If you thought the worst part of Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles was Keisean Nixon fumbling the opening kickoff, think again.
Unfortunately, that was just the start of a nightmarish evening for the Green Bay Packers. The team lost numerous starters throughout the game, with Romeo Doubs, Devonte Wyatt, and Jayden Reed leaving the field and not returning with various injuries.
As important as those three players are, none of those absences had as significant an impact as the loss of left guard Elgton Jenkins. On Green Bay’s second possession, the Pro Bowl left guard exited with a shoulder injury, exposing a glaring roster issue largely unnoticed until the worst possible moment.
Subpar offensive line depth.
Green Bay’s left guard position was undoubtedly the weakest position on the field Sunday — on either team. Three players logged snaps at left guard for the Packers, and all three struggled significantly, earning three of the team’s five lowest PFF grades. Jenkins usually is a reliable presence, but he gave up two quick pressures in just four snaps before getting injured while pulling from left to right on a run play. His shoulder collided with Nolan Smith’s helmet, forcing him out of the game. His brief appearance earned him a PFF grade of 48.6, his lowest of the season by far.
Converted tackle Travis Glover replaced Jenkins. A former sixth-round pick this past season, the 6’6”, 317 lbs., Glover looks the part and is the first guy you want walking off the bus. However, his lack of experience was glaring.
Green Bay drafted him as a tackle from Georgia State, a smaller college program in the Sun Belt conference. Glover had logged just 13 NFL snaps before Sunday. Predictably, it was a disaster. He committed three penalties (two holding and one illegal man downfield) that put the struggling offense well behind the sticks. He earned a dismal 1.8 pass-blocking grade and a 38.9 run-blocking grade, good for a 27.7 overall grade over 28 hard-to-watch snaps. The coaching staff eventually benched him, as it was clear he was not a viable NFL left guard.
The next man up was another converted tackle, 2023 undrafted free-agent Kadeem Telfort. While Telfort fared slightly better than Glover, his performance was still subpar. Over 39 snaps, he earned a 45.7 PFF grade and was flagged for holding, marking four total penalties for Green Bay’s reserve guards. Unlike Glover, Telfort had at least practiced with the first team during the offseason at different positions, including left guard, making his appearance more justifiable. However, Sunday showed he is also not ready to be a reliable left guard in the NFL.
Green Bay’s starting offensive line performed well for most of the season. Ranked ninth overall by Pro Football Network with an 82.7 grade, they anchored one of the league’s top rushing attacks and ranked eighth in blitz protection, only allowing a 37.2% pressure rate. Remarkably, the line stayed healthy for most of the season.
Outside of losing first-round pick Jordan Morgan midseason, Josh Myers was the only other starter to miss time when he sat out the Detroit Lions game. All five preferred starters logged over 1,000 snaps during the regular season, so we didn’t see many reserves play. Not logging meaningful snaps until a do-or-die playoff game is not ideal for any young player, let alone against an elite-level offensive line.
However, the Packers seemed to lack a clear plan for their backups. Their primary reserves – Telfort, Glover, and fellow rookie Jacob Monk – were often healthy scratches throughout the season. Monk played guard and center at Duke and didn’t log a single offensive snap all year despite occasionally running with the first team in training camp.
Instead, the Packers chose to rely on Glover and Telfort, both converted tackles, in a playoff game against one of the best defensive fronts in all of football. This decision highlighted significant misjudgments in roster construction and player development.
The Packers have historically excelled at developing late-round offensive linemen, particularly by converting college tackles into guards. Players like T.J. Lang and Josh Sitton were college tackles that the Packers turned into guards in their program and developed into Pro Bowl players.
They are also one of the best organizations at turning late-round picks into excellent starters — players like David Bakhtiari, Corey Linsley, and current right tackle Zach Tom. Perhaps the organization that loves their offensive lineman to be versatile hoped Glover and Telfort would be next in that group. Still, Sunday’s game showed that such expectations were a gross misjudgment.
That’s not to say these young players can’t improve. Young players often take significant steps in development from year to year and can take major steps from Year 1 to Year 2. Glover, Telfort, and Monk could remain reliable depth pieces for the 2025 roster.
With Myers entering free agency and other pressing roster needs rising to the fore, the Packers might turn to Monk as an internal replacement at center and bank on a Year 2 leap. Alternatively, they could shift Tom, viewed by some within the organization as a potential Hall of Fame center, to that role and consider Glover or Telfort for right tackle if Morgan isn’t ready.
Whatever direction GM Brian Gutekunst and the coaching staff choose, improving the offensive line depth should be a priority this offseason. They should explore all avenues. They will likely add more young talent via the draft to compete with Telfort and Glover.
I also wouldn’t rule out the possibility of adding an experienced veteran on an affordable contract, similar to what they did with Andre Dillard this past season. If they don’t re-sign Myers and decide to roll with Monk or another draft pick, acquiring an experienced fallback option becomes more important.
The Packers will enter the offseason with a projected $62 million in salary cap space. That’s plenty to address their cornerback and edge group while accounting for a quality reserve on the offensive line. While the starting unit is overall strong and features ascending young talent heading into 2025, as Sunday demonstrated, a unit is only as strong as its weakest link – and it broke at the worst possible time.