Green Bay Packers offensive tackle Yosh Nijman started 13 games for the team during the 2021 season. He earned the job after appearing in all 17 games the previous season, starting eight times, as Green Bay battled injuries along the offensive line. To start the 2023 campaign, however, he will be coming off the bench.
Nijman was beaten out by Zach Tom for the starting right tackle job, who will be joining David Bakhtiari, Elgton Jenkins, Josh Myers and Jon Runyan Jr. from left to right in the lineup. The writing was on the wall for Nijman as he struggled near the end of the 2022 season.
Those struggles were punctuated by a disastrous performance in the season finale against the Detroit Lions. In a win-or-go-home scenario, Nijman surrendered two sacks before getting benched in favor of Tom.
The Packers weren’t ready to throw in the towel in Nijman, however, as they placed a second-round restricted tender on him this offseason. The opportunity was there for him to reclaim a starting spot, but he was unable to do so.
Could the Packers be losing faith in Nijman to develop into a useful piece on the roster? That seems to be what offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich was hinting at when he provided an uninspiring quote about the offensive tackle.
“Right now, he’s a backup tackle for us,” Stenavich said Thursday. “That’s where he’s at and football is a very competitive sport and some guys rise to that competition and some guys don’t, so that’s basically what I have to say about that.”
Stenavich has had a big role in developing Nijman, as he was the offensive line coach when the Virginia Tech product was brought in as an undrafted free agent in 2020. There was a lot of promise shown early on, but he has begun tumbling down the depth chart this offseason.
Based on training camp and preseason performance, Nijman may not even be the first tackle called into action. Rasheed Walker played at a very high level and was receiving first-team reps near the end of training camp. He took Nijman’s spot in the lineup after the first preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Packers could hold onto him as an emergency piece, but a trade certainly remains possible. A tackle-needy team could make an offer to acquire him, but the recent comments from Stenavich certainly won’t boost his value around the league.
