The Green Bay Packers made 13 selections in this year’s draft, and none of them were offensive lineman. Coming into a season with a new starting quarterback, not adding reinforcements to the line might be cause for concern. But general manager Brian Gutekunst opting not to select any this year is a promising sign for the position group’s future.
Looking at Green Bay’s drafts under Gutekunst’s leadership, it’s become clear as his first-round philosophy has been to take high-upside players with tons of talent at premium positions. Think of the Rashan Gary and Jordan Love selections. While they play very different positions, they’re perhaps the two most important positions on the field. The Packers selected both players based off their talent, sure, but also how high their ceilings could be. Eric Stokes and Jaire Alexander also fit that mold, with a clear value at the cornerback position. Of this group, Alexander has been the biggest success, and Gary is in second with an injury asterisk. Meanwhile, the jury is still out on Stokes and Love.
Selecting Van Ness over, say, Georgia offensive tackle Broderick Jones isn’t a slight on Jones as a player. Instead, it’s more of an indication of how Gutekunst values the need for a pass rush over the need for offensive lineman. Jones could be a great left tackle in this league, but Gutekunst felt that Van Ness brought more in terms of positional value.
As the draft continued and the top tier of talent all found homes outside of Green Bay, the fact that they still took no offensive linemen speaks more about what they already had in the position group. The Packers might be entering the final season of the David Bakhtiari era of All-Pro caliber left tackle play, but there’s a logical succession plan with the personnel already in place, plus a few developmental players already occupying roster spots that Gutekunst may not be ready to cut ties with yet.
With Bakhtiari still in the fold, the Packers don’t have an immediate position of need within the offensive line unit, with ostensibly six starting-caliber players battling it out for five slots. Say what you will about Josh Myers and Royce Newman, but they have 23 and 22 starts, respectively, in their first two seasons in the NFL. Elgton Jenkins is still malleable and may be the long-term answer at left tackle. Zach Tom is most certainly an answer somewhere, and Jon Runyan Jr. seems to have locked down a guard position. Yosh Nijman is still in the fold as a swing tackle option — or as a starter as needed.
Behind that starting unit is a quadrant of players looking to fight their way into the mix. Sean Rhyan was virtually non-existent in his rookie season, missing the final six games due to a substance abuse violation. Still, he’s a third-round pick looking to make a name for himself. Caleb Jones, Rasheed Walker, and Luke Tenuta are all massive human beings who need some refinement before they can be counted on, but they’re already in the system and ahead of where most rookies would be. With the team likely only to keep nine or 10 players in the offensive line position group, Gutekunst would have had to part ways with one or two of these investments to bring in someone less experienced.
There was little premier draft capital spent to put this position group together. The Packers took Jenkins 44th-overall in 2019, and he has born out that value largely due to his versatility and production. They took Myers 62nd overall, and his seat might be the hottest on the offensive line. Bahktiari is famously only a fourth-round pick, as was Zach Tom. If Gutekunst didn’t feel like Broderick Jones was worth the value at No. 13 overall, he must feel better about the value of his existing players over the linemen who were available later on in the draft.
I wouldn’t expect the one-year hiatus from drafting a linemen to become the norm. But the fact that Gutekunst didn’t feel an overwhelming need to address the position isn’t a bad thing. Instead, it could be viewed as a good thing for the short-term future of the position group.
