Green Bay Packers: Slow Start for David Bakhtiari by his Standards

The usually phenomenal David Bakhtiari has been off to an uncharacteristically slow start this season for the Green Bay Packers.

It’s no secret, but for the last three seasons Green Bay Packers left tackle, David Bakhtiari has been touted as one of the best tackles in all of football. And I think many would agree that he has been the best tackle in all of football during that span.

Regardless of what injury may be nagging him, if Aaron Rodgers plays, Bakhtiari plays, and that has been his mentality for his entire career. Left tackle is one of the premier positions in football up there with quarterback and edge rusher, which makes Bakhtiari one of the most important players on this team. And although he is still playing at a high-level in 2019, it hasn’t been up to the lofty standards that Bakhtiari has set for himself in past seasons.

For one, we have seen more penalties from Bakhtiari in 2019. In total he has 10, which consists of five holding penalties and four false starts. His 10 penalties also lead the team with the next closest at just six. For some context, between the 2017 and 2018 seasons, Bakhtiari would have just six penalties combined.

As I mentioned above, Bakhtiari is still playing at a high-level, his pass-blocking grade according to Pro Football Focus is the fifth best in the NFL this season and while his run-blocking grade is down as well, it is still in the same ballpark that it has been in. But to get an idea of where he currently is and where he’s been, Bakhtiari’s pass-blocking grade of 84.2 is about 10 points lower than his pass-blocking grade from recent seasons.

If we take a look at the grading system of Andy Herman of The Packer Report – who grades every player on every play for the entire season – Bakhtiari has a positive score and is the third best offensive lineman, behind Corey Linsley and Elgton Jenkins, while also being the sixth best overall offensive player.

So no, this hasn’t been the typical dominant season that we’ve grown accustomed to seeing from Bakhtiari, but he has still been very good.

One potential issue this season could be a lingering injury. If you recall about two months ago before the Minnesota Vikings game, Bakhtiari had shown up on the injury report with a problem in his back. While his status was in question for much of the week, as always, Bakhtiari would play but perhaps this is a contributor to his slower start this season. Along with what ever else may have popped up over the first 10 games.

Hopefully the bye week will provide some help and Bakhtiari is able to return closer to the level that we’ve seen him playing at over the last three seasons. But if anything, this is a good reminder not to take for granted his contributions as he plays an integral role in the success of this Green Bay Packers team.