13 interior O-line prospects who fit Packers experience benchmarks
If the Packers want to add competition to the interior of their offensive line, these 13 players fit the type of experience they usually look for.
Following on from the discussion about Green Bay Packers' history of valuing experienced prospects at offensive tackle in the NFL Draft, this year’s interior offensive line class now goes under the microscope to see which players could be a fit. The Packers have drafted six players who were primarily interior O-linemen since 2017. It is not a huge sample size, as they have preferred to draft college tackles (ideally left tackles) and move them around as needed.
A quirk of their draft philosophy is that they have very rarely drafted "guard only" prospects, as they either want players to be a tackle/guard swing player or a center/guard swing. Whether it is at tackle or inside though, experience has mattered. On average, the players they drafted for the interior played 2,568 snaps, with Josh Myers the lowest, and even he played 1,511 snaps at center, starting for two years at Ohio State, which is obviously a prestigious program.
Versatility is a premium trait in the Packers’ eyes, exemplified by Elgton Jenkins, who played 1,715 center snaps in college, as well as 499 at left tackle, 285 at left guard and 169 at right tackle. Similarly, Jacob Monk played 2,361 snaps at right guard, 759 at right tackle and 539 at center. The only true guard prospect Green Bay has drafted in the Thompson/Gutekunst era was Simon Stepaniak, who played 2,127 snaps at right guard for Indiana.
He was taken in the sixth round and said post-draft that he had been preparing to play center before his sophomore year. Based on the types of interior offensive linemen the Packers have drafted in the past, here are eight ideal fits in terms of experience: Connor Lew - Auburn (1,603 center snaps) Sam Hecht - Kansas State (1,650 C) Logan Jones - Iowa (2,804 C) Jake Slaughter - Florida (2,142 C) Parker Brailsford - Alabama (2,519 C, 137 RG) Matt Gulbin - Michigan State (847 C, 748 LG, 606 RG) Jager Burton - Kentucky (976 C, 1,158 LG, 531 RG) Pat Coogan - Indiana (1,843 C, 769 LG) As mentioned in the offensive tackle version of this article, Trey Zuhn III and Brian Parker II may be candidates to convert from tackle to center. If the Packers use a late round pick on a college guard, like Stepaniak was, some potential options could be Texas A&M’s Ar’maj Reed-Adams (1,840 RG snaps, 458 LG, 141 RT), Texas’s D.