Packers: Josh Myers “Looks & Acts the Part” of Starting Center
By Paul Bretl
There’s no replacing All-Pro center Corey Linsley—we all know that. But the Green Bay Packers prioritized trying to find the next Corey Linsley in the 2021 NFL Draft by selecting Josh Myers, who is also from Ohio State.
Myers was a two-year starter for the Buckeyes, taking 724 career pass-blocking snaps and allowing six sacks along with 26 pressures during that span, according to PFF ($$). With Oklahoma’s Creed Humphrey still on the board when the Green Bay Packers selected Myers, many were left scratching their heads as Humphrey was considered by most the top center in this class. But as GM Brian Gutekunst told reporters after the draft, Myers “fit what we’re all about.”
We all know that the Packers’ offense runs a wide zone running scheme under Matt LaFleur, and Myers is well-versed in that area, with nearly 78 percent of his career run-blocking snaps at Ohio State coming in zone. Humphrey, on the other hand, was primarily in a power/gap scheme at Oklahoma.
This likely isn’t the only reason that Green Bay took Myers over Humphrey, but I imagine that it certainly was a factor and was what Gutey was referring to when discussing “fit.”
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As a second-round pick, expectations are that Myers is going to be the team’s starting center this season. However, he still has to go out and earn that title, which from the sounds of it, is what he’s done so far. Yes, there have only been a few OTA practices, rookie camp, and most recently mini-camp–all of which takes place in shorts and should be taken with a grain of salt. With that said, that doesn’t mean we can’t learn anything either.
According to Larry McCarren in his latest Rock Report, he mentioned that Myers “looks and acts the part” of a starting center—which is certainly a good sign:
"“Based on what we’ve seen so far, as in no pads, Josh Myers looks and acts the part of a starting center. If he can take the job and run with it long-term, it solidifies the entire offensive line.”"
Myers spent most of mini-camp as one of the starters along the offensive line, and although admittedly, we really didn’t hear much about him from the litany of Packers’ reporters on hand all three days, for an offensive lineman that’s usually a good thing. It means Myers was holding his own and wasn’t getting beat.
When it comes to who he is competing with, I believe Lucas Patrick is his main competition. Patrick put together a very good and under-the-radar 2020 season at both right and left guard and has some experience at center, where some believe he is actually better suited to play.
Elgton Jenkins is another candidate, although I believe he is a last resort as Green Bay would prefer to have him at guard or tackle instead. Second-year center Jake Hanson is another candidate, although to put it simply, I don’t believe he’s ready.
As it stands, Myers is likely the leader in the clubhouse for the starting center position, and while I wouldn’t quite sharpie him into that slot just yet since training camp nor the preseason has taken place, I will gladly pencil him in.
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As McCarren mentioned, if Myers can be the center that the Green Bay Packers believe he can be, he will provide added stability to this offensive line for years to come, just as his predecessor Corey Linsley did. Now, of course, there’s still a ways to go before we get to that point, but in this albeit limited sample size, Myers looks every bit the part.