B
Bill Huber
Guest
Aaron Rodgers and Corey Linsley made a combined 289 regular-season starts for the Packers. To be sure, defenses will attack an offense piloted by Jordan Love and Josh Myers much differently.
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers have a huge question hovering over their offense heading into the 2021 NFL season.
No, this isn’t another story about Aaron Rodgers.
Yes, the future of the reigning MVP is likely the critical factor that will determine the fate of the team. However, so is the success of rookie center Josh Myers in replacing All-Pro Corey Linsley.
A look at the past decade’s worth of Super Bowl champions shows teams that not only were led by stellar quarterbacks but accomplished centers who excelled with brains as much as brawn.
In 2020, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ center was Ryan Jensen. He’s started all 64 games the past four seasons.
In 2018, the New England Patriots’ center was David Andrews, who had started 57 of a possible 64 games at that point in his career.
In 2017, the Philadelphia Eagles’ center was Jason Kelce. Kelce, a five-year starter at that point in his career, won the first of his four All-Pro selections that season.
In 2016, New England’s center was Andrews, who was in his second year as Tom Brady’s center.
In 2013, the Seattle Seahawks’ center was All-Pro Max Unger. It’s worth noting the Seahawks haven’t gotten out of the divisional round of the playoffs since Unger was traded following the 2014 season.
In 2012, the Baltimore Ravens’ center was 14-year pro and six-time Pro Bowler Matt Birk.
In 2011, the New York Giants’ center was David Baas. At that point in his career, he was a seventh-year pro and full-time starter for the third consecutive season.
In 2010, the Packers’ center was Scott Wells, a six-year starter at that point in his career.
The center is considered the quarterback of the offensive line. He’s the one who dictates blocking assignments based on the defense’s looks and tendencies. With that kind of responsibility, experience is obviously a tremendous asset.
Myers had that responsibility as a two-year starter at Ohio State. He said he had a lot of freedom to adjust blocking assignments at the line of scrimmage, though the quarterback – Justin Fields – had the ability to overrule Myers. That’s typically how it works in the NFL.
If Rodgers returns at quarterback, the Packers would have 190 regular-season starts and three MVP seasons’ worth of experience to help ease Myers’ learning curve. There would be no such experienced signal-caller if Rodgers doesn’t return and the Packers go with Jordan Love. In that case, Green Bay would head into the Sept. 12 opener at New Orleans with a quarterback and center with zero snaps of regular-season NFL experience.
It's fair to wonder if the Packers would have made Linsley, with his 99 regular-season starts over seven seasons, a higher priority in free agency if they knew Love might be the starting quarterback in 2021.
That question is irrelevant now. If Green Bay indeed goes into Week 1 with Love as the quarterback of the offense and Myers as the quarterback of the offensive line, every defensive coordinator will probably throw the kitchen sink at the offense in hopes of outwitting the young tandem.
“It’s a process and not every play’s going to be perfect,” coach Matt LaFleur said when asked about that challenge during the June minicamp. “We’re just looking for guys that, when you make a mistake, can you learn from it? Can you not make the same mistake twice? And I know those guys are totally committed to doing the best job they possibly can for not only themselves but for this football team.”
If you’re wondering, here are the three exceptions from the past 11 Super Bowl champions: The 2019 Kansas City Chiefs had four-year pro but first-time starter Austin Reiter snapping to 2018 MVP Patrick Mahomes, the 2015 Denver Broncos had rookie Matt Paradis snapping to the legendary Peyton Manning, and the 2014 Patriots had rookie Bryan Stork snapping to Brady.
The exceptions show the Packers can win a Super Bowl this year if Myers is snapping to Rodgers. Can the Packers win it all in 2021 with Myers snapping to Love? If so, it would be a history-making feat. The only thing close during the Super Bowl era would be the 1999 St. Louis Rams, who had first-year quarterback Kurt Warner taking snaps from fourth-year center but second-year starter Mike Gruttadauria.
The Super Bowl was the furthest thing from Myers’ mind as the offseason practices wrapped up last week. He’s enjoying the grind of learning the offense inside-out so he can be an asset not just physically but mentally.
“One of the reasons why I love center so much is because I do have to learn the entire play,” he said. “At other positions at times, you can get by with just knowing your job, and it will eventually come up and catch up to you. But at center, that's not really the case and that's kind of what I love about it. You're forced to know everything So, it can be harder on the front end because there's so many things going through your head when you get a play call. But, on the back end, I think it's an advantage because I know everything that's going on around me.”
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers have a huge question hovering over their offense heading into the 2021 NFL season.
No, this isn’t another story about Aaron Rodgers.
Yes, the future of the reigning MVP is likely the critical factor that will determine the fate of the team. However, so is the success of rookie center Josh Myers in replacing All-Pro Corey Linsley.
A look at the past decade’s worth of Super Bowl champions shows teams that not only were led by stellar quarterbacks but accomplished centers who excelled with brains as much as brawn.
In 2020, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ center was Ryan Jensen. He’s started all 64 games the past four seasons.
In 2018, the New England Patriots’ center was David Andrews, who had started 57 of a possible 64 games at that point in his career.
In 2017, the Philadelphia Eagles’ center was Jason Kelce. Kelce, a five-year starter at that point in his career, won the first of his four All-Pro selections that season.
In 2016, New England’s center was Andrews, who was in his second year as Tom Brady’s center.
In 2013, the Seattle Seahawks’ center was All-Pro Max Unger. It’s worth noting the Seahawks haven’t gotten out of the divisional round of the playoffs since Unger was traded following the 2014 season.
In 2012, the Baltimore Ravens’ center was 14-year pro and six-time Pro Bowler Matt Birk.
In 2011, the New York Giants’ center was David Baas. At that point in his career, he was a seventh-year pro and full-time starter for the third consecutive season.
In 2010, the Packers’ center was Scott Wells, a six-year starter at that point in his career.
The center is considered the quarterback of the offensive line. He’s the one who dictates blocking assignments based on the defense’s looks and tendencies. With that kind of responsibility, experience is obviously a tremendous asset.
Myers had that responsibility as a two-year starter at Ohio State. He said he had a lot of freedom to adjust blocking assignments at the line of scrimmage, though the quarterback – Justin Fields – had the ability to overrule Myers. That’s typically how it works in the NFL.
If Rodgers returns at quarterback, the Packers would have 190 regular-season starts and three MVP seasons’ worth of experience to help ease Myers’ learning curve. There would be no such experienced signal-caller if Rodgers doesn’t return and the Packers go with Jordan Love. In that case, Green Bay would head into the Sept. 12 opener at New Orleans with a quarterback and center with zero snaps of regular-season NFL experience.
It's fair to wonder if the Packers would have made Linsley, with his 99 regular-season starts over seven seasons, a higher priority in free agency if they knew Love might be the starting quarterback in 2021.
That question is irrelevant now. If Green Bay indeed goes into Week 1 with Love as the quarterback of the offense and Myers as the quarterback of the offensive line, every defensive coordinator will probably throw the kitchen sink at the offense in hopes of outwitting the young tandem.
“It’s a process and not every play’s going to be perfect,” coach Matt LaFleur said when asked about that challenge during the June minicamp. “We’re just looking for guys that, when you make a mistake, can you learn from it? Can you not make the same mistake twice? And I know those guys are totally committed to doing the best job they possibly can for not only themselves but for this football team.”
If you’re wondering, here are the three exceptions from the past 11 Super Bowl champions: The 2019 Kansas City Chiefs had four-year pro but first-time starter Austin Reiter snapping to 2018 MVP Patrick Mahomes, the 2015 Denver Broncos had rookie Matt Paradis snapping to the legendary Peyton Manning, and the 2014 Patriots had rookie Bryan Stork snapping to Brady.
The exceptions show the Packers can win a Super Bowl this year if Myers is snapping to Rodgers. Can the Packers win it all in 2021 with Myers snapping to Love? If so, it would be a history-making feat. The only thing close during the Super Bowl era would be the 1999 St. Louis Rams, who had first-year quarterback Kurt Warner taking snaps from fourth-year center but second-year starter Mike Gruttadauria.
The Super Bowl was the furthest thing from Myers’ mind as the offseason practices wrapped up last week. He’s enjoying the grind of learning the offense inside-out so he can be an asset not just physically but mentally.
“One of the reasons why I love center so much is because I do have to learn the entire play,” he said. “At other positions at times, you can get by with just knowing your job, and it will eventually come up and catch up to you. But at center, that's not really the case and that's kind of what I love about it. You're forced to know everything So, it can be harder on the front end because there's so many things going through your head when you get a play call. But, on the back end, I think it's an advantage because I know everything that's going on around me.”
Continue reading...
