The Green Bay Packers’ offensive line management is absolutely befuddling me, beyond belief, right now. After Aaron Banks had to leave Sunday’s game with a toe injury,and seriously, we still don’t know how bad it is,they tried Donovan Jennings at left guard *again*.
What Even Happened on That Line?!
And what happened? Jennings’ insertion promptly led to their run game getting stuck in park. It was brutal. Then Jennings had to bail too, also due to injury. Seriously, what a mess. So then, Green Bay finally gave rookie Jager Burton the rest of the snaps at left guard, the guy who’d gotten most of the first-team reps all pre-season! And guess what? He was fine. Not great, but fine. He looked like an NFL player, which, at this point, feels like a win for that unit.
Burton: Not Flashy, But Not a Disaster Either
Let’s talk about it. He and center Sean Rhyan passed off a T/T stunt cleanly on one play. Good stuff, showing he can handle some of the tougher assignments. But then there’s this other play where the *entire* offensive line just let things die. Burton’s anchor was super poor, he lost so much depth that he then got steamrolled by the end. Belton was the primary issue there, sure, losing his one-on-one rep, but nobody covered themselves in glory on that one, ya know?
Another run play, probably a duo. Burton and Morgan didn’t get the ideal type of displacement they’d want, but the run still went for four yards. His guy made the first initial tackle, but that run wasn’t going much further anyway, with multiple Jets showing up. This play kind of sums up most of Burton’s reps in the run game: just sort of fine. He completed the assignment, didn’t totally lose the rep, but there just wasn’t much physical juice after the point of contact to give you any splash. On the bright side, he and Rhyan had a pretty clean pass on a mike/will stunt, which can be tough for interior linemen due to athleticism disadvantages. But despite Burton being able to toss his linebacker out, Jordan Love still bailed from what was actually a clean pocket if he’d just stepped up. It’s clear that last weekend’s disaster is still affecting the quarterback.
So, what’s next for Green Bay’s O-line? With Banks’ severity still a mystery and Jennings also dinged up, it looks like Burton might be seeing a lot more time at left guard. He’s not a superstar, but he’s not a total liability either, and for that messy situation, “fine” might just be exactly what their offense needs right now to keep things from completely derailing.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Acme Packing Company.
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