A lot of attention has been given to the young players on the Green Bay Packers offense set for big roles in 2022. Jordan Love will be taking over as the starting quarterback, but despite entering Year 4 of his career, has only 83 pass attempts.
A lot has been made about his inexperience, along with the skill position players surrounding him. Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs are the most experienced wide receivers that will be in the lineup; both are entering Year 2 after being second and fourth-round picks in the 2022 NFL Draft.
At tight end, Josiah Deguara is entering Year 4 but has only 39 receptions to his name. He will be competing with 2023 second-round pick Luke Musgrave and third-round pick Tucker Kraft for snaps at the position.
Alas, the players at the skill positions aren’t the only ones that will be relying on a young player in 2023 to play a big role. Along the offensive line, Zach Tom is someone to keep an eye on as well according to Seth Walden of ESPN. Tom is the non-starter on the Packers’ roster that Walden believes people should be paying attention to.
“A fourth-round pick in 2022, Tom played 462 snaps last season, most of which came at LT. He recorded a well-above-average 93% pass block win rate at tackle when he was there — impressive for a rookie.”
If all goes according to plan for the Packers, veteran David Bakhtiari will be handling things at left tackle. But a knee injury has kept him out of the lineup for portions of the last two seasons and his ability to stay in the lineup is up in the air.
Knowing that they have a capable replacement for Bakhtiari should he not be able to stay healthy is reassuring for Matt LaFleur and his staff. Even as a backup, you can be sure Tom will get on the field at points every week as the Packers are likely to rely heavily on their running game as they adjust to life with Love as the starter.
The Wake Forest product played so well as a rookie that if he replicates that, it will be hard to keep him out of the lineup.
