The Packers have had eye for OL talent over the years
The Packers have struck gold along the offensive line under the late Ted Thompson and current GM Brian Gutekunst.
By rex.sheild
For whatever the reasons might be, some organizations have a propensity for finding and developing talent at certain positions. For instance, the Pittsburgh Steelers have developed an innate ability to find and development wide receivers for the last two-plus decades, from Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes to Antonio Brown, Diontae Johnson, and now George Pickens, and everyone in between.
Similarly, the Green Bay Packers have possessed an eye for talent along the offensive line under the late Ted Thompson and current general manager Brian Gutekunst. Guys like Bryan Bulaga, T.J. Lang, Josh Sitton, Daryn Colledge, Corey Linsley, JC Tretter, David Bakhtiari, and Elgton Jenkins, among others, were all drafted either by Thompson or Gutekunst. And more often times than not, the aforementioned players were found in the later rounds, the epitome of value.
Were there some misses? Absolutely; there always are. (Drafting center Josh Myers in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft instead of All-Pro center Creed Humphrey would classify as a big ole swing and miss as of this writing.)
Regardless, in terms of roster building, one of Thompson’s fundamental principles was draft and develop and that was apparent with offensive linemen. During his tenure, from 2005 to 2017, he only signed four offensive linemen. Other than the signing of Jeff Saturday to replace Scott Wells in 2012 as the team’s starting center, the signings were those of replacement-level depth pieces. Gutekunst has been a bit more aggressive in free agency with regards to offensive linemen, signing Rick Wagner and Billy Turner as starters for example. However, the offensive linemen that saw the field last season were all home grown and the same is expected for the 2023 season. Not to mention, none of them were first-round selections.
While Gutekunst has drafted a defensive player with every single first-round pick he has owned since he took over in 2018, except for 2020 when he drafted quarterback Jordan Love, the organization has taken many bites of the apple in terms of acquiring offensive linemen. Gutekunst drafted one offensive linemen each in 2018 (Cole Madison) and 2019 (Elgton Jenkins), but ramped up in the following three drafts by drafting three offensive linemen each year. Of those 11, only three are no longer on the roster. That is a pretty good hit rate.
All of that has culminated in strong offensive line the last two seasons.
In 2021, the team’s Pass Block Win Rate and Run Block Win Rate were fifth and fourth in the NFL, respectively. Center Lucas Patrick, a homegrown player, registered the third-best Run Block Win Rate among centers, and tackles Yosh Nijman and Elgton Jenkins, two more homegrown players, were both in the top-10 among tackles in Run Block Win Rate.
In 2022, the Packers ranked fifth in Pass Block Win Rate and eighth in Run Block Win Rate. Most impressively, Nijman finished first in Run Block Win Rate among tackles; Bakhtiari finished second in Pass Block Win Rate among tackles; and Jenkins was eighth in Run Block Win Rate among guards.
In 2023, assuming full health, far from a given, it is possible Nijman does not even start, with Zach Tom assuming starting duties at right tackle instead, which shows the depth of the unit.
Here is my best data-driven guess at how good each team's offensive line might be expected to be in pass protection given its 5 projected starters pic.twitter.com/qaKAfD9Q3k
— Computer Cowboy (@benbbaldwin) July 26, 2023
Strong, consistent play by the offensive line can go a long way toward making a first-year starter – at the most important position in sports – comfortable and confident in the pocket. The Packers sure hope that’s the case this season.
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Rex is a lifelong Packers fan but was sick of the cold, so he moved to the heart of Cowboys country. Follow him on Twitter (@Sheild92) and Instagram (@rex.sheild).
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Comments (24)
CheesedDeadHead
August 11, 2023 at 12:13 pm
"In 2022, the Packers ranked fifth in Pass Block Win Rate and eighth in Run Block Win Rate. Most impressively, Nijman finished first in Run Block Win Rate among tackles; Bakhtiari finished second in Pass Block Win Rate among tackles; and Jenkins was eighth in Run Block Win Rate among guards. "
It would be great to see a breakdown for inside the 10 yard line as it seemed that the OL was just a mess trying to punch in a score as reflected by the poor red zone success rate.
mnbadger
August 11, 2023 at 12:15 pm
Thank you Rex, appreciate the OL review, both historical and current.
One of the reasons I think TT and Gutey have had very good success, if they need a particular position, they take multiple swings during a that draft. Drafts are 50/50 at best so picking two should yield one good one.
They've also tried to pick large bodied, smart athletes, regardless of position. The pro game is similar but different than college, so they retrain them anyway.
Let's hope last year's draft has some currently unproven diamonds still in the hiding. I think it does.
GPG!
SicSemperTyrannis
August 11, 2023 at 12:40 pm
I think we have tons of depth in the trenches. I'm hoping there's honest competition, and the evaluation part of the process I'm very curious to see.
The only way I can make sense out of Nijman not starting is if they think he's better at LT, know Bakh will need to be relieved during the regular season, and can trade him for a King's ransom if Nijman is a roughly equal substitute.
ImaPayne
August 11, 2023 at 01:05 pm
Over the years the packers have not had an eye for talent. Just this draft Gutt, knowing he needed top nothch TE's passed on the three best in round one and picked someone who is iffy by analyst standings. Gutt picked two first round GA players last year and one did okay, not startling, not pro bowl dynamic and the other one who I think was too dumb. He finally got on the field towards the end, not much of a help as a one pick.
This team has done nothing to shore up the pass d. Dont know why a team would waste their time running when the pass is pouris with guys who are either too slow, too short, not agile, poor picking up on the play and all of them piss poor tacklers. Ya Gutt is good at picking this kind of player but the commonaliy, they came cheap.
IMO this is an average team that can be beat via the pass game and the offense is suspect until our guys can catch and hold on to footballs and run the right routes. Another big problem.
Rodgers has saved Gutts life and this year he has no savior and we will see what we see.
ReaganRulz
August 11, 2023 at 04:43 pm
You definitely have a FUBAR and/or SNAFU attitude. Maybe reading the article first and responding to the actual topic would get you a little more ahead in life!!
dobber
August 11, 2023 at 05:53 pm
Shit...there goes another 10 IQ points.
THESZOTMAN1
August 11, 2023 at 01:12 pm
On paper, OL is solid, but lacks depth.
Bakh, Jenk, JR Jr, Tom, and Yosh (swing tackle) are capable of cementing top 10 (5?) OL------IF healthy.
Rhyan a little iffy, but could contribute, starter or 6th man.
Myers iffy, too -he's good or he's bad; depending on play/game. Starting center again??? EARN it or sit.
Jones, Walker = projects-who knows?
Tenuta-can he play?
Hanson & Newman - time to cut losses. won't make 53.
OL's #1 job--- run block so that JL never has to throw 30 times. Instead, the AJ's need 30 carries. No more passes every 1st down. No passes on 3rd and short. No passes on 4th. Run the $#@! Ball. Make D commit heavy to stop run, then we turn JL loose. And hope for the best.
That's my take.
The Szotman
ReaganRulz
August 11, 2023 at 04:49 pm
I don’t know. If you look around the league and see the OL depth of many teams, you may change your tune. I’m not saying that we are spectacular in depth, but we have many players that are serviceable in case of emergencies.
mnbadger
August 11, 2023 at 05:24 pm
great take
GPG!
dobber
August 11, 2023 at 05:55 pm
There are a lot of teams out there STARTING guys like Royce Newman. As a 7th or 8th OL, he's pretty decent.
Since'75
August 13, 2023 at 06:02 pm
That might be true, but if your starting guys like Newman, you are most likely a 'filler' team.
What's a filler team?
Think 'Detroit' the last 3 or 4 decades.
Nascar has 'filler' drivers. Guys that consistently finish in the back.
Same with golf.
Fillers.
WestCoastPackerBacker
August 11, 2023 at 01:20 pm
Overall agree with the point you have made, but I do beg to differ a bit on Darryn Colledge. I seem to remember him being somewhat the weak link on the offensive line, and I don't think they even tried to keep him after his rookie contract was up.
I think what TT mainly did was draft college offensive tackles and then transition them to guard instead of drafting college guards. There sure has been some great ones throughout the Rodgers era, and we hope that can continue for Love. It seemed like we had so many quality centers for years in a row that we regularly got compensatory picks for guys we let go in free agency. Hoping Myers steps it up this season and plays at a higher level than we've seen.
Since'75
August 11, 2023 at 01:47 pm
Yes Sir......
Tretter, Linsley, Bakhtiari, Lang, Sitton, all 4th or 5th round picks by Thompson,.
That's seriously impressive.
Wolf had Scott Wells, 7th round and Mark Tauscher 7th round.
All of those players were All Pro, and/or Pro Bowl players. except for Tauscher, but he should have been, he was a solid starting tackle for a decade, opposite Chad Clifton, another Pro Bowler.
dobber
August 11, 2023 at 06:03 pm
" I do beg to differ a bit on Darryn Colledge. I seem to remember him being somewhat the weak link on the offensive line,"
He was good enough to win a SB with...
Since'75
August 11, 2023 at 01:30 pm
Just to keep things real.......
"Guys like Bryan Bulaga, T.J. Lang, Josh Sitton, Daryn Colledge, Corey Linsley, JC Tretter, David Bakhtiari, and Elgton Jenkins, among others, were all drafted either by Thompson or Gutekunst."
ONE of those 8 guys were drafted by Gute, 2nd round pick Jenkins. Give Gute all the credit for that, great pick, but that's it.
Coldworld
August 11, 2023 at 05:06 pm
Looks like Zach Tom may be the next. But I suppose your drills needs more banging.
dobber
August 11, 2023 at 05:59 pm
There's only one guy in this regularly ranked near the top of the league OL room who predates BG.
Only three OL picks in the BG era made on day 1 or 2 of the draft.
stockholder
August 11, 2023 at 01:35 pm
Gold???????
Then Bahk could be dumped like Sitton.
And before he turns into Buluga.
How many All-pros are left?
Out with the old and in with the new.
From The book of Gutey?
Coldworld
August 11, 2023 at 05:07 pm
Sitton dumped himself. Rightly so unfortunately.
Jaqu’eau
August 11, 2023 at 02:05 pm
That’s a cool graphic. is the data set based on prior performance of each player? Are these your own ratings? Would be interesting to see this broken down by pass and run.
Handsback
August 11, 2023 at 02:09 pm
There is no doubt that the offensive line is the strength of the Packers. Now if the defensive front can perform the same ...it would be golden.
Just MHO
TheKanataThrilla
August 11, 2023 at 03:27 pm
Drafting OL is not sexy for the majority of the fans, but when you get it right the victories come. The 90's Cowboys owe much of their Super Bowl wins to having one of the greatest, if not the greatest OL of all time. Not to take away from their other talented players, but the OL creating holes for Emmitt or giving Aikman time to pass was instrumental in their wins.
mnbadger
August 11, 2023 at 05:28 pm
Aikman and esmith are both in the hof and infinitely wealthy (or at least should be) and I've always thought they're jags any place else.
GPG!
Leatherhead
August 11, 2023 at 07:24 pm
You can go back to JIm Ringo, or be a little more contemporary if you wish, but we've had a long line of very good players at Center, including guys like McCarren, Bagodonuts, Flanagan, Wells, Lynsley...etc. It's an organizational characteristic.