The Green Bay Packers worked out five offensive linemen on Tuesday. Included in this group is former Wisconsin Badgers offensive lineman Beau Benzschawel. Benzschawel, a consensus All-American tackle for the Badgers in 2018, has been in the NFL since going undrafted in 2019. He’s spent his last two seasons on practice squads for The Houston Texans and Washington Football Team. Most recently, Beau spent the pre-season with the Jacksonville Jaguars before being one of the final roster cuts. To date, Benzschawel has only played in 3 NFL games and worked out for teams multiple at guard, tackle and center. Since Week 2, the Packers have not had any offensive linemen on their practice squad.
In addition to Benzschhawl, the Packer’s are also giving try outs to the following players:
- G Denion Calhouse, Miss St.
- T Jean Delance, Florida
- G Nick Ford, Utah
- T Bad Olaseni, Utah
As reported by Rob Demovsky.
Green Bay Offensive Line Struggles
The early offensive line struggles have been well documented. Earlier this week, it was reported by Ryan Wood of USA Today, that the staff is debating moving Yosh Nijman to the left tackle from backup guard. Nijman admirably filled in for Bakhtiara at Right Tackle the first weeks of the season.
LaFleur said the plan yesterday was for Bakhtiari to play two series for every one that Yosh Nijman played but at halftime, Bakhtiari said he was good to go the rest of the way.
MLF said it's possible Nijman could move to right tackle — which would allow Jenkins to play guard.
— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) October 3, 2022
Pro Football Focus currently grades Royce Newman at 56.8 in pass blocking. Newman has allowed two sacks, one hit, and eight pressures in the season’s first three weeks. Elgton Jenkins has struggled at tackle. Jenkins, who returned this season after a torn ACL occurring in Week 11 last year, is graded at 51.2 in pass blocking. Don’t forget, Jenkins was a Pro Bowler at left guard. The plan is seemingly to move Jenkins back into a guard spot and Royce Newman to the backup role.
Though solid in run blocking, the Green Bay Offensive Line has given Aaron Rodgers an average of 2.6 seconds to throw in the pocket. Rodgers, who is already an efficient Quarterback, can’t keep this pace all season. If this team can’t figure out how to better protect Rodgers, it could lead to more interceptions, like the one we saw Sunday, or potentially an injury to Rodgers. In Week one, we saw Rodgers miss significant time after taking a nasty hit. Without Rodgers, this is an entirely different team. We are all pulling for the development of Jordan Love, but no one is ready to see him start for the Packers when we have one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time under center.
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