Green Bay Packers: What to know about each UDFA
By Kenny Jilek
Offensive Linemen
Jon Dietzen – OL – Wisconsin
If you’ve watched a Wisconsin football game in the last few years, or ever, which you probably have if you’re a Packer fan, you may have noticed how good their offensive line is. Jon Dietzen, with the exception of 2019 due to injuries, has been a mainstay on that line since 2016. Like many of their offensive linemen, he’s a homegrown Wisconsin boy who’s as strong as an ox and uses that strength on every play.
He can be slow off the line and lack explosion, but he makes up for it, getting his arms extended and consistently generating a push, regardless of how he gets off the line. He also combo blocks up to the second level nicely on between the tackle handoffs but has an issue getting to faster linebackers on outside runs.
He graded very well in Pro Football Focus in 2020, coming off of his injury, with a 72.2 run block and 78.4 pass-blocking grade and also helped the team have a 95.0 grade in total pass blocking, which ranked first among Power 5 schools. Even with his success, no one wanted to touch him in the draft, likely because of his injury history. If he stays healthy, he has an outside shot at making the team.
Coy Cronk – OL – Iowa
Unlike Dietzen, Cronk’s strength does not stand out on tape, and he rarely is pushing his man downfield, instead just using his angles to get to the right position and try to get in front of whoever he is trying to block. He also does not have great balance and can get over his toes far too often.
On the positive side, he is always looking for work in both pass and run blocking if he’s not covered, he will look to help out someone else. His biggest test in college was in 2019 when he was at Illinois playing left tackle and had to face Chase Young off the edge when they played Ohio State. He had some ugly reps, to be sure, but even when he got off balance, and Young got the best of him, he recovered well and was able to push him behind the pocket so his quarterback could step up. Young finished the game with two sacks, but both were off the other edge, not against Cronk. By no means did he shut Young down, but he managed to slow him down enough that he didn’t completely wreck their offense from Cronk’s side, and that bodes well for his ability to block NFL edge rushers.
Jacob Capra – OL – San Diego State
Capra is kind of the odd man out in this trio, with the other two being in the Big 10 and him being out of the Mountain West. He projects as a guard, as that’s what he played in his senior season, but brings some versatility in the ability to play tackle, with six starts there in his junior year.
Even at 6’5″, he plays with his pads low and wins lots of blocks because of it. He shows himself to be very well-coached, and his pad level and ability to get to his spots and turn defenders where he wants them to be are evidence of that. He also uses his pad level to put guys in the ground and finishes plenty of blocks with pancakes.
The Green Bay Packers clearly brought in versatile linemen for undrafted free agents with the hopes that one of them could become a utility backup on the line, and they’re all competing for a tough spot.