Packer Central

PFF: Packers Have Worst Offensive Line in NFC North

The Green Bay Packers have a lot of firepower on offense. The play of the offensive line will determine the level of production. 

Bill Huber

Right tackle Zach Tom is one of the Green Bay Packers' best players.
Right tackle Zach Tom is one of the Green Bay Packers' best players. / Tork Mason / USA TODAY NETWORK
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers have a top young quarterback with Jordan Love. They’ve got arguably the best and deepest group of young receivers and the best young tight end tandem in the NFL. With the addition of Josh Jacobs and MarShawn Lloyd, the backfield should be strong.

The straw that will stir the drink will be the offensive line. To state the obvious, if the Packers can protect Love and open holes for Jacobs, the offense will be strong. If not, it will be a struggle.

In Pro Football Focus’ preseason unit rankings, the Packers’ offensive line ranked 14th.

That’s not bad. But it is the worst in the NFC North behind the Detroit Lions (No. 1), Chicago Bears (No. 11) and Minnesota Vikings (No. 13).

The Packers will bring back mostly the same group that was a positive force last season.

Left tackle Rasheed Walker might not be David Bakhtiari but he rarely caused the Packers any major problems, either. According to Pro Football Focus, he allowed one sack and nine total pressures in his final six games, including no sacks in playoff games against Micah Parsons and the Cowboys and Nick Bosa and the 49ers.

Left guard Elgton Jenkins is a former Pro Bowler and a leader of the group. He allowed zero sacks last season.

Center Josh Myers is entering Year 4. Statistically, he backtracked last year. PFF charged him with five sacks and 28 total pressures last year along with six penalties. In about 130 more pass-protecting snaps in 2021 and 2022, he was guilty of three sacks, 16 pressures and three penalties.

“Every day, get better. That’s where Josh excelled last year. He did get better as the year went on,” offensive line coach Luke Butkus said.

Right guard Sean Rhyan essentially split the snaps with veteran Jon Runyan during the final six games of last season. Had the Packers been disappointed in the former third-round pick’s development, they would have put an end to the timeshare for the playoffs rather than continue it. So, there is confidence in moving forward without Runyan.

Right tackle Zach Tom emerged as one of the best in the business last year. Of the nine edge defenders with at least 80 pressures in 2023, six rushed from the defense’s left (or against the right tackle) at least two-thirds of the time. Tom faced them all and gave up one sack in seven total matchups.

In the biggest games of the year, the playoff clashes against the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers, Love was not sacked and the team averaged 4.57 yards per rushing attempt.

Taken further, Love was sacked twice in the final five games (including playoffs). During the final eight regular-season games, the team averaged at least 4.5 yards per rushing attempt in seven.

While the Packers lost Runyan and valuable backup Yosh Nijman in free agency and released Bakhtiari, general manager Brian Gutekunst supplemented the group with Jordan Morgan in the first round, Jacob Monk in the fifth round and Travis Glover in the sixth round. He also gave Butkus a reclamation project in former first-round pick Andre Dillard.

Morgan is right out of Central Casting as an experienced, athletic and versatile blocker. A three-year starting left tackle at Arizona, he lined up everywhere but center during the offseason practices.

“You go back and you watch cut-ups throughout the offseason, your teach tapes, and you see Elgton Jenkins at left tackle one game and right tackle, center. He’s played them all. Zach Tom, as well,” Butkus said.

“We’re going to cross-train. We need depth, so we’re going to cross-train them all. Obviously, Josh Myers is our center but as far as everybody else, we’re going to cross-train them and put the best five out there. It’s competition so it’s making everybody better.”

The Lions are No. 1 in PFF’s rankings, with Penei Sewell the top right tackle, Frank Ragnow the top center and Kevin Zeitler plugged into the lineup at right guard.

Those three also took the spot in Packer Central’s forthcoming All-NFC North Team, which was selected by Sports Illustrated’s team publishers.

That Chicago ranked ahead of the Packers in PFF’s ranking is a surprise. Bears blockers finished last in three of five positions in our All-NFC North Team. 

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Bill Huber

BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packer Central, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.