#PackersDaily: Let the battle commence
The battle for the starting center position began in earnest on Tuesday with Zach Tom splitting first team reps with Josh Myers. Aaron chats about that and all things Green and Gold with Packers fans worldwide.
By PackerAaron
Comments (12)
mbpacker
August 02, 2023 at 04:54 pm
Nags- What about a new beer for Corey & you to brew & market: Strap City Beer.
PackerAaron
August 03, 2023 at 06:22 am
I like it.
greengold
August 03, 2023 at 07:26 am
Oh, SNAP!
BuckyBadger
August 02, 2023 at 09:55 pm
I am sorry but the OL has question marks. Bahk is great when healthy but he hasn't fully healthy for a season for a long time and we don't know if that is going to happen or is he Tyron Smith now? Jenkins I have less worries with because he is in his prime more. Outside of those two they have question marks the rest of the way. Myers is reporting looking like he is where he left off last year and that isn't good. It doesn't seem like they want Yosh at RT and with how the year ended I don't blame them. Runyan is just OK. Just OK isn't what we want. He is in competition for his job as well. So you have two guys coming off injury, one of them a little long in the tooth and the other 3 are all unsettled.
Might shake out to be good but there are question marks. Might be the best part of the offense but if the LBers and DL aren't better position groups then they have invested poorly.
Coldworld
August 03, 2023 at 01:09 pm
The year ended with Yosh trying to tough it out one armed. That’s not a secret. What’s surprising is that they let him rather than starting Tom, whom they have spent the summer looking at there. However, based on what LaFleur said today about the C competition, it looks like that may have shifted to the primary focus for Tom.
One other factor is that I hear from a number of sources, including Andy Herman, that Caleb Jones has been very impressive thus far and surprisingly quick footed. Could that change the equation? Are they comfortable moving Nijman to the right because of Jones, or could they move Jones there if they think Nijman is clearly our second best LT and Bakh may miss significant snaps at left during the season?
Guam
August 02, 2023 at 10:21 pm
If Tom is moving inside to battle Myers for the center spot (and competition is needed there), one of the implied dominos is that either Jones or Walker are looking good enough to provide depth at tackle behind Bahk and Nijman. That would be really good news. The Packers have six solid O-linemen, but will need one to two more to have proper depth for the season.
A local newspaper article interviewed Sean Rhyan today. Apparently he has significantly changed his diet and study habits for this season and both he and LaFleur believe he is playing better. His diet went from cheeseburgers and other fast food to lean meat, fruits and nuts for protein sources to provide more energy. He also is studying much more seriously. Lafleur noted both and said Rhyan looks much improved. He still has to prove it on the field, but maybe he has matured a bit and is ready to fulfill his draft status.
greengold
August 03, 2023 at 05:47 am
Guam, I’ve been hearing a lot of good stuff about Sean Rhyan too, and this is even more encouraging.
Your first point is well taken, that a number of players may be moving up into real readiness.
Just like Rhyan, we’ve heard about some other OL having success in TC. Caleb Jones winning all of his reps. Rasheed Walker looking the part of a starting caliber RT. It’s still early, and we all know many of the narratives unfolding as competition continues, while new ones are about to be written.
As ardent fans of the Packers in a sea of change, we might want to brace for any number of other possible changes which may take place for this season.
This is a bit like ripping the Band-Aid off, and so I’ll just let the names do the talking:
1s
LT JONES
LG JENKINS
C TOM
RG RHYAN
RT NIJMAN
2s
LT TELFORT
LG TENUTA
C SCHNEIDER
RG DELANCE
RT WALKER
Guam
August 03, 2023 at 07:32 am
I wouldn't count out Runyon, Myers or Newman just yet, but all three need to perform better than they have. Runyon is the best of the three and I expect him to retain his job but the other two are question marks for me.
It would be terrific if either or both Jones and Walker pan out at tackle as it would save the Packers a high draft choice next season when they move on from Bahk. It would be great to have a talented young line through development rather than high draft choices.
T7Steve
August 03, 2023 at 09:44 am
I'm probably the only one here who thinks Runyan is a keeper. He doesn't get penalized, which means he isn't struggling or out of his depth. I think he's not reached his ceiling yet.
Coldworld
August 03, 2023 at 01:15 pm
He’s consistently weak verses the run and in goal
Line situations. Frankly, replacement level. His pass pro is good, but his overall would not suggest a new contract as a starter.
If the run is now a bigger part of this O, that magnifies the problem. He simply is too easy to move when not in motion. If he’s added strength and power then he has the technique to be good. If not we need to accept that he’s the type of player one can live with but need to look to do better than. The Dean Lowry of the OL.
Having Myers and him with strikingly similar vulnerabilities next to each other is not viable. Unless both improve dramatically, at least one has to be replaced. That weakness is now well known by opponents. One weak link isn’t great, but 2 magnifies the problem exponentially. Improvement at one position will inherently help the other.
Maybe Newman gets the mental aspect, Rhyan emerges ot someone else at G, but I’m not overly confident that we have a better overall G on the roster than Runyon at this point. Perhaps he makes the jump, but if not, a jump at C through Tom at least seems more plausible and better suited to Tom’s strengths than using him at G. You can’t have a center teams can bull rush or spin into the backfield consistently, it’s the quickest route to the QB and also the hand off.
T7Steve
August 03, 2023 at 02:36 pm
" You can’t have a center teams can bull rush or spin into the backfield consistently, it’s the quickest route to the QB and also the hand off"
It's also humiliating.
As my mom would say "He look like a nice football player". She's well into her 90s and has seen a lot more Packer games than I.
greengold
August 03, 2023 at 03:14 pm
Thanks for the response, Guam.
I guess I'm coming at it from a different perspective of cost savings, and how the Packers now being in a full blown transition period might affect their choices moving forward. Adding to that, a Rashan Gary extension, per TGR will wipe out all of or maybe a little more than the $19M OTC shows the Packers to have in 2024.
I love Bakhtiari as mentioned previously, and have nothing against Runyan, Myers or Newman. I'm simply trying to consider the cap impact on the Packers should their "open competitions" result in them deciding to move on from those players.
We're in early returns with TC in its first week in pads. I'm not really comfortable talking about this a whole lot, as it's a bit confusing to me, but I'm trying my best. My gut feeling is that all of those players could have direct challenges, both from the players behind them, and other fiscal circumstances in play.
I'm hoping to have not done a disservice to TGR's fine work. Feel like I've had a bad day at the meat grinder attempting to look at the possibilities!!!
Jones, Jenkins, Tom, Rhyan & Nijman starting in 2023 is one of those possibilities.