Can Packers Rely on Late-Round Picks to Plug Holes on Offensive Line?
The Green Bay Packers will enter the 2024 NFL Draft with a massive need on the offensive line. Does their late-round history suggest they don’t have to use a top draft pick to get one?
The Green Bay Packers always find great offensive linemen without having to use premium draft capital.
Right?
That’s what some of the draft experts on the Internet will tell you.
It’s true. Once upon a time, Ted Thompson was a machine at finding players on the third day of the draft that turned into All-Pro-caliber players.
David Bakhtiari, Josh Sitton, T.J. Lang and Corey Linsley. All four men were taken in the fourth round or later. All of them were great players for the Packers and helped form some of the best offensive lines in recent memory.
Since Brian Gutekunst has taken over, he’s used two picks in the top-two rounds on offensive linemen. Elgton Jenkins is one of the best draft picks of Gutekunst’s tenure. He was taken 44th overall in the 2019 NFL Draft. Josh Myers has been a mixed bag after being taken 62nd overall in the second round in 2021.
Gutekunst has found some late-round gems. With the NFL Draft starting in less than two weeks, let’s take a look at the offensive linemen he’s drafted after the first two rounds to see if he has similar touch as his predecessor.
2018: Cole Madison
Madison was selected in the fifth round. He missed the entirety of his rookie season while dealing with the tragic loss of his former teammate. Madison made the team in 2019 but suffered a torn ACL at practice. He was waived in July 2020 with a failed-physical designation and never got another shot in the league.
2019: Yosh Njiman
Njiman was not drafted, but Gutekunst’s scouting department deserves credit for identifying him. Njiman started 21 games for the Packers in 2021 and 2022 following Bakhtiari’s knee injury. He was mostly an average starter, but parlayed that into a multiyear contract in Carolina this offseason. Njiman is one of the Packers’ big achievements.
2020: Jon Runyan Jr., Jake Hanson, Simon Stepaniak
Before Zach Tom, Runyan may have been the crown jewel of Gutekunst’s late-round picks.
The first of three offensive linemen selected in the sixth round, he was a left tackle at Michigan who moved inside to guard for the Packers. While it always felt like he was competing for his job, Runyan was a solid starter during his four seasons in Green Bay.
Runyan clearly wanted to return in the offseason, holding back tears during his final locker room availability, but signed with the New York Giants in free agency. He was never a Pro Bowl-level player, but it’s tough to find solid starters in the sixth round, which is exactly what he was.
Hanson failed to make the roster as a rookie but started the 2022 opener. He struggled with injuries during his time in Green Bay and was waived after suffering an injury against the Patriots in August.
Stepaniak was a sixth-round pick who the Packers rostered for one season. He did not play any snaps during the regular season of his rookie year and was mostly used as depth at the end of the roster. Stepaniak missed two practices during training camp in 2021 and ended up retiring.
2021: Royce Newman, Cole Van Lanen
Newman at one point looked to be the next offensive lineman in the lineage of Day 3 draft picks that became good players. A fourth-round pick, Newman has 24 starts under his belt – including the first 16 in 2021. However, he never seemed to get better. He started twice at right guard in 2023 but fell behind Sean Rhyan as the team’s primary backup on the interior of the offensive line.
A sixth-round pick who grew up just down the road from Lambeau Field, Van Lanen lasted one season with the team on the practice squad before being traded to Jacksonville toward the end of training camp in 2022. Van Lanen saw significant playing time in two games last season but is not a lock to make its roster.
2022: Sean Rhyan
If the season were to start today, Rhyan would be the team’s starting right guard.
Rhyan’s rookie season was a disaster. A third-round pick, he rarely dressed, totaling one snap on special teams before finishing the season serving a six-game suspension for performance-enhance drugs.
To his credit, he was much better in 2023. He looked to be in better playing shape, and eventually earned his way onto the field, splitting time with Runyan at right guard. He played 50 percent of the snaps in each of the final four regular-season games.
Rhyan’s performance, however, was a mixed bag. He had some bright moments, but some really poor ones, as well. That’s the life of a young NFL player, but as a former top-100 pick, it’s hard to feel good one way or the other about Rhyan as a potential starter.
2022: Zach Tom
Tom was the team’s best player on offense in 2023. He won the right tackle competition against Njiman in a runaway, and was the team’s best offensive lineman all season. Of the nine edge defenders with at least 80 pressures last season, six rushed from the defense’s left (or against the right tackle) at least two-thirds of the time. Tom faced them all and gave up one sack in seven total matchups.
Tom was drafted in the fourth round to be a Swiss Army knife of sorts and has grown into one of the team’s building blocks for the future. He has developed into a high-level starter. There’s no question about whether the Packers have gotten a good return on their investment. Will that continue to be at right tackle, or could he be moved to center – where the team reportedly believes he could be a Hall of Famer?
2022: Rasheed Walker
Considering where Walker was drafted as a late seventh-round pick, he already has exceeded expectations. Walker had his struggles as a rookie and never saw any significant game action, but he was thrust into duty last year when Bakhtiari was unable to play after Week 1.
While Walker struggled at times and eventually rotated with Nijman, Walker pulled away down the stretch. In the playoffs, he delivered a pair of lights-out performances against the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers.
When asked if Walker had earned the opportunity to be called the left tackle of the future, Gutekunst said he felt Walker had a bright future.
“You have to give the kid a lot of credit.” Gutekunst said at the NFL’s Annual Meeting last month. “First of all, his work ethic over the offseason and how tremendously he improved. He fought through some things this year injury-wise. He was a warrior out there. He’s done a great job, I’m really glad we have him. I think he can play left and right. We’ll see how it all shakes out. …
“He did a lot of good things. He’s got a bright future and he’s only going to get better. We’re excited about him.”
The draft is going to give a very good indication in how the Packers see Walker. Either way, this pick is trending toward a massive win for Gutekunst.
2023: None
The only offensive lineman added to the roster from the 2023 class was undrafted free agent Kadeem Telfort, who spent the year on the practice squad and did not play in any games.
Conclusion
If Walker is the player who finished the 2023 season as opposed to the one who started the year, this list is going to look much better. Walker could find his way into a Pro Bowl conversation with performances like the two he had in the playoffs.
Tom is a stalwart and looks to be a great player, wherever he lines up. That is a big win for Gutekunst.
Runyan and Njiman turned into solid starters when called upon.
There is little else on this list that could qualify as the Packers finding a hidden gem.
Solid starter is also drastically different than what Thompson used to find. None of the linemen Gutekunst has drafted has earned All-Pro or Pro Bowl honors. That could change but, for now, the idea that Green Bay can simply hold off on drafting offensive linemen because they “always find them later,” is not true.
Gutekunst has found good. Thompson often found great.
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