Green Bay Packers’ Offensive Line is one of the Best in the NFL

As this Green Bay Packers’ offense continues to find their groove, the unsung hero through the first seven weeks has been the offensive line.

Amongst the bevy of issues that plagued this Green Bay Packers team in 2018 was the inconsistent play of the offensive line, particularly at each guard position. Byron Bell and Justin McCray – who are no longer with the team – were a revolving door at right guard, while Lane Taylor fought injuries and had one of his worst seasons as a pro.

In total, Aaron Rodgers was sacked 49 times last season and although not all of that falls on the offensive line as he did have a tendency to hang on to the ball for too long, changes needed to be made.

While the big free-agent additions of Adrian Amos, Za’Darius Smith, and Preston Smith, along with rookie Darnell Savage grab a lot of the attention – and rightfully so – we can’t forget about Billy Turner or Elgton Jenkins either. Even with all of the changes that have taken place in Green Bay this past offseason, as always, the name of the game is keeping Rodgers upright.

Well, through seven weeks this season that is exactly what the Green Bay Packers’ offensive line has done as the offense is finding their groove while David Bakhtiari, Jenkins, Corey Linsley, Turner, and Bryan Bulaga have been one of the best offensive line units in the NFL.

There are a few ways to measure the offensive line’s success as pass-blockers. First, we could simply look at the total sacks given up this season which is 12 and ranks as the eighth fewest in football. For a little perspective, through seven weeks in 2018, Rodgers had already been sacked 21 times.

Another measurement takes a look at how long Rodgers has to throw the ball. According to NextGen Stats, Rodgers on average holds on to the ball for 2.93 seconds before throwing. That is the second-longest time in the NFL. Rodgers’ time to throw coupled with being sacked only 12 times this year shows that he has a fairly clean pocket to operate in on most passing plays.

These next two metrics take a bit more of a deep dive into the film and numbers. Most are familiar with Pro Football Focus’ grading scale who has given the Green Bay Packers’ offensive line unit a pass-blocking grade of 78.8 so far which is the third-highest in the league.

But perhaps what may not be as well-known is ESPN’s Pass-Blocking Win Rate metric. It measures the rate at which an offensive lineman can sustain their block for 2.5 seconds for longer. As a group, the Packers rank first in the NFL, holding 68% of their blocks for 2.5 seconds or longer. Individually, Jenkins and Linsley rank first amongst the guards and centers respectively, while Bakhtiari is second amongst tackles.

Not to mention that the Packers offensive line has been this impressive against some of the best pass-rushers in the league today. Khalil Mack, Von Miller, Bradley Chubb, Trey Flowers, Everson Griffen, Danielle Hunter are just a few of the names that they’ve had to go up against this season.

Regardless of how you choose to measure offensive line performance, this Green Bay Packers unit comes out as one of the best in the league. And their play has been a big contributor to the success of this offense that is top 10 in the league in both passing yards per game, points per game, as well as the resurgence of Aaron Rodgers.

Rodgers has gone out of his way a number of times to praise the work upfront from the big fellas and as the entire offense continues to get more comfortable in the Matt LaFleur system, they are only going to get better. And this offensive line is a big reason why.