There’s little question that Green Bay was feeling good about the offensive line going into the 2017 season. David Bakhtiari was (and is) one of the best left tackles in football, Bryan Bulaga was coming off one of his best seasons in 2016, Lane Taylor was coming off an impressive debut performance as a starter, Corey Linsley was coming into his prime as the leader on the interior of the line, and Jahri Evans was a nice veteran presence to solidify everything at right guard.

In addition, Green Bay had Jason Spriggs and Kyle Murphy coming into their sophomore seasons and were hoping for a sizable second year leap from both players. Green Bay did lose both TJ Lang and J.C. Tretter from 2015, but overall they had to feel confident that this was going to be a high performing line that would be able to open holes in the run game and provide extended protection for their MVP quarterback.

Unfortunately, things never really went according to plan. In fact, as it would end up, there was a total of about a quarter and a half in which Aaron Rodgers was able to play with his expected starting offensive line. David Bakhtiari started the season banged up, Bryan Bulaga ended the season with a torn ACL and there were a plethora of other injuries throughout the season, including obviously to Aaron Rodgers.

The position that ultimately ended up suffering the most, and performing the worst, was right tackle. Even when Bryan Bulaga was healthy he never quite looked himself. In fact Bulaga graded in the negative for me in each of his five appearances last season. Overall the difference between the players who played right tackle and those who didn’t was enormous. The five players who did not play right tackle for Green Bay, (David Bakhtiari, Jahri Evans, Lane Taylor, Corey Linsley, and Lucas Patrick) ended up with a combined grade of +46.20 for me. The five players who spent any time at right tackle, (Kyle Murphy, Justin McCray, Jason Spriggs, Ulrick John, and Bryan Bulaga), ended with a total score of -37.80 combined. Obviously there was a huge difference.

So where does that leave Green Bay at right tackle this coming season? Let’s take a look at the tape to find out.

Bryan Bulaga

Bryan Bulaga is unquestionably the player that Green Bay is hoping can man the right tackle spot as soon as he’s ready. The million dollar question is, how quickly can he be ready? Bulaga is of course coming back from that torn ACL and it’s not out of the question that he could start the season on the PUP list, making him ineligible for the first six games of the season. Whenever Bulaga does come back to play, it’s worth questioning how he will bounce back from both an underwhelming performance in 2017 and of course the torn ACL. Bulaga has already had struggles in the past with quicker edge rushers and a recovery from a torn ACL isn’t exactly going to make that task any easier.

When Bulaga is at his best he wins with really solid technique, great hand placement/power, and incredibly consistency. Bulaga rarely beats himself. He’s sound fundamentally and he is going to make the opposing edge rusher earn everything he gets. When he does get beat he gets beat with speed off the edge, or with a quick counter inside. I have zero concerns with Bulaga when he’s healthy and playing his game but his last really impressive performance will be almost two years prior to when he steps on the field again. It’s cause for concern and something to keep an eye on in 2018.

It goes without saying that there were high hopes for Jason Spriggs coming out of college. A super-athletic offensive tackle out of Indiana, Spriggs had all the talent in the world and every desirable trait to become an elite right or left tackle. With Spriggs, the issues in college seemed to be more mental. It was a lapse here or a missed assignment there that lead to him not being a first round pick, but the belief was that he would eventually take over as the heir apparent for Bryan Bulaga at the right tackle spot in Green Bay.

Unfortunately for Green Bay and for Spriggs, the struggles he’s had in college have become even more exaggerated at the NFL level and Spriggs has never been able to find any consistency as a tackle in the league. There have been flashes here and there but at a position as crucial as offensive tackle, you cannot be inconsistent.

Spriggs was my lowest graded player per play last year, being almost two times as bad as any player on the roster besides Montravius Adams. His play, at times, was nothing short of brutal. I had high hopes for Spriggs coming out of college but if he doesn’t show improvement going into his third year there shouldn’t be a spot on the roster for Spriggs and it should be time for Green Bay to move on. Keeping a player on the roster simply because he was a high pick does nobody any favors. For Spriggs it’s time to sink or swim and while I’ll be hoping he succeeds, I haven’t seen anything in his play in the past two years that would indicate he’s ever going to be a reliable player in the NFL.

4th & 1 and this is all sorts of ugly.

Where are you going Jason Spriggs?! pic.twitter.com/wkrxgVev9r

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) November 23, 2017

A nice pass set from Spriggs with a strong anchor. pic.twitter.com/gbXZADpmVs

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) December 13, 2017

A great example here, Spriggs has a really poor set but Hundley gets the ball out almost immediately. Cc: @JackFuller12 pic.twitter.com/MA0n1ITaGh

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) December 12, 2017

This is much better from Jason Spriggs. He’s able to wash one of the better interior defensive linemen in football (Tuitt) completely down the line and help open the hole for Williams. pic.twitter.com/ySSBDKwFSr

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) November 29, 2017

Good thing we traded up for this very athletic tackle RT Jason Spriggs pic.twitter.com/o0z5F6NynO

— ☞ 68-30 (@PackerFaithful) December 4, 2017

Good to have you back Jason Spriggs pic.twitter.com/h5SNVhpQSC

— Jon Ledyard (@LedyardNFLDraft) November 20, 2017

#Packers rookie Jason Spriggs played 31 snaps in 2nd half at RG.. Good look at him pulling here in a Gun 1back power scheme... pic.twitter.com/QVsOqIHNsM

— Ben Fennell (@BenFennell_NFL) November 21, 2016

Kyle Murphy

Kyle Murphy was another player who Green Bay had high hopes for coming into his second season. With the injuries at tackle, Murphy found himself starting in the first three games of the season. Murphy started off with a really strong outing against Seattle and held up ok against Atlanta’s speed rush in the dome. He then met the young edge rushers in Cincinnati and everything fell apart. Murphy ended the day with my lowest grade for any Packer on the season; it was a horrendous performance.

As I watched Murphy at OTAs and went down and broke down the tape, there was still a lot to like. He’s quick on his feet, possesses enough power to hold up at the point of attack, and has very solid fundamentals. For Murphy the key to success is putting everything together and staying healthy. Murphy is another player who is at a bit of a crossroads. If he shows well in training camp and preseason it wouldn’t be a shock to see him as the opening day starter at right tackle. Conversely, if Murphy struggles and/or can’t stay healthy, he could find himself on the way out of Green Bay.

Based on what I’ve seen from Green Bay’s options to start the season, I’d firmly put Murphy as the leader in the clubhouse to start at right tackle assuming Bryan Bulaga is not ready to start the season as expected.

While I don’t mind the signing of Byron Bell as a veteran swing player, his tape is not pretty. Bell reminds me a lot of former Packer Don Barclay. Both players are versatile offensive lineman who can play almost any position across the line and neither will panic if they get thrown into the fire. When you have an active game day roster set at only 46 players, you need players on the offensive line who can come in and execute the game plan at multiple positions across the line. There is value in a player like that.

That said, Bell has not played well. And to go a step further, you could really argue he’s simply not a good enough football player at this point in his career to warrant a real roster spot and certainly an opportunity to start for Green Bay. He was a league average player at guard for Tennessee in 2015, but he just hasn’t shown the consistency at the NFL level to be trusted on a regular basis. Of every single offensive lineman who played at least one snap a season ago, Byron Bell rated as the 4^th worst offensive lineman per Pro Football Focus, one spot better than… you guessed it, Don Barclay.

byron bell gave me suicidal thoughts weekly https://t.co/ohXGpAFSst

— Steph (@stephxghost) November 13, 2017

Byron Bell at guard. pic.twitter.com/brmRSZT9Tr

— Aaron Nagler (@AaronNagler) March 23, 2017

Justin McCray

I realize that you could make a strong argument that Justin McCray shouldn’t be on this list. The predominant reason for this is that he seems to be the leader in the clubhouse to start at right guard at the moment. But should Green Bay not find what they are looking for in their other tackle options, MrCray remains at least in the conversation to start at right tackle. It’s not inconceivable that Lucas Patrick and Justin McCray could be the fourth and fifth best offensive lineman on the roster (while Bulaga’s out) and therefore Green Bay could be tempted to start Patrick at right guard and McCray at right tackle.

The issue here is that McCray was really, really bad at right tackle a season ago. I give McCray so much credit for a variety of reasons. First and foremost he worked his tail off. He grinded the entire season and never gave up. He wasn’t even supposed to break camp on the roster and here he ended up playing every position across the line besides center. He was never really fit for a starting tackle role and yet he continued to grow into the position and played better as the season went along.

McCray deserves credit for progressing and never quitting, but he ultimately still ended up my lowest overall graded Packer for the season. McCray has some ability and I think he could fit in well at right guard this year, but I have a lot of trepidation about a right side of the line that includes McCray at right guard and any of the other options at right tackle. I look forward to watching McCray continue to grow but the hope here is that he grows into a solid right guard and doesn’t need to switch out to an unnatural tackle position.

A fantastic pulling block by #64 Justin McCray sets this one up, but Jones shows the patience to allow the block to develop, confidence to hit the hole and burst to leave everyone in his dust. #packers pic.twitter.com/JrwBQAe7Z7

— Tim Backes (@timbackes) March 29, 2018

We've all seen Cobb's route/pass concept on the TD.. but didn't notice RT Justin McCray looking for work & cleaning up the 3tech.. Love it! pic.twitter.com/YJqQoFL2px

— Ben Fennell (@BenFennell_NFL) October 1, 2017

Brett Hundleys 1st career 4th Quarter TD was impressive... but make sure you kudos to those big ugliest up front - esp RT Justin McCray... #Packers

Back to the narrations!  pic.twitter.com/OK9ebXjOxn

— Ben Fennell (@BenFennell_NFL) November 14, 2017

Cole Madison

As you probably know, Cole Madison was a starting right tackle for Washington State in college. Overall the fit going from Washington State’s offense to Green Bay’s offense is a fairly decent one as both systems are predominantly pass heavy offenses. The issue here is that Madison projects as a guard in the NFL (and is listed as a guard on the Packers roster), and he has a steep learning curve overall going from Washington State’s unique college system to a pro-style offense.

Ideally Madison would stay at guard and learn for a season before being thrown into the fray, but if he shows he can be one of the top pass blockers in the group, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him get a shot at right tackle at some point during the season.

When Adam Pankey was announced as an undrafted free agent I went and watched his tape from college and was about as underwhelmed as you could possibly be. He played left guard for West Virginia and at no point during the season did I ever believe he was an NFL caliber player. I thought his odds of breaking camp were next to none.

As Pankey played in the preseason last year he certainly wasn’t great but you could see signs of progression. He was still slow out of his stance and you could tell he was mentally processing things, but there were more positive signs in the preseason than I had seen in the entirety of the college tape I watched. Eventually Pankey was promoted to the active roster and will now have an opportunity to make the team outright in his second year.

When I was at OTAs and minicamp Pankey was actually getting some work with the first team offense at left tackle and was in before Kyle Murphy or Jason Spriggs were. I wouldn’t put much, if any, stock into minicamp depth charts but it was intriguing to me nonetheless that he was getting those first team snaps. Furthermore he looked good, he had back to back snaps in team drills where he completely stifled Reggie Gilbert. Pankey has a long way to go before earning any a roster spot, much less a starting spot, but he’s improved and has caught my eye a few times this offseason already.

We didn’t get a chance to see much of Adam Pankey at tackle last year, but this was nice work (#77 at LT) picking up two players and giving Taysom Hill the time and space he needed to make the play. pic.twitter.com/OHib7Ne2us

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 13, 2018

Watched Adam Pankey, the Packers udfa guard out of W. Virginia. I came away dissapointed. (LG in tape) pic.twitter.com/8VoP602WFn

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) May 10, 2017

Alex Light

We can probably keep this one rather brief because Alex Light will face incredible odds just to make the roster, much less start at any point this season. I actually really enjoyed Alex Light’s college film but he’s from a small school (Richmond) and probably projects better as a left guard. Green Bay has him listed as a guard/tackle and ideally he will get a year on the practice squad to learn the craft and bulk up in the weight room and then have a better opportunity to make the roster and help the team in 2019.

Packers undrafted free agent thread 7:

Alex Light
6’5” 287 - OL - Sr. - Richmond - #66

Light is ironically a little “light” for the OL at the moment but he has a fantastic frame & plays with a little bit of nasty. I like his upside and think he has a chance to stick on the 53. pic.twitter.com/itBQaX8w2f

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) May 3, 2018

Make sure to tune in Friday’s at 9:50am on WDUZ: http://www.thefan1075.com/