 pass-protecting snaps. He was one of only three to not allow a sack.
Perhaps Bakhtiari is ready to hit that second prime of his career.
“It could be one day. It could be five years. I have no idea,” Bakhtiari said of his career outlook. “I was telling myself, ‘Football’s too easy. They’ve got to give me a challenge.’ And then I blew out my knee. ‘I don’t need this much of a challenge.’ There was a point where I was like, ‘This is easy.’ Now I’m like, ‘Wow, this is really tough.’ I appreciate that. It’d be nice to get back on a new normal for me, do what I enjoy doing, being out there, playing and giving guys opportunities to make plays. It’s fun. It is fun.”
Don’t Forget About
Yosh Nijman. Nijman entered the league as an undrafted free agent in 2019. From the day he first stepped on the practice field to the final four snaps of the Week 6 loss to the Jets, almost all his reps on the practice field and every snap on the playing field was taken at left tackle.
Then, with Bakhtiari ready for full-time duty, the coaches made a bold change on the offensive line that included Nijman shifting to right tackle. Not surprisingly, it was a bumpy road. As Josh Sitton famously said, going from the left side of the line to the right side of the line is like wiping your butt with your other hand. All those years of muscle memory playing left tackle were thrown out the window.
Nijman started the final 11 games at right tackle last year and will enter training camp having had the full offseason at that spot. He should be a better player through those experiences.
“It’s a competition, so he’s going to have to play both [tackle spots],” Butkus said. “He’s going to have to be ready to go. Did he have a tough job last year? Yes. So did Elgton, so did Dave. Everybody did. We welcome that challenge in that room. Is he going to get more reps at the right side this spring? Absolutely. I’m excited for him because he’ll get better.”
Green Bay Packers Training Camp Previews
Position preview: Luke Musgrave, Tucker Kraft and the tight ends
Position preview: Christian Watson and the receivers
Position preview: Aaron Jones and the running backs
Position preview: Jordan Love and the quarterbacks
Big question at inside linebacker
Big question at outside linebacker
Big question at defensive line
