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- Mar 19, 2019
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Countdown to Camp is a series of stories examining the Packers' roster, position by position, leading up to training camp. The fifth installment features the offensive line.
GREEN BAY – The leadership torch on the Packers' offensive line has passed seamlessly amongst the homegrown players over the years, and the process is going no differently in 2020.
A half dozen or so seasons ago, guards Josh Sitton and T.J. Lang, drafted in 2008 and '09, respectively, were the leaders and mentors. After their departures, the position room became the domain of right tackle Bryan Bulaga, the 2010 first-rounder.
Now it falls to left tackle David Bakhtiari, the 2013 fourth-round pick who's enjoyed the most decorated career of a Green Bay offensive lineman in a generation.
The 6-4, 310-pound blindside protector has been named an Associated Press All-Pro four consecutive seasons (three second-team selections and one first-team nod, in 2018). To put that streak in perspective, the only other offensive tackle in team history to receive All-Pro recognition as regularly is Hall of Famer Forrest Gregg, who had six straight selections (1962-67).
Bakhtiari said during the offseason he welcomes the leadership role, and the transition has been natural thanks to serving as Bulaga's second-in-command, so to speak, in recent years.
That new second is now center Corey Linsley (6-3, 301), drafted one year and one round after Bakhtiari in 2014. Together the duo has started 210 games for the Packers, including playoffs (Bakhtiari 115, Linsley 95), and they anchor a starting five that is undergoing personnel adjustments for the second straight year.
In 2019, free agent Billy Turner (6-5, 310) took over the right guard position and rookie Elgton Jenkins (6-5, 311) stepped in at left guard early in the year after Lane Taylor was lost for the season to a biceps injury. Jenkins went on to be named to the PFWA's All-Rookie Team, the first Packers lineman to earn the honor since Linsley and the first guard since Daryn Colledge in 2006.
This year's change is at right tackle, where the Packers lost the veteran mainstay Bulaga in free agency. Wisconsin native and Badgers alum Rick Wagner (6-6, 315), who played seven years with the Ravens and Lions, was signed to step in and maintain the group's experienced, veteran presence on the edges.
In a year without any on-field offseason work and with a potentially shortened or eliminated preseason, it's hard to envision the starting five looking any different. It's as good a bet as any that, barring injury, the Packers will line up for Week 1 (left to right), with Bakhtiari, Jenkins, Linsley, Turner and Wagner.
From there, the unit possesses a wealth of reserve talent at the interior spots but questions about the depth on the outside.