Green Bay Packers 2023 UDFA Profile: Minnesota IOL Chuck Filiaga
By Paul Bretl
Next up in my review of the Green Bay Packers 2023 undrafted rookie class is Minnesota interior offensive lineman Chuck Filiaga.
In this series, I have been looking at the current state of each UDFA’s respective position group and diving into the stats you need to know from their college careers. I’ll also be taking a look at their measurements and then concluding with a pre-draft scouting report for additional insight.
If you’ve missed any of the other articles in this series, you can find them below.
Current state of the interior offensive line position
On the roster: DJ Scaife, Jake Hanson, Josh Myers, Chuck Filiaga, Jon Runyan, Elgton Jenkins, Royce Newman, Sean Rhyan, and Zach Tom
The Packers have both depth and experience at their interior offensive line position. Their three preferred starting interior offensive linemen from the 2022 season, Elgton Jenkins, Josh Myers, and Jon Ruyan, will all be returning, although from the sounds of it, Zach Tom will be pushing both Myers and Runyan for playing time at center and right guard. Whether it be at center, guard, or tackle, Tom will be one of the starting five come Week 1, potentially putting either Myers or Runyan on the sidelines.
Even those competing for a roster spot have either playing experience, like Jake Hanson and Royce Newman, or in Sean Rhyan’s case, he is a recent top-100 selection. The Packers have been very diligent in adding to their offensive line room during Brian Gutekunst’s tenure, and it shows along the interior offensive line with the capable depth that he’s built at that position.
Any potential success that Jordan Love is going to have in his first season starting begins with the offensive line play. If the run game can’t get going and the Green Bay offense is often put into predictable passing situations, odds are that won’t end well. And if he doesn’t have time in the pocket, obviously, that isn’t good either. The offensive line, and the Green Bay offense as a whole, needs to be prepared for a heavy dose of blitzes early on until they prove that they and Love can handle them.
Stats to know
Filiaga played his first four years at Michigan before transferring to Minnesota for the 2022 season. Of his 1,465 career snaps, 736 came this past year. He has experience at both guard positions, playing right guard for 966 snaps and left guard for 497, according to PFF. In 2022, he gave up just one sack and eight pressures. His PFF run-blocking grade of 73.0 ranked 27th out of 200 eligible guards last season.
Measurements
6’6″ | 321 | RAS: 7.82
Filiaga has terrific size for an interior offensive lineman at 6’6″ – 321 pounds and good length as well with nearly 35″ arms. His overall athletic testing, according to his Relative Athletic Score, was okay or slightly above average across the board, although he did stand out in the 3-cone, posting a time of 7.67 seconds.
Pre-draft scouting report
"“Filiaga isn’t a great athlete, but he was a capable blocker in Minnesota’s zone running game, which might end up being a natural scheme fit for him at the next level. He doesn’t play with much bend, and that leads to consistent leverage issues. He’s unlikely to drive opponents off the ball as an NFL base blocker. His pass protection is technically sound, but his athletic limitations will create concerns in the pros. Filiaga might go undrafted, but he could eventually make an NFL roster.” – Lance Zierlein, NFL.com"