4 Big Things from the Packers preseason matchup with 49ers
By Paul Bretl
The Green Bay Packers offensive line
Without David Bakhtiari and Elgton Jenkins, there are a lot of unknowns surrounding this Green Bay Packers offensive line–most notably, how will they hold up? And what will the starting combination look like?
Green Bay went with the starting configuration that we’ve seen the most in practice which, from left to right, consists of Yosh Nijman, Jon Runyan, Josh Myers, Jake Hanson, and Royce Newman. We also saw Zach Tom take some snaps at right tackle with Newman moving to right guard.
In pass protection, I thought this group held up well. There were some play designs to get the ball out of Love’s hands fairly quickly, but overall, he had the time he needed in the pocket.
On run plays, however, the offensive line struggled, particularly between the tackles. This unit struggled to generate a consistent push — especially on the right side — which made running the ball nearly impossible at times.
As I wrote before the game, if this is the Packers’ offensive line group for the first few weeks of the season, I think they can win with them, but it will take some help from Matt LaFleur and his play-calling–similarly to what we saw in 2021. With that said, this is a Packers team with Super Bowl aspirations, and if they’ll need Bakhtiari and Jenkins back to have a chance of achieving that.
Lastly, I thought this group looked better when Tom was at right tackle and Newman at right guard. We will see if any changes are made next week.