Paul Bretl | 10/31/2024
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Over the last two games, even with Jordan Morgan healthy and back in the mix at right guard, it has been Sean Rhyan who has taken the bulk of those starting snaps, sparked by his improved play in pass protection.
As an incoming rookie, Morgan missed valuable practice time and preseason reps working his way back from a shoulder injury. As a way to ease him back in early on in the year, Morgan played about one-third of the right guard snaps in Weeks 1 and 2. However, a shoulder injury would force him to miss the next three games.
Upon his return in Week 6 against Arizona, the Packers threw Morgan right back into the mix, with him and Rhyan splitting those snaps nearly 50-50. But in the last two games, that pendulum has swung in Rhyan’s favor, with him playing roughly every two series to Morgan’s one.
“I think Sean definitely is playing better than him right now,” said Adam Stenavich prior to the Jacksonville game. “I think we’re still obviously going to work Jordan in. So it’ll kind of be a fluid situation as far as how many snaps he gets per game.”
Where Rhyan has been at his best is as a run-blocker. With his size and strength, he brought a different element to the Packers’ offensive line as a bit of a mauler and people-mover. Rather than opening up a running lane by being in an advantageous position, Rhyan generates push and moves the defender across from him.
“I’m a bigger guy,” said Rhyan at his locker on Wednesday. “I know that they want me to move guys and I think being able to run the ball as good as you can pass the ball in this league I think is really an advantage.”
“That’s what I would like to be really good at, both run and pass as opposed to better at one than the other because I think running the ball is hugely important, even though you got quarterbacks that could drop dimes 40 yards downfield you still want to be able to run the ball.”
Over what has been about a calendar year now, the Packers have had Rhyan involved at the right guard position in some capacity, whether that be rotating during the second half of last season with Jon Runyan Jr. or this year with Morgan. However, there seemed to be two primary reasons why Rhyan could never quite win the job outright: his conditioning and his consistency in pass protection.
Following the Packers first preseason game this past summer against Cleveland, when Matt LaFleur was asked about Rhyan’s performance, he noted that one of the “biggest things” with him was Rhyan has to make sure he’s in charge of the conditioning component because when he’s fresh he can be “pretty good.”
In the following practices, while most players headed to the locker room, in the muggy August heat, Rhyan would stay back to run gassers–sprinting from sideline to sideline.
“He is one accountable guy,” said LaFleur at the start of the season. “Any time you say something to him, he always takes accountability and I think that’s an important part of this. You’ve got to know yourself and you’ve got to know what you’re good at and where you can improve. And to his credit, he always takes accountability, and he’s putting action behind it. I do think he’s in a much better position than he ever has been, so I’m excited to see what he does this year.”
In Rhyan’s 128 pass-blocking snaps in 2023, he allowed eight pressures and ranked 52nd in PFF’s pass-blocking efficiency metric out of 84 eligible guards. This year, however, with already 228 pass-blocking snaps under his belt, Rhyan has allowed only nine pressures. His pass-blocking efficiency percentage has increased nearly a full percent compared to last season, and he ranks in the top one-third of guards in that category, rather than the bottom half.
In part, the reps and in-game experience have perhaps been the biggest catalyst towards improved play for Rhyan in this regard. He’s also improved his technique and footwork, finding what works best for him to put himself in a successful position.
“(I’m) just a little bit more comfortable dropping back at that guard position,” said Rhyan about his improved play in pass protection. “I think just my confidence–just each game that goes by I just keep feeling like, ‘okay, that’s what I need to do for me.’ I just get a little, a few things here or there that helps me. It might not necessarily help anybody else, but I just keep kind of finding these little techniques that work for me and help me just do better.”
Morgan is going to continue to be worked into the right guard rotation. As Stenavich said upon Morgan’s return in Week 6, his potential is “extremely high,” and the best way to tap into that is with live reps.
But for the time being at least, it would appear that Rhyan is going to continue to take the majority of those right guard snaps. In short, he’s the better of the two right now, and based on playing time, I’m not sure it’s all that close.
Following the Tennessee game, when asked about Rhyan, Stenavich said that game was his best performance to date. A week later, when Stenavich was again asked about Rhyan, he one-upped himself, putting on film a new best performance. Rhyan is an ascending player right now and with every passing game, his confidence continues to grow.
“I think I am constantly improving,” added Rhyan. “I don’t want to say I’m playing the best ball or my best ball but I think getting better each week.”