The Green 19 podcast examines where the Packers stand after Family Night
The Packers are healthy, position battles are rare, and there is talent in every room. Sounds great! Did we miss something?
GREEN BAY – The Green Bay Packers’ opening preseason game did little to resolve any questions at the backup swing tackle position.
In fact, if the Packers lose one of their starting tackles during the season, there is reason to believe that they might trade one of their versatile guards instead of bringing in their No. 3 tackle.
It’s not that Andre Dillard, Kadeem Telfort and Caleb Jones played poorly in the Packers’ 23-10 win over the Browns on Saturday. But none of them were able to excel against the Browns’ backup defenders, mostly second-year pros Isaiah Thomas and Isaiah McGuire. Thomas was on the Browns’ practice squad last season and McGuire had one sack in four games.
Dillard started the game at right tackle in place of Zach Tom, whose recovery from offseason chest surgery hasn’t quite reached game stage. When the starters left the game after three snaps (and a 65-yard touchdown pass to Dontayvion Wicks), Dillard moved to left tackle for 33 more snaps.
Based on these snaps, there’s still reason to question whether Dillard will hold up against NFL edge players, let alone elite players. It’s not that Dillard has made any obviously bad plays, but going up against the Browns backups has raised several minor red flags about his ability to hang on in short yardage and his lateral movement in pass protection.
For example, on a run in the second quarter, backup defensive tackle Chris Williams threw Dillard back a few yards, forcing running back Emanuel Wilson to stop, which is usually the end of a running back’s career. The promising play only gained three yards.
Or on Wilson’s 5-yard touchdown run a few players later, the rest of the Packers’ offensive linemen had at least a one-yard lead while Dillard was pushed back a yard by defensive tackle Mike Hall Jr.
Dillard didn’t allow a sack in the game, but he didn’t make it look easy in pass protection against the Browns’ backups either. For example, during the Packers’ two-minute drill at the end of the half, he gave Hall plenty of room on a stunt on the first play, and a few plays later he allowed more pressure on McGuire than you’d expect.
These moves weren’t costly either, but they raise the question of how Dillard will fare against top players. Rasheed Walker and Tom make it look much easier.
Telfort, a second-year pro who, like Dillard, spent last season on the Packers’ practice squad, doesn’t show the knee bend seen in edge blockers like Walker and Tom. He’ll need to play better over the next two weeks to inspire confidence that he’s ready to compete in a game against the opponent’s best players.
For example, on the Packers’ second and first play about halfway through the first quarter, Thomas prevented an AJ Dillon run and lost a yard by pushing Telfort back about 2 yards, shaking him off, and making the play.
Later in the first quarter, Thomas hit Telfort with a spin move that forced quarterback Sean Clifford out of the pocket. And early in the third quarter, Telfort hit a run block on Williams, cutting off MarShawn Lloyd’s running path on that side of the field, but Lloyd rebounded the run the other way for an 8-yard gain.
Jones is the most interesting player of the three tackles due to his enormous size and length (6’0″ with 36″ arms). The third-year pro has been a developmental player for the past two years and has never played a snap on offense in the NFL.
He showed Saturday that he can be a devastating run blocker at times, who, when he gets moving, can simply overwhelm a defender. That happened on two runs in the third quarter. Jones blocked 300-pound Hall on Lloyd’s run and 313-pound defensive tackle Jowon Briggs on the other. He moved them like they were 230-pound linebackers.
Jones’ exceptional arm length also helps him draw attackers far away from the quarterback when they try to get past him from the outside. But it’s not yet clear if he’s athletic enough to handle the faster attackers in the game, and most teams have at least one pretty good one.
For example, on one play during the Packers’ 2-minute drill at the end of the first half, Jones was unable to reach Thomas’ first play and the defensive end outpaced him, forcing Clifford to quickly take the ball down to complete the pass under time pressure.
If none of Dillard, Telfort and Jones play in the final weeks of training camp, coach Matt LaFleur and offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich will have to think long and hard about what they will do if they lose one of their starting tackles, Walker and Tom, during the season.
Constantly having to bring in an extra blocker to protect is a difficult way to run an offense. LaFleur noted that Rashan Gary and others regularly wreaked havoc during the first two weeks of camp before Tom began participating in team drills last week.
If the Packers lose Walker or Tom to injury, LaFleur and Stenavich will have to seriously consider using 2024 first-round draft pick Elgton Jenkins or Jordan Morgan at tackle and replacing one of them at guard with Sean Rhyan, who is clearly the team’s second-best offensive lineman.
The depth of the Packers defensive line seems to be real
The depth of the Packers defensive line looked as good in this game as their play in training camp suggested.
The Packers’ defensive line personnel appear to be well adapted to new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley’s 4-3 scheme. Gary and Lukas Van Ness, in particular, seem more natural playing fullbacks with their hands on the ground rather than standing upright as they did in the previous scheme.
Gary and Preston Smith each played just four snaps, but Van Ness had a great game in his 23 snaps. He had one sack and nearly had another, which still allowed Colby Wooden’s drive-ending sack on third down. Van Ness also had run stops at or behind the line of scrimmage on two consecutive plays in the first quarter, and early in the second quarter he caused a pileup on an inside run when he crashed down the line of scrimmage.
Defensive tackles Wooden and Karl Brooks, both second-years, showed they deserve their share of rotation snaps — Wooden (one sack, one tackle for loss) had the better game of the two on Saturday. Last year, Brooks played 34% of defensive snaps and Wooden 23%. Expect those numbers to increase this year. That should help keep Kenny Clark, TJ Slaton and Devonte Wyatt fresher for the fourth quarter of games.
More: Emanuel Wilson and the Packers’ running game looked good, but rookie MarShawn Lloyd’s injury is a setback
Extra points
∎ Rhyan’s extended stint as center in the No. 2 offense was good enough to consider him a viable replacement at the position. He showed the athletic ability to run plays — he led the way on Emanuel Wilson’s 9-yard sweep later in the second quarter — that’s not easy to find in a center. The best guess is that Jenkins will move to center and Rhyan will replace him at left guard if Josh Myers gets hurt. But Rhyan looked good enough that the Packers at least considered foregoing the switch and just putting Rhyan at center.
∎ Veteran linebacker Eric Wilson missed a chance to play in the backfield. He threw a gap on a run blitz on a second and third play early in the second quarter, but came too fast and hit running back Pierre Strong Jr. just 4 yards deep in the backfield. Strong gained 9 yards running.
∎ Sophomore defensive end Arron Mosby showed discipline when he stayed home on an end late in the third quarter. He ran straight up the field instead of chasing a run fake along the line the other way, forcing receiver Ahmarean Brown to cut back the end and chase defenders. Brown did well to only manage a 1-yard gain.
∎ Rookie safety Evan Williams made waves in training camp with four interceptions and a forced fumble against the Browns. But he also cut a good figure in the penalty box, taking on blockers and filling gaps in the run defense.
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