Green Bay Packers: A Look at UDFA Coy Cronk & What he Adds to Offense
By Paul Bretl
When it comes to the Green Bay Packers’ offensive line, we don’t exactly know what the starting configuration will look like come Week 1, but we do know that they have a lot of options to choose from–I believe about half their roster is offensive linemen at the moment.
This will make the path to the final 53-man roster for UDFA Coy Cronk much more difficult. However, while the Packers have a large group of offensive linemen competing for roster spots, the depth around the tackle position still remains a question mark. They, of course, have David Bakhtiari, but he may miss the first few games. Then there is Billy Turner along with Yosh Nijman, who we have no idea where he’s at in his development. The Packers also have Elgton Jenkins as an option, who can kick out if needed.
Green Bay would go on to add Royce Newman and Cole Van Lanen in the draft, but both of those players may be better suited to play inside than out on the edge. So put all of that together; the uncertainty of Bakhtiari’s status early on this season, the unknown surrounding Nijman, along with Newman and Van Lanen potentially being better options at guard, and the uber-experienced Cronk has a possible path to the 53-man roster as a tackle.
Cronk would go on to start a highly impressive 40 consecutive games for Indiana as the left tackle from 2016 through the beginning of the 2019 season. He took his lumps in 2016, allowing nine sacks and 28 pressures, according to PFF ($$). The following season his sacks allowed decreased to only two, but he would give up 38 pressures. Overall, 2018 was his best season, and his PFF grade reflects that, with Cronk allowing four sacks and 26 pressures.
Unfortunately, early on in 2019 Cronk would suffer a broken ankle that limited him to only 194 snaps that season. Cronk was awarded a fifth year of eligibility and transferred from Indiana to Iowa for the 2020 season, where he took over at right tackle before tweaking that same ankle in only the second game of the season.
One NFL scout in an interview with Bill Huber of Sports Illustrated said that Cronk has “starting ability.” One big issue, however, is that we haven’t seen a fully healthy Cronk for a significant amount of time since the 2018 season. There will undoubtedly be some rust to shake off, and he will have to do it at the NFL level.
As a run-blocker, Cronk was solid if unspectacular and he comes from a Hoosier offense that utilized him as a zone blocker on about 67 percent of his career snaps. As we all know, the Green Bay Packers run a wide-zone blocking scheme under Matt LaFleur. It’s also worth noting that Cronk was called for 22 penalties over his career, although 15 of them came in 2016 and 2017.
For more on Cronk, here is what Tony Pauline of Pro Football Network had to say about the Green Bay Packers’ UDFA in his pre-draft report:
"“Positives: Indiana transfer who missed the majority of the past two seasons with injury. Fundamentally sound, displays solid footwork sliding off the edge in pass protection, and stays square. Patient, keeps his feet moving, and keeps the opponent in front of him. Fights with his hands throughout the action and makes great use of angles as well as body positioning to seal the edge.Negatives: Does not come across as a top athlete. Average height for tackle. Not smooth or fluid blocking in motion.Analysis: When he was starting at left tackle for Indiana early in his career, I graded Cronk as a potential late-round prospect. Beset with injuries the past two years, he must first pass medical exams, and even then it will be an uphill battle for him to make a next-level roster.”"