Why are people so worried about the Green Bay Packers offensive line?

Why are people so worried about the Green Bay Packers offensive line?

the offensive line is the biggest question mark on the Green Bay Packers offense but is there real worry there you are locked on Packers your daily Green Bay Packers podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day you are locked on Packers part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day I’m Peter Bowski and I cover the Packers for the leap a newsletter I would love for you to subscribe to follow me on Twitter Peter Bowski follow the podcast on Twitter locked on Packers like us on Facebook subscribe to the podcast iTunes Spotify Google podcasts wherever you find podcast you will find locked on Packers the number one Packers podcast on the internet and the show for fans who know what happened they want to know why and how thanks to everyone who makes locked on Packers their first listen every day we hope you like starting your day with us as much as we like starting our day with you today’s episode brought to you by our friends at FanDuel make every moment more as the playoffs finish up well they’re finished up the sports stop sportsing the way we want them too but this summer FanDuel is hooking up all customers with boosts or bonuses daily that’s right there’s something for everyone every day all summer long visit fanduel.com lockon to get started where is this concern over the Packers offensive line coming from I was listening to a show the other day and they were talking about oh the Packers they’ve got kind of an average maybe slightly below average offensive line and then that same group of people were like oh yeah the Bears they’ve got an average to above average offensive line based on what okay let me take a breath there was a Prof Football Focus list the top 10 offensive lines in the league the Jets had a bottom five offensive line last year okay they ravaged by injuries they signed Tyron Smith and Morgan Moses Elijah Vera Tucker is coming back from injury but Elijah ver Tucker is cominging back from an Achilles tear pretty bad pretty hard to do they’re signing Tyron Smith into his age 34 season coming off a fouryear stretch where he played 30 total football games and Morgan Moses is 33 an offensive line that has had no time together there were multiple teams on that Pro Football Focus list that had multiple rookies expected to start my suspicion is that because the Packers lost David bakari everyone’s priors from the draft which were wrong then and are wrong now say well they’re relying on a rookie which of course doesn’t hold weight when you know you have these lists where multiple rookies are expected to start Jordan Morgan is probably not going to play tackle for the green B Packers Rasheed Walker the guy who replaced David bakari by the way in week two now he was a part of a platoon with Yash nyman but over the course of the season was second in ESPN’s pass block win rate the Packers were second as a team in PL pass block win rate just because you don’t know how good Zack Tom is just because you for got how good Elton Jenkins was just because you failed to notice Rasheed Walker at the end of the year turning into one of the best pass blocking young offensive tackles in football just because you didn’t realize that Zack Tom and Rasheed Walker form one of the best young offensive tackle Duos in football just because you missed all of that doesn’t mean this team isn’t very good and of course I’m not speaking to Packers fans because Packer fans know this it’s everyone else who’s getting this wrong and I know that’s a convenient thing to say it reeks of homerism no you don’t get it only we do hear the people that follow this every day except it’s very obvious that is happening right now the Packers were second as a team in pass block win rate according to ESPN’s charting 16th in run block win rate so an average run blocking group and an Elite pass blocking group the only group better was the the Eagles who are going to have two new starters along their offensive line this season even with all of the turnover Zack Tom playing right tackle for the first time in his NFL career as a preferred starter Rasheed Walker and Yash nyman in a platoon ultimately Rasheed Walker wins that job and for the first few weeks I’m going why that’s how well it was going at the end of the year John ran Jr and Yash and and and Shawn Ryan are in a platoon which we found out was partially because John Ronan Jr was hurt he told us that at Super Bowl in our interview with him and sha Ryan was was giving him some breathers they were rotating so it would help jrj make it through some of these games Ellen Jenkins played at a pro bowl level and Josh Myers was Josh Meers okay Josh Myers isn’t fixed but even if the line is the same with Shawn Ryan in it that group played a lot of snaps together last year and they were by any measure you want to use a top 10 offensive line last year with all of the weirdness that comes with a first-time starter at quarterback all of the receiver stuff injuries at running back Matt laflor the first time calling this version of the offense and guys in and out of the lineup all year that’s what happened and they were still good this is it’s like the Jordan love thing he produced at a high high high level in year one with the youngest skill group ever all those things that I rattle off like I’m like you know Daenerys Targaryen is walking into the room and I have to say you know all of the all of the titles titles titles all of those caveats apply to this offensive line too and they were still an elite especially pass blocking group one of the essential things about offensive line play is continuity matters more than maybe any other position you can you can create chemistry kind of on the fly with a with a new quarterback you can add new players into a secondary and if everyone’s doing their job you’re okay defensive line not a problem linebackers you know there’s some communication stuff linebacker safeties that you have to be able to do but overall continuity is not essential offensive line continuity is vital in the play of your group and the Packers have it and that’s before even including Jordan Morgan you bring in Jordan Morgan and it is true most rookies are bad I’ve often said that I still say that but he’s only going to play if he’s an upgrade over what they already have he’s only going to play Right Guard if he’s better than Shawn Ryan he’s only going to play left guard if he’s good enough to be an upgrade really over Josh Meyers right because you’re going to move out Jenkins to Center he’s going to be just as good at Center as he was at guard if slightly less valuable and then you’re going to bring in Jordan Morgan well if Jordan Morgan is a net positive over what Josh Meers was giving them at Center Elton Jenkins is giving you what he was giving you at guard essentially you’re better now you don’t have the continuity but you have more talent and then you have the continuity elsewhere what is the what is the problem and I think this stems from people who didn’t pay attention all year to this Packers team until the very end and they remember the fourth quarter by the way when Zack Tom was hurt in San Francisco because before then they had no problem with Nick Bosa and and all those pass rushers that they had acquired at the deadline and and now Eric arms said’s not there anymore until Zack Tom got hurt this group last year in the second half they kept Jordan love clean in like every game and the ball was coming out on time and in Rhythm and everything was great this was the best quarterback in the league last year in the second half worst case he was the one of the top two or three quarterbacks in the league and one of the big reasons was this offensive line came together they coalesced and now you’ve added talent to it it you’ve added depth to it you have a plan that if you’re worst player based on what we’ve seen anyway we don’t know about Shawn Ryan long term you have a plan to replace Josh Meers the guy who has been the most inconsistent piece over the last handful of seasons and I’m supposed to expect they’re not going to be a really good offense again that the Jets offensive line with all these new pieces like they’re better the Steelers with all these new pieces they’re rookies they’re going to be better give me a break that’s not how this works now I have enjoyed the straw man because that’s what it seems like it is to me this is more of a confirmation of Prior oh here the they the Packers weren’t that good last year we thought they were going to stink we being the national media we thought they were going to stink and actually we were right and so we’re going to try and wrap all of those takes up into future projections so we don’t look stupid and say well they were not as good as we thought or as as you thought at the end of the year oh it was it was a mirage actually going into this season their offensive line is not good or it’s average except there’s no reason it would be average at least not by projections like injuries could make it average you lose Zack Tom yeah you’re going to have some problems but maybe Jordan Morgan you just slide them out to right tackle and and problem solved put Josh Meers back in at Center alen Jenkins back at left guard if that’s the way that that this ultimately shakes out there’s solutions they have much better depth now much more experience now it doesn’t make sense except if you’re trying to confirm priors but I thought it would be an interesting exercise to steal man on some of these arguments the case against the Packers what is the best case against them we’ll do that next on lock on Packers today’s episode brought to you by our friends at better help comparison is the thief of joy boy it’s something that I say all the time in my daily life I say it to seemingly everyone in my life because we are doing this constantly we are constantly comparing ourselves to others I do it I have to tell myself on a daily basis stop doing this you look at Instagram you see on Facebook you see other people because they only post the best stuff you don’t they no one’s posting the real stuff or very few people are therapy can help you focus on what you want instead of what others have so you can start living your best life better help can get you there it’s entirely online designed to be convenient flexible and suited to your schedule just fill out a brief questionnaire questionnaire to get match with the licensed therapist and switch therapists anytime for no additional charge stop comparing and start focusing with betterhelp visit betterhelp.com loock on today to get 10% off your first month that’s betterhelp.com locked on what’s the Steelman argument against the Green Bay Packers in 2024 I’ll tell you in a second but are you watching Fox Sports or ESPN on your TV all day have to turn down the volume with all the shouting make the switch to locked on sports today a free 24/7 Sports streaming Channel programmed for you every day to bring you the biggest stories without all the screaming lockon sports today brings you C Miss analysis opinions and news streaming 24/7 on YouTube or the free Amazon Fire TV channels app part of the lockon podcast Network your team every day so this was born out of the offensive line discussion because I thought okay there are these arguments that will be made and I think in order to be ready for that to get you ready to have those discussions with your buddies with your friends at work about what this is going to look like and what it might not look like potentially it it would be good to get into okay what what are the actual reasons for concern or the actual uh worst case scenarios but in a in a likely situation so the best case against the Packers well the best case against the Packers starts with Jordan love small sample size the League’s got the the book on him that would be if if if there were a good case there and I don’t think there is that’s it now it’s not just small sample size it’s I think it is more just the the Steelman version of this is he’s still got to prove it he still has to prove it in the playoffs against the best teams like all the Shanahan tree teams eat up the Cowboys but the 49ers are the big bad in the NFC let’s see you prove it in a situation like that let’s see Matt laflor let’s see you in a big game prove it like that I think the let’s see you prove it after years and years of coming up short by the way this is one of the cases against the 49ers too one of the best cases hey guys um you have failed habitually to win the big game now maybe if Patrick Mahomes doesn’t exist they’ve got two rings already but sometimes that happens you face alltime great players there’s always all-time great players that you have to try and beat luckily for the Packers right now in the NFC they don’t have anyone as currently understood to be an alltime great the only guys like that or even close to that are in the AFC it’s Aaron Rogers it’s Patrick Mahomes it’s we’ll see on Josh Allen we’ll see on Joe burough we we’ll see on Lamar Jackson we’ll see on Justin Herbert like none of those guys really exist in the NFC and they beaten Matthew Stafford before like that that part is not a worry the rest of the Steelman man argument goes why do we believe in the defense why do we believe a new defensive coordinator will do any better than the old new defensive coordinator the Packers already did this dance and that team had more proven Talent on it you bring in Joe Barry you still had Adrien Amos in 2021 you had DeAndre Campbell playing at an all proo level zidus Smith was technically on that team and sure Joe Barry not a great coach but Joe Barry was not a great coach Matt laflor hired that guy too so why would we have faith in him hiring a new defensive coordinator why did he look at the Dallas Cowboys game and the Packers absolutely lighting up Dan Quinn and going yeah a guy who wants to play cover three and cover one and and relies on pressure why would we why would we ever think that guy would be better cuz that’s the who the Packers hired Jeff a cover three cover one pressure defensive coordinator now there’s a lot of other parts to this and so it’s not quite that simple but this is this is the case that will be made and then okay uh there’s no number one receiver how in a on Third and eight in a playoff game who are you going to throw the ball to who is going to get open against the best defenses against the best secondaries against teams that have real Corners that get into the jerseys of your guys redirect them throw off the timing and make you just go win one-on-one who is that guy G to be I don’t know there there’s some compelling stuff in there no I I would have responses in every case as to why I think that there is a a good case against what they’re saying but there is a a strong way to frame it if you want to I think there are answers now Jeff Halley like we got to see it man we got to see it with some of these young players on defense we got to see it on offense you know the the Matt laflor stuff in the playoffs you got to beat K shanan and until you do that is going to be a question Jordan love it is a a small window one year of play total you got to prove it and look Justin Herbert’s got to prove it Joe Burrow’s kind of got to reprove it Lamar Jackson’s gotta prove it Dak Prescott’s got to prove it Jaylen Herz like this is not unique to Jordan love until you do it you’ve got to prove it that’s the way the world works so we’ll see if the Packers have some answers now my answer to who you’re going to throw to it on Third and six when you absolutely need it it’s the open guy that’s the beauty of this offense is there isn’t I’m just going to load up on Devonte Adams because I know on Third and six that’s who they want to throw the ball to no you got to cover Romeo dobs you got to cover Christian Watson you got to cover Don Tav Wick you got to cover Jaden Reed you’re gonna have to cover Josh Jacobs you got to cover Luke Musgrave Tucker craft whoever they have in the game you’re going to have to cover all those guys that’s the fun part of this offense all right we’re going to finish up today we’re going to make this the Steelman argument for the Packers we just did it against let’s do it for them we’ll do that next on lock on Packers today’s episode brought to you by our friends at FanDuel I love sports I love sports so much I love them so much I never want them to stop but as the playoffs wind down we get fewer games and the sports aren’t sportsing like I want them to but fandel lets me keep the sports going whenever I want all I have to do is open the app and dream up bets anytime I’m in the mood and in the summer that means golf I love to bet on golf we we got through the big Majors but we still got the Open Championship coming up got the FedEx Cup East Lake plenty plenty of fun to be had told you the other day I’m going to start betting on the WNBA excited to do that dig into those numbers and this summer FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily that’s right there’s something for everyone every day all summer long so head over to fanduel.com loock and start making the most out of your summer FanDuel official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball lockon has launched the first ever National Sports 247 streaming Channel on YouTube and now it’s also available on Amazon Fire TV in the free Fire TV channels app locked on sports today is here for you covering the top sports stories of the day with the local Experts of locked on plus our national shows covering every League find locked on sports today now available on the free Fire TV channels app the Packers are going to be really good this year because they have one of the best infrastructures in the sport Brian ginst has proven a willingness to follow the Ted Thompson model as a draft and develop organization while also adding in the best versions of Ron wolf where you judiciously add in free agency in key spots on guys who can make a big difference when you spend a lot of money they nailed the quarterback thing Jordan love has the potential to be one of the two or three best quarterbacks in the league in the second half of last season that’s exactly what he was and the reason that that’s what he was is because of development not because he got hot not because of anything out of the ordinary there were things that he struggled with early in the season that got better and they got better because of the receivers now that’s just not a take watch the tape the Packers had some better plans on what to how to attack defenses Matt laflor gained more confidence in Jordan love and therefore they were able to call the offense differently and when you look at some of the metrics you go okay he was a much better deep ball passer well part of that is he’s not just throwing 50-50 balls on you know seam routes in the slot to Jaden Reed or Hees down just to Let’s Christian Watson’s down there FID Christian Watson’s down there somewhere no these were dialed up play action shot plays on Core Concepts for the Packers that they trusted those guys to go win that’s the difference over the course of the season their play improved razor says the most likely reason for that Improvement is Improvement not non-sticky numbers because as I mentioned earlier there is actually a correlation with pressure rates I mentioned that the other day on lock on Packers that what we initially it’s not as sticky as clean pocket numbers but it’s not random you can have a random good stretch but it is not overall a random statistic it’s not as sticky as how you performed from a clean pocket and from a clean pocket in the second half of the Year Jordan love was an elite quarterback with the deepest skill group in the league going into year two this was the youngest offensive skill group in the history of the modern NFL last year you got younger at running back you got deeper at running back your tight ends in year two the continuity we talked about at the top of the show with the offensive line that is better now you already proved you can beat the best teams in the league you beat Detroit last year you beat Kansas City last year you blew a game against the 49ers when you had them beat you can beat that team by the way the Packers that version of the Packers I would argue played as well as any version of the Packers against a ky Shanahan team in the playoffs and so you look at the the biggest criticisms for this team okay Jeff Halley we don’t know what that’s going to be but anything is going to be better than Joe Barry anything just like the odds say this was the worst run defense in the league basically since Joe Barry took over that’s not going to be the case you’ve got too much talent you add zavier McKinny you bring in edrian Cooper you you bring in your two of you Lucas vaness Javon Bullard all these safties year two of uh Carl Brooks of Kobe wood of Carrington Valentine we expect a step forward for at least some of these players we talked about you know this this case against regression a couple months ago that it in order for the Packers as a team to regress you would need so many young players all in harmony to regress for reasons that no one can articulate like get make the case why they’re going to regress because you can’t just say well year two sometimes there’s a sophomore slump like that’s true but their whole team is in year two so are all of them going to slump that seems pretty unlikely and just statistically speaking it is this team is going to be better than the one last year does that mean they’re going to win the Super Bowl no but they’re going to be better and if they’re better from a 9- seven team that blew a couple games late because they couldn’t get stops including the divisional round you get marginal better off offensive play let’s say you get marginally better kicking game from Anders Carlson let’s say he makes like two more kicks maybe they beat Denver and they beat San Francisco who knows you get marginally better defensive play one or two more stops all of a sudden it’s a 10- win Team all you have to do is stop Tom Tommy cutlets one time Jeff Halley I promise you Jeff Halley is not getting scored on by Tommy DeVito and now they’re a 10- win team and it’s not weird at all to project them to be an n Contender it’s not but this is my point it’s not even given the current information that we have it’s not weird because they are a good team they were a good team last year and they will be a good team this year too all right back tomorrow um like I said we have a modified schedule this week we’re going to do four shows there will be a show on the 4th it will come out the 4th in the morning you can watch it listen to it all weekend and then we’ll be back on Monday with more shows but next week we’re only doing three shows because I will be um with family I’ll be out of town so still plenty more to get you ready for uh training camp and our our top 90 series that’s going on right now on the leap there’ll be a new one tomorrow on Wednesday and then on Friday as well we’re counting down the 90 best players on the Packers because it’s List season but we thought we’d you know we’d make something that you actually care about and it’s actually a good list because we actually um me and Jason um no ball unlike some of the people making these lists very clearly they don’t watch tape they just they just don’t know they just don’t know it’s not their fault well it’s kind of their fault uh back back tomorrow much more here on lockon Packers follow me on Twitter Peter Bowski follow the podcast locked on Packers wherever you are on social medias um Instagram Tik Tok YouTube we are here for you locked on Packers so you can stay locks on Packers

The Green Bay Packers were an elite pass-blocking group by year’s end in 2023, yet there is a narrative they’re an average or potentially problematic group this year. Why? Plus, what are the best cases to be made for and against Green Bay this year?

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