OT a Major Question Mark for Packers Heading into Training Camp

Offensive tackle is one of the most important positions in all of football, and right now for the Green Bay Packers, it is one of the biggest question marks on this team.

When healthy, David Bakhtiari and Elgton Jenkins could form one of the best tackle duos in the game. However, as we all know, neither is healthy right now.

Jenkins was one of nine players placed on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list on Friday–which shouldn’t come as much of a surprise as he is still working his way back from an ACL injury. Unfortunately, Bakhtiari, who is now 18-ish months removed from his injury, is on that list as well.

During training camp, either can be activated at any time once they pass their physical–although it remains to be seen when either will be available. If either player enters Week 1 still on the PUP list, they will be out for four weeks, at which point they will either have to be activated or placed on IR.

Offensive tackle is a major question mark for the Packers heading into training camp.

Among the remaining healthy offensive tackle options on the Packers roster, Yosh Nijman is the most experienced. Nijman has 605 career snaps, 590 of which came in 2021, according to PFF ($$).

All things considered, Nijman held up well last season, although he did require some assistance, such as blocking help from the tight ends and the ball coming out of Aaron Rodgers’ hands at a quicker rate. During offseason programs, he was the Packers starting left tackle with Bakhtiari and Jenkins both sidelined.

As far as right tackle options go, Cole Van Lanen and Royce Newman each took reps with the starters there during OTAs and minicamp.

Newman started all but one regular season game in 2021 at right guard but does have over 800 career collegiate snaps at right tackle. Van Lanen, meanwhile, was a practice squad player as a rookie but had over 1,600 snaps at left tackle while at Wisconsin.

Rookies Sean Rhyan, Rasheed Walker, and Zach Tom are three other candidates for that right tackle role while the team remains without Bakhtiari and Jenkins. Rhyan was on the field for over 2,100 snaps at left tackle while at UCLA and Tom over 1,400 at Wake Forest. Walker was the starting left tackle at Penn State the past three seasons.

As Matt LaFleur searches for the best five, both Rhyan and Tom could very likely see snaps at right tackle this summer–although it’s worth mentioning that many draft analysts believe that both players are better suited as interior players in the NFL. Walker, on the other hand, as a seventh-round pick could very likely not be ready for a starting role.

You get the idea–there are plenty of options to cover those tackle snaps but little to no experience.

Now, with all of that said, certainly someone mentioned could step in and prove capable, but relying heavily on inexperienced players at a premium position comes with obvious risks as well.

Without strong offensive line play this season, it’s challenging to see how this Packers offense can be successful on a consistent basis. While the offense as a whole in 2021 wasn’t bad by any means, they weren’t nearly as effective as the year before, when they led the NFL in scoring.

There are many reasons as to why this happened, but one is that the offensive line wasn’t as good–which shouldn’t be a huge surprise, given all of the injuries they dealt with.

Moving the ball on the ground was more challenging, and a negative trickle-down effect to that was that play-action wasn’t as effective either. Although Rodgers got the ball out quicker on average, he was still pressured more than the season before. Tight ends were asked to help with blocking more frequently, taking them away from the passing game, and we also saw fewer downfield attempts as well–with one potential reason being there just wasn’t enough time for Rodgers as those plays developed.

With the question marks that the Green Bay Packers have at the skill positions, including Robert Tonyan still working his way back from an injury of his own, no Davante Adams at receiver, and several new targets trying to get acclimated to the offense, the offensive line play has to improve this season if Green Bay wants to challenge for the Super Bowl.

While anything can happen, at the moment, it’s difficult to see the Packers’ path to a Super Bowl title without a healthy Bakhtiari and Jenkins anchoring both of the tackle positions–and, of course, there is still a ton of time between now and then for both to come back.

Hopefully, everything we just discussed ends up being a moot point with both Bakhtiari and Jenkins returning sooner than later. But with that said, when it comes to one of the most important positions in the game, the Packers currently have some serious questions and whole lot of inexperience.