Green Bay Packers OL Shake Up Doesn’t Pan Out v. 49ers

David Bakhtiari would play only 27 snaps this season for the Green Bay Packers, all of which came in a meaningless Week 18 game. On top of that, Josh Myers and Billy Turner would miss extended time, while Elgton Jenkins suffered a season-ending injury. Even Lucas Patrick would miss a game early on.

The end result was the Green Bay Packers trotting out seven different offensive line combinations over the course of the season.

However, despite all of the movement and all of the injuries, the unit not only got by, but they held their own pretty well. The run game was far from dominant, as the Green Bay Packers averaged 4.2 yards per rush and we didn’t see the same number of big-plays as we did in 2020, but ESPN’s run-blocking win rate metric was a fan, with the Green Bay offensive line ranking fourth over the course of the regular season.

Against opposing pass-rushes, this group had to be accounted for in the game plan, with Aaron Rodgers leaning fairly heavily at times on the quick passing game. But for the most part, he had the time he needed in the pocket, and once again, this group ranked well, finishing fifth in pass-block win rate–and doing so against some of the game’s best pass rushers and defensive fronts.

The offensive line did a terrific job navigating these injuries this season, and with Green Bay’s NFC Divisional Round matchup with San Francisco approaching, the group was getting healthier. Myers had played Week 18; the expectation was that Turner was going to go as well, and everyone thought Bakhtiari would make his second start.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Bakhtiari had only practiced three times since the Detroit game, and after going through pre-game warmups, he was ruled out. So instead of starting Yosh Nijman at left tackle, where he played 590 snaps this season, according to PFF ($$), Matt LaFleur opted to put Turner at left tackle, keep Dennis Kelly at right tackle, and put a new starting five on the field that hadn’t played one snap together during the regular season.

Now, this is just my guess, but my thought is that with Kelly playing so well at right tackle in Turner’s absence, where he had allowed only four pressures over five games, Green Bay felt it was best to keep him there. When it comes to Turner at left tackle, perhaps LaFleur preferred his experience over Nijman’s–especially in the playoffs and up against a stout San Francisco pass rush.

LaFleur often talks about putting the best five offensive linemen on the field, and on paper, I do believe that’s what the Green Bay Packers did. Unfortunately, that isn’t how things played out.

On the ground, the Packers would average only 3.4 yards per rush, while PFF credited San Francisco with 18 pressures. For some added context, Aaron Rodgers had just 34 dropbacks. With that said, I will also add that Rodgers certainly could have given his offensive line more help by getting the ball out on time, but there were plenty of instances where he had to make plays with defenders in his face as well.

Turner was credited with allowing two pressures, although as the game unfolded and he battled a position change as well as it being his first game back from injury, it did seem like he was beaten more often than that. Kelly, on the other hand, had his worst performance of the season, allowing five pressures and he was called for a penalty.

Does this game play out differently if Nijman is at left tackle and Turner is at right tackle? I mean, maybe, but we will truly never know. However, in addition to the offense sputtering and the special teams blunders, utilizing a new offensive line configuration in the playoffs, while up against a very good defensive front is something that LaFleur will be questioned on given how the game played out–that’s just the nature of being a head coach.

Although Turner was still playing an offensive tackle position, the move from one side to the other isn’t exactly a seamless one either. To make the switch more challenging, LaFleur told reporters on Monday that during the bye week, Turner didn’t take any left tackle reps in practice as they expected Bakhtiari to play.

Below in a 2020 article from Mike Spofford of Packers.com, Turner discusses how challenging it can be to move from one side of the offensive line to the other.

"“This is something that I heard Packers legend Josh Sitton say a few years ago in Miami, and that is, ‘It’s like wiping your (butt) with your opposite hand.’ And if you’ve ever tried that, I’m sure you know,” Turner said. “So, being able to, in the middle of a game, go from one side to the other, it’s not necessarily the physical part. You know you’re capable of physically doing those actions, those techniques that you’ve practiced for so long.“It’s really just the mental aspect to tell yourself, ‘OK, instead of pushing with this leg I have to push with the opposite. Instead of throwing this hand first, I have to use this hand.’ It’s the weight distribution and the mentality when you’re in sync during a game, you kind of get in the zone and you just get in this mood of doing everything in the right way. And it’s just kind of a flow. It’s hard to explain.”"

Any time a team loses in a disappointing fashion as the Green Bay Packers did, there is a lot of second-guessing that is going to take place, and the offensive line configuration is just one of those items.

As I mentioned, perhaps nothing changes, but you have to admit, moving Turner to left tackle, a position I’m guessing he rarely practice at, or maybe never even took a snap at this regular season, and rolling with a brand new offensive line configuration is a bold move in the playoffs as you go up against the NFL’s fifth-best pass rush unit, according to ESPN.

With that said, LaFleur and Adam Stenavich have pushed the right buttons all season long when it came to the offensive line play. Although the unit’s performance wasn’t the best in this game, there’s very few organizations out there who could have overcome the number of offensive line injuries that the Green Bay Packers did this season.