After almost two calendar years of uncertainty about the health of his left knee, Green Bay Packers left tackle David Bakhtiari is reportedly on track to start this weekend in the team’s season opener against the Minnesota Vikings. A healthy Bakhtiari would not only significantly help stabilize an offensive line that has been in a constant state of flux, but it should also help Green Bay recapture some of the swagger that has been missing in his absence.
It is not hyperbolic to say that the Green Bay Packers could have had at least one if not two more Lombardi Trophies to add to their collection with a healthy Bakhtiari over the past two seasons. He certainly would have helped reduce the five sacks the offensive line surrendered in each of the last two playoff losses. There’s also no way the rushing attack that tallied fewer than 70 yards in each of those games could have been worse with a two-time first-team All-Pro left tackle on the field.
The Packers were completely without Bakhtiari in the 2021 season, save for a 27-snap cameo in Week 18 against the Detroit Lions to see how the knee would hold up for the playoffs. The question that lingered all of last season was, When will Bakhtiari be back? and it created more and more doubt. You can go back and look at the narrative that played out — from the earliest stages of OTAs, mini camps, and so on — and see the persistent, misplaced hope that Bakhtiari would soon return. He “hadn’t been ruled out” or was still “progressing nicely” in his ACL rehab. Yet the weeks went by, and the big No. 69 stood on the sideline, game after game.
Following the three-week stretch in 2021 that included a Jordan Love-led loss in Kansas City and a last-second field goal defeat in Minnesota, the Packers seized hold of the No. 1 seed in the NFC thanks to a five-game winning streak that took the team from 8-3 to 13-3. The general consensus was that Bakhtiari was coming back, Jaire Alexander was going to return, and Green Bay was going to be at full strength for playoff games at Lambeau Field.
When Bakhtiari missed the playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers, it cast doubt over what Matt LaFleur and Brian Gutekunst should do. They opted to roll with veteran Dennis Kelly as a replacement instead of Yosh Nijman, who had shown (and continues to show) great promise. That unit became a liability right away, special teams didn’t go Green Bay’s way, and a one-and-done playoff exit dashed all those late-season hopes.
The earlier a team gets bounced from the playoffs, the more time they have to stew on the missed chances that are by no means guaranteed to come their way again. Winning 26 games over the last two seasons wasn’t enough to prevent an offseason filled with a carousel of assistant coach turnover, star wide receiver trades, ayahuasca trips, ill-advised podcast appearances, and more.
A healthy Bakhtiari protecting Aaron Rodgers‘ blind side once again would go a long way toward helping the Packers get back to normal. It serves to dampen the noise that has been persistent over the last two seasons, in particular this offseason. Yes, the team is different, but that doesn’t mean that the goal is any different. Davante Adams left a gaping hole in the offense, but having Bakhtiari back goes a long way to help patch it.
There are other injured players who will help, namely Alexander, Elgton Jenkins, and Robert Tonyan. With a full roster, Green Bay is still one of the best teams in the NFC. Lifting the cloud that hovered over Bakhtiari’s status is the first and biggest domino to fall, allowing the Packers to operate from a position of confidence rather than being preoccupied with what they could be.
