Of all the position battles taking place this summer for the Green Bay Packers, perhaps the most intriguing involves promising second-year offensive lineman Zach Tom.
The former Wake Forest product is clearly one of the best five linemen on the roster, but his ideal spot isn’t quite clear yet. Before the off-season program, offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said they’d test Tom out at right tackle, right guard, and center, creating an open competition at those positions.
However, it seems like the only actual competition is at right tackle. While Tom has taken some snaps at right guard and center, his primary battle has been at right tackle. Despite being framed as a position of competition earlier this off-season, it looks like center is still Josh Myers‘ position to lose. Can Green Bay’s center live up to his draft status in his third season?
It took Green Bay some time to find their ideal offensive line configuration in 2022, contributing to their offensive woes. With their two best players coming off of major injuries, the team had to shuffle around players for the first half of the season. Eventually they found some stability by moving Elgton Jenkins back to left guard and letting Yosh Nijman man the right tackle spot.
But even in their ideal alignment, Myers was their weakest link despite being a clear part of the plan from Day 1. Myers had his fair share of promising snaps, but he was largely inconsistent in pass-protecting and run-blocking.
PFF had the Packers as their third-highest-ranked offensive line at the end of the 2022 season. However, they viewed Myers as the group’s biggest weak link, even after noting Nijman and Tom’s struggles in the team’s final game against Detroit.
Worse is the fact that Myers will be forever linked to Creed Humphrey, who the Kansas City Chiefs selected one pick after Myers. Humphrey has become one of the league’s best centers, earning the top PFF grade at the position. There’s a lot of hindsight involved and circumstances ignored, but this is something fans don’t forget.
However, it’s too early to give up on Myers, even if some competition would do some good.
Myers lost a good chunk of his rookie year to injury. He only played in six games, essentially creating a redshirt year. Myers was still learning the position at the NFL level in 2022, where the constant roster shuffling didn’t do him any favors.
And while Myers was inconsistent, he was still mostly average. The Packers showed they weren’t afraid to make changes (though it certainly took long enough) when they pulled Royce Newman and Jake Hanson from the rotation. Myers was nowhere near as detrimental to the lineup as those two. He just needs to improve.
Myers has downplayed the idea of a competition at center (“It is what it is,” he said) and believes he had a solid second season. However, he’s still looking to improve and take that next step.
“I thought it was a strong year. There was a lot of improvement, a lot of things that I’ve been working on,” Myers said. “I think at this point, it’s mostly just like tweaks, subtle things in my game that I’ve been working on and trying to fix. It was a solid year. Just want to be better.”
The Packers have given Myers the starter treatment through OTAs and mandatory minicamp. While he’s had a few snaps off, whenever Jenkins and Bakhtiari have been on the field, so has Myers.
Offensive line coach Luke Butkus has praised Myers’ effort in trying to improve. “Josh is doing everything he can,” he said. “He’s working his butt off. I don’t think anybody works harder than Josh. He just needs to keep working, just like everybody else.”
Can the effort translate on the field? PFF thinks so, listing Myers as the center on their 2023 breakout team. PFF noted Myers’ steady improvement from his rookie season and that his grades never had a massive slope. Coupled with his high athleticism, there’s reason to believe he can improve.
Still, it’s a good idea to keep giving Tom some snaps there, even if his future is currently at right tackle. Jordan Love will need to rely on the running game in his first year as a starter, and Jones and Dillon struggled to gain yards between Myers and Runyan. This team loves its high-round draft picks, but they can’t be married to the idea of Myers long-term if Tom is the better player.
For now, Myers has the center spot locked. He’s putting in the work to improve, and he still clearly has the belief of his coaches. With good athleticism and coming from a respected college football program, there’s still a path to success for Myers. We’ll see if he can find it.
