Future of the Packers O-Line

[pbmax]

Watch the Packers move Turner to Center

[Bretsky]

The only two I'd label "plus OL" would be Jenkins and Linsley. Bulaga stayed fairly healthy and rose to the level of serviceable in his contract year. Bakhtiari, charitably IMO degraded down to marginally serviceable. Turner was a disappointment, but they did have success running inside, and he was part of that.

Some of ya'all seem surprised that I don't think much of Bakhtiari; I have to ask, why do ya'all have such low regard for Linsley?

You are delusional and over the top homer on this; when Bulaga has been healthy you won't find a credible football source giving him a "serviceable" ranking. He was way better than Jenkins our average guys. He's our best OL behind Bach when healthy. But now that he's gone he sucks like any other player not on the Packer roater

[run pMc]

They will do everything to keep Bahk IMO. You don't let LT's leave unless they are old and you have a replacement (Jason Peters) or they hate your organization (Trent WIlliams) or you don't want to pay them (Trent Brown). Bahk is a Top 5 LT and that is a critical position for pass pro when you have a right handed QB.

I think Linsley is very good, but he's had some back injuries and I worry about that getting worse as he ages. The Patrick extension and drafting Hanson (plus they have Jenkins could play C in a pinch) all but signals he's gone.

Also, if you think about it from a cap-to-position spending standpoint, you really can't have all your O-Lineman on pricey 2nd or 3rd contracts... too much of your cap room eaten by aging players. The only starting OL on a rookie contract is Jenkins, and that will change.
It makes sense to constantly draft OL for a reason.

[texaspackerbacker]

You are delusional and over the top homer on this; when Bulaga has been healthy you won't find a credible football source giving him a "serviceable" ranking. He was way better than Jenkins our average guys. He's our best OL behind Bach when healthy. But now that he's gone he sucks like any other player not on the Packer roater

Ok, then why do we get such piss poor pass blocking - consistently, and run blocking which is fairly good at times, but tends to disappear against better D teams? And I'm talking about not just last season, but a decade or more. Blaming Aaron Rodgers is both ludicrous and shameful. His mobility has been the only thing keeping the pass blocking from being a disaster.

Bulaga has been above average when healthy, but how often has that happened for any length of time over the years? And when did you ever see holes opened on his edge (or Bakhtiari's) like what Jenkins and Linsley did up the middle often last season?

[RashanGary]

I agree with Tex, that Bahk is a below average run blocker. He's a very good pass blocker though. Solid player at a position that's hard to fill. I hope hes reasonable to negotiate with. I wouldn't spend through the roof on a guy who is approaching 30.

Bulaga was also a below average run blocker and very good pass blocker, at a position that's easier to fill.

Lindlsey is a dime a dozen. Every team has a servicable center, and a lot of teams have two.

[RashanGary]

Bahk turns 29 at the start of the season this year. So you'd be paying for years 30, 31 and 32 on a three year deal. It's not unheard of, but I can't see going over 12M/year.

Gonna really have to dig for tackles because it's becoming a fast problem.

[RashanGary]

Rick Wagner PFF Grades
2016 74
2017 75
2018 71
2019 56

[RashanGary]

Bulagas Grades

2016 76
2017 61
2018 75
2019 78

[RashanGary]

Take out each of their injury shortened years and Bulaga is about a 76 compared to Wagner's 73. I don't think we're gonna see too much drop off, honestly.

Kirksey and Wagner appear to be smart financial decisions as ways to replace Martinez and Bulaga.

[texaspackerbacker]

Sheeeesh, $12 million a year for Bakhtiari ..... and the worst is that it probably will happen. The way I see it, his reputation as a pass blocker is based entirely on Aaron Rodgers' escapability. Virtually every damn time, edge rushers come roaring around his corner and force the QB out of the pocket. It's amazing to me that some others can't seem to see that. The few times we've played with a less mobile QB in there, it's been an absolute disaster. And yeah, he's pretty bad as a run blocker too. And on top of all that, he has the back problem. Probably ya'all will get your wish, though, and we'll be stuck with him beyond 2020.

To some extent, I agree about Centers being not that hard to find, although for a long time I don't recall the Packers being able to run inside. Since that peaked last season, I'd maybe give Jenkins more credit. So I suppose the thing to do is let some other team over pay for Linsley.

Let's compromise and not re-sign either him or Bakhtiari. And let's work the hell out of each and every one of the 3 or 4 or 5 young O Linemen at LT in the preseason, preferably early in games against the first string of other teams. I just bet at least one of them would stand out, and none of them would be any worse than Bakhtiari.

[RashanGary]

Bahktiari grades
2016 86
2017 87
2018 89
2019 79

Now, at LT, that will be hard to replace. Ugh, thats a tough decision. The doctors know everything about his injury history and how his body is holding up. We'll see. If they think he can hang on a few more years, you want to keep that guy. Find a permanent RT ASAP and keep digging for the heir apparent at LT.

[texaspackerbacker]

How objective are those numbers? I bet it presupposes how good somebody thinks a player is, and as long as there aren't a lot of sacks or clearly missed run blocks, the grade stays high. And as I said, with Rodgers at QB, you aren't gonna have many sacks even though the OT gets beat.

[RashanGary]

How objective are those numbers? I bet it presupposes how good somebody thinks a player is, and as long as there aren't a lot of sacks or clearly missed run blocks, the grade stays high. And as I said, with Rodgers at QB, you aren't gonna have many sacks even though the OT gets beat.

They grade for an amount of time. If the QB holds the ball, it's the QBs fault, not the lineman. Most of Rodgers scrambles fall on AR cuz he holds the ball longer than anyobe else.

[RashanGary]

AR did make holding the ball cool again though. It's the new style. AR set up the Wilson, Mahommes, Watson extended offense style.

Not hating on AR, just saying, can't expect a lineman to block forever

[texaspackerbacker]

Not just cool, but the way to have success and win games.

So when you said "they grade for an amount of time", did you mean the longer the QB holds the ball, the higher the grade? or the lower the grade? Either way, it seems to not be a very good indicator of quality in the O Lineman.