Paul Bretl | 3/28/2025
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Continuity was a critical element to the success that the Packers experienced last season along the offensive line. However, looking around at the rest of the NFL, that’s not something Green Bay should bank on happening again in 2025, which is why bolstering the depth up front still needs to be on GM Brian Gutekunst’s to-do list, even after spending big in free agency.
According to TruMedia, no offensive line unit in football during the 2024 season played more snaps together than the Packers. Green Bay’s starting combination of Rasheed Walker, Elgton Jenkins, Josh Myers, Sean Rhyan, and Zach Tom were on the field for 80.82% of the team’s offensive snaps, which was the most in the NFL.
At a position where continuity is a vital factor to success, with the sum of the parts along the offensive line being greater than any one individual player, staying healthy helped foster that continuity element and an often high level of play up front, particularly in pass protection, where the Packers ranked seventh in ESPN’s pass-block win rate metric.
“I thought our offensive line, particularly in pass pro, played really, really well all year for the most part, with the exception of a couple games,” Gutekunst said after the season. “But I think all those guys you know, had, you know, had really solid years and improved.”
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Behind the Packers in these rankings, the Buffalo Bills were in a close second at 79.12%, followed by Baltimore at 70.71%, but from there, we saw a steep dropoff. Among the 32 NFL teams, only 11 had their most-used offensive line combination play at least 50% of the offensive snaps. In fact, over one-third of the NFL’s most frequently used offensive line combinations were on the field together for fewer than 34% of their respective offensive snap totals.
The moral of this story is that injuries happen, and teams have to be prepared for them.
The Packers would, unfortunately, experience this in the playoffs when Jenkins exited with an injury against Philadelphia. Without Jenkins and with Jordan Morgan on injured reserve, the Packers turned to rookie Travis Glover–who was seeing his first significant NFL snaps–to fill in, and then eventually Green Bay leaned on second-year lineman Kadeem Telfort after Glover was penalized numerous times.
The Eagles’ ability to generate steady pressure on Jordan Love and to create a strong push in the run game while only rushing four made the already difficult task of breaking free from the Eagles’ two-high coverage shell all the more challenging for the Packers’ offense. Losing that line of scrimmage battle was a key factor to the Packers’ offensive woes in that game.
Now, with that said, the Eagles’ defensive front can make healthy offensive line units look silly, so as Gutekunst said after the season, you don’t want to overreact to one game, especially when, over the course of the season, the Packers’ play up front was mostly good. However, that performance did highlight the unknowns that the Packers have depth-wise along the offensive line at the moment.
“Those big guys are hard to find, so that’s never something we’re not going to address,” said Gutekunst after the season. “Like we’ve been pretty consistent in our time here. We very much believe that, with the exception of quarterback, winning in the trenches is how we need to get it done.”
With the addition of Aaron Banks in free agency, who will take over at left guard, which then moves Jenkins to center, the Packers do gain some added flexibility to either have 2024 first-round pick Jordan Morgan again compete at right guard with Rhyan or even at left tackle with Walker if that’s deemed necessary. But regardless of how that shakes out, one of those three players will be coming off the bench this season, giving the Packers a capable backup option if needed.
However, as the data above illustrates, having one reliable offensive lineman to step in when needed may not be enough. I’m sure the hope internally is that Jacob Monk–who was often inactive late last season–Telfort, and Glover all make strides heading into the 2025 season, allowing them to provide some stability if called upon. However, having said that, banking on that happening comes with obvious risks as well.
Competition throughout the roster has been a catalyst behind the Packers’ rapid ascension over the last two seasons with the youngest team in the NFL, and continuing to lean on that element within the offensive line room to improve the depth should be a part of the offseason equation.
This means that we should again see Gutekunst add to this position in the NFL draft, which is something that he has done a lot of during his tenure. In three of the last four draft classes, the Packers have selected three offensive linemen. Perhaps we don’t see that many additions in 2025 with the team only having eight draft picks, but the recipe for Gutekunst to add to this room very much exists.
“We’re going to continue to lean on versatility,” said Gutekunst in January. “We’ve got three or four guys on our line that could probably play five spots, and that’s, I believe in that. I think every coach that I’ve been around believes in that, and I think that’s an asset that we have that not all teams have.”
Naturally, all the focus is on how the Packers’ passing game can improve, but success for the offense as a whole starts in the trenches with a strong run game to keep Green Bay out of predictable passing situations and by providing Love time in the pocket to operate within the rhythm of the play. The starting five should put the Packers in a position to be successful, but going beyond that group, some unknowns linger.