Paul Bretl | 4/2/2025
GREEN BAY, Wis. — On paper anyway, the Packers’ offensive line unit, particularly in the running game, looks like an improved unit following free agency.
“Certainly,” said GM Brian Gutekunst on Monday when asked if Aaron Banks and Elgton Jenkins can make the for a better run-blocking unit. “I think we have the potential to be. At the same time, those five guys got to work in concert and there’s a lot of work that has to be done before you ever get to that point.”
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The play of the Packers’ offensive line unit last season was good, especially in pass protection. This was a unit that ranked seventh in ESPN’s pass-block win rate metric, while Jordan Love ranked 23rd in pressure rate despite being the most blitzed quarterback in football.
In the run game, the Packers leaned heavily on that facet, and it was often the catalyst for overall success on offense, along with helping Green Bay to put games away late. Including the playoffs, Josh Jacobs would rush for 1,410 yards at 4.4 yards per rush with 16 touchdowns.
This was a unit that was really good at churning out four, five, and six-yard carries. However, what was missing were the big, explosive runs. PFF’s breakaway percentage metric measures how often a running back has a carry of 15 or more yards. In that category, Jacobs ranked 32nd.
That isn’t a Jacobs stat either. To me, that’s about the offensive line. With help from PFF, nearly 80% of Jacobs’ total rushing yards came after contact. For some context, Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry were in the 50%-55% range.
So how do you get more big runs? The offensive line helps Jacobs get to the second level more cleanly and more often. Along the interior, the Packers seem to be in a better position to accomplish that.
Free agent signee Aaron Banks will take over at left guard for the Packers. The strength of his game during his career has been as a run-blocker, specifically, as ESPN’s Matt Bowen pointed out, in the gap run scheme, which the Packers leaned heavily on last season with Jacobs.
While not the be-all, end-all, Banks would rank 27th out of 81 eligible guards last season in PFF’s run-blocking metric.
“A really large man that can do all the things that Matt (LaFleur) asks those guys to do in our scheme as far as our ability to get off the ball quickly, get out in space and really run,” Gutekunst said of Banks.
“Again, this isn’t a 295-pound man. This is a 330-pound man. His ability to play physical in the run game and anchor down in the pass pro is something where he’s played at a high level for a few years now, and to get a guy like that really in the prime of his career is something I thought would really benefit us.”
With Banks at left guard, Jenkins will be moving to center. By comparison, while no new addition to the roster was made, having Jenkins at center instead of Josh Myers should provide the Packers with an upgrade.
Out of 42 eligible centers during the 2024 season, Myers would rank 41st in run-blocking grade.
“We were pretty good last year,” LaFleur said of the Packers’ running game on Tuesday. “You try to avoid the comparisons on a year-to-year basis, but I’m excited about the group that we have coming in. It’s going to take a lot of work, that’s the bottom line. Every season’s a new season, and you can’t take anything for granted.
“We’re excited about Banks coming in and then moving Elgton back to center. We feel like we have a lot of pieces. There’s going to be some good competition at a lot of spots, but you got to re-create it each and every year, and the only way you do that is you get to work.”
As Gutekunst said, you have to have the ability to both run and throw the ball depending on the opponent and the situation at hand. With that said, there was a more run-centric approach that this Packers’ offense took last season, and if Green Bay is going to continue leaning into that element–which it appears they are–then the ability to create more chunk runs has to be a part of the equation.
And while it is only early April, it would appear that the Packers are in a better position to do just that.