The Green Bay Packers are thought to already have one of the best offensive lines in the league. Two names that pop up right away are David Bakhtiari and Elgton Jenkins. Unfortunately for the Packers, they are both injured at the moment. While the team is hopeful they will be ready to play early in the season, maybe even week 1, the team still needs guys who will be able to step up. That is where Zach Tom comes in.
How Zach Tom did against the Saints
Jarrett Guerrera already covered most of Tom’s stats against the Saints in his post, so I won’t go into much detail. It would be an understatement to say that Zach Tom has met expectations. If anything, he has greatly surpassed them. He is pushing defenders around and always looking for the next guy to block. He continued to do so against the Saints, who’s defense is no pushover. Even though it was against backups, it doesn’t take away from how well he did.
How he has done all preseason
Now that we’ve gone over how he did this week, let’s take a look at both games. In two games, Zach Tom has yet to allow a single sack. Heck, he hasn’t even allowed a single pressure. That’s with him playing a total of 75 snaps in both games. With the two games under his belt, he has been graded by PFF with an 87.3. That is a great number for a tackle. For someone who was drafted in the fourth round, that is a great way to start in the preseason.
Royce Newman has started b both games at RT. Zach Tom would come in after Newman would be done for the day. According to Brandon Carwile’s article on Packers Wire, Tom has performed slightly better than Newman. However, Newman has played more snaps and gone against the starters and only allowed one pressure with no sacks. Newman’s grades on PFF have also been slightly lower, but again it could be because he has played against the starters of the opposing team.
What I would do next
If I were the decision maker for the team, I would start Zach Tom in the last preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs. I would have him play the first two drives at least, but possibly a third one if I felt I needed to see more. If he were to perform as well as he has so far with no drop off, then I would make him my starter at RT. At that point, the next subject would be having Royce Newman and Jake Hanson battle for the RG position, because I believe Newman played quite a few games at that position last year. If Zach Tom doesn’t perform as well against starters then I would have him as the back up while he develops more. Either way, Zach Tom is on the right track right now and I personally can’t wait to see him next week.
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