GREEN BAY, Wis. The Green Bay Packers have gone through so many offensive line combinations that theyve started to recycle.On Sunday against the Rams, Green Bay lined up with Yosh Nijman at left tackle, Jon Runyan at left guard, Lucas Patrick at center, Royce Newman at right guard and Billy Turner at right tackle. Nijman
Pittsburgh Steelers Home Office is the No. 3 left tackle, Runyan wasnt the Week 1 starter at left guard and Patrick wasnt the Week 1 starter at center. But, as unlikely a quintet as that was, it wasnt the first time that Green Bay started a game with that group. It also did in Week 5 against Cincinnati.Thought our offensive line battled, man, coach Matt LaFleur said after the 36-28 victory. I thought they did a great job. I think anytime you go against that type of front, that style on defense, I think that the fact that we dropped back 45 times and Aaron had the one sack, which he tried to scramble up on, I thought they did a hell of a job.The Packers led the NFL in scoring last year. Aaron Rodgers received the bulk of the credit as he won NFL MVP honors. But the offensive line was stellar. Left tackle David Bakhtiari was All-Pro, left guard Elgton Jenkins was a Pro Bowler and center Corey Linsley was All-Pro. However, Linsley signed with the Chargers in free agency, Bakhtiari still hasnt played due to a torn ACL sustained late last season and Jenkins mi sed three games with an ankle injury and now is out with a torn ACL.Offensive line coach Adam Stenavichs rebuilt and reconfigured line has played well most weeks, though. According to SportRadar, Green Bay has been stuffed on 6.7 percent of its running plays, with a stuff being a tackle at or behind the line of scrimmage. Thats the seventh-best
Miles Killebrew Jersey rate in the NFL. In the pa sing game, Packers quarterbacks have been pre sured 23.3 percent of the time, the 13th-best rate. For comparison, Green Bay was No. 2 in stuffed percentage and No.
Dan Moore Jr. Jersey 1 in pre sure percentage last season. So, the line play hasnt been as good no surprise considering the personnel and injuries but it also hasnt been a disaster area, either. ESPN.com, using Next Gen Stats data, has its own metrics called . The Packers are in seventh in both areas. Green Bay, Washington, Philadelphia, Kansas City and the Los Angeles Rams are the five units in the top 10 in both areas.The LaFleur has mostly been able to run his offense with five starting line combinations and three starters out vs. the Rams has been remarkable. Jenkins looked like a legit left tackle in his eight games. Nijman has been no slouch in either phase. According to PFF, heres the starting fives sack numbers: Nijman with two in four starts, Runyan with two in 11 starts, Patrick with zero in eight starts, Newman with five in 12 starts (but none the last three) and Turner with three in 12 starts. Scroll to ContinueIs help on the way? From the moment the season started, the hope was Bakhtiari would return at left tackle, Jenkins could move back to
Pittsburgh Steelers Jackets left guard, and the rookie combination of Myers and Newman would be playing like veterans by late in the season. Instead, Bakhtiari needed a minor procedure on his reconstructed knee, Jenkins suffered a season-ending knee injury, Myers has mi sed the last six games following knee surgery and Newman has battled rookie inconsistency. The hope is Bakhtiari will be ready to resume practicing after the bye. Myers could be back at some point, too. Bakhtiaris return would provide a major boost to the teams championship hopes. Can he return after getting shut down a few weeks ago? And if he can, is it po sible that he can return to his five-time All-Pro form in time for the playoffs?Speaking truth last week was Turner, the bedrock of the line and underappreciated right tackle.The games are won up front, he said. It doesnt matter what defense youre playing. It doesnt matter what offense youre playing. It doesnt matter what team, special teams, none of that matters. At the end of the day, if you cant block up front, you
Karl Joseph Jersey aint gonna get the ball off. Thats my opinion. Makes it a lot easier when you got a guy like Aaron Rodgers, when you got a guy like Davante Adams, Marcedes Lewis, Aaron Jones. Those things make your job easier but, at the end of the day, if you cannot block, you cannot do those things.Packers at the Bye Series
The Wall