For decades, the Green Bay Packers have been among the best teams in football at identifying and developing offensive line talent. It goes back to the 2003 group, which many still consider the best line in team history, and continued through the 2014 unit with David Bakhtiari, Josh Sitton, Corey Linsley, T.J. Lang, and Bryan Bulaga. Building a tough, dependable offensive line has been one of the facets of the game the franchise consistently gets right, and it’s a point of pride fans can look back on.
However, Green Bay’s current offensive line isn’t following that trend. Entering Week 11, they ranked 19th in pass-blocking efficiency — their lowest mark since 2009. Furthermore, they also sit 30th in explosive run rate and 26th in yards per carry. Zach Tom and Anthony Belton have battled injuries, and Matt LaFleur has said it’s highly unlikely Elgton Jenkins plays again this season after getting hurt on Monday night against the Philadelphia Eagles. Even with those injuries in mind, this unit has severely underperformed.
That kind of drop-off puts the Packers in unfamiliar territory. For a franchise used to fielding dependable offensive lines, slipping this far shows that something is clearly going wrong. So, what could it be?
Rotations That Disrupt Offensive Line Cohesion
Eight different offensive linemen have logged at least 90 blocking snaps for the Packers this season. Injuries have played a role, but Green Bay’s insistence on rotating multiple players at the same position throughout a game has only made things worse. Instead of letting linemen settle in and grow through consistent reps, the coaching staff keeps shuffling the lineup.
Sean Rhyan and Jordan Morgan have rotated at right guard, and the Packers have stretched Morgan’s workload to an unreasonable level. He has taken snaps at three different positions — 30 at right tackle (including reps against Myles Garrett), 282 at right guard, and 191 at left guard. No young player can develop properly when a team spreads him that thin across multiple spots.
“When you feel good about multiple people, you want to keep them playing, keep them engaged, keep them a part of everything, and keep developing them,” LaFleur said in early November.
The Packers need to give their linemen a better chance to settle in. Instead of locking players into one role and letting them build confidence, they keep rotating between starters and backups — or even shifting players between positions mid-game. That constant movement makes it hard for anyone to find a rhythm. Offensive linemen rely on repetition, timing, and confidence, and the nonstop shuffling keeps them from feeling truly comfortable with what the Packers are asking of them.
With Jenkins out for the season, Green Bay finally has an opportunity to settle on its best five without constant reshuffling. They can roll with Rasheed Walker at left tackle, Aaron Banks at left guard, Sean Rhyan at center, Jordan Morgan at right guard, and Zach Tom at right tackle. Locking in this group would allow everyone to take their reps in one spot, build continuity, and develop the rhythm the unit has been missing all year.
Is Adam Stenavich’s Split Attention A Concern?
The Packers hired Stenavich as their offensive line coach in 2019. He added the run game coordinator role to his responsibilities in 2021, before being promoted again to offensive coordinator in 2022. However, LaFleur has been Green Bay’s offensive play caller since taking over as head coach.
His track record shows he’s handled split duties well. The Packers have fielded a top-eight offense in EPA per play in three of the past four seasons, and their offensive line consistently ranked among the 11 best units in pass-blocking efficiency.
Still, the Packers are in uncharted territory with their offensive line. They have had their worst pass-protection performance of the Matt LaFleur era, and this might be the moment for Stenavich to scale back some of his offensive play-calling responsibilities and spend more time directly with the line. The last season he worked exclusively as the offensive line coach was 2020 – the year Green Bay had the league’s top unit in pass-blocking efficiency.
A Possible Disconnect Between Green Bay’s O-Line Plan and Their Offensive Identity
Green Bay’s offense adopted a new identity when Josh Jacobs arrived in free agency last year. The unit shifted toward a run-first approach, finishing the season eighth in EPA per rush, fourth in PFF rushing grade, and sixth in yards per carry.
However, the personnel up front don’t fully match that philosophy. Most of Green Bay’s preferred starters are stronger in pass protection than in run blocking, and Zach Tom is the only one with a higher run-blocking grade than his pass-blocking grade this year.
The play-calling on first down highlights part of the problem. Green Bay has run the ball 133 times on first down for just 3.86 yards per attempt, while their 109 first-down passes have produced 8.23 yards. One approach keeps the offense on schedule; the other repeatedly stalls drives before they even begin.
That shows up in their opening-possession results. The Packers are 30th in scoring and 26th in points per drive to start games, and no team has faced more third downs on opening drives than Green Bay’s 18. They’re putting themselves behind the sticks because they keep forcing a ground game that doesn’t fit their personnel.
And that’s the core issue. The front office didn’t build the Packers to be an under-center, downhill rushing offense this year. They built a roster designed to let Jordan Love control the game. Yet the coaching staff continues to ask an offensive line built for pass protection – not power running – to carry a rushing identity that doesn’t match their roster’s strengths.
Green Bay has put up just 20 points over its last two games, and while some of the blame naturally lands on LaFleur and the play calling, the truth is the play sheet shrinks when the offensive line isn’t at its best. If the offense is going to find its rhythm again, it has to start up front. The big guys need to settle in and finally give this group a foundation to build on.
