As they get ready to play the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving this week, the Green Bay Packers are juggling a number of injuries. With their current record of 4-6, Green Bay may have too much ground to make up to catch Detroit (8-2) atop the NFC North. Nevertheless, the Packers are currently the first team eliminated from the NFC Playoff picture, so a few surprising victories in the final stretch could secure their postseason spot.
Of course, for that to occur, a lot of things need to go right. Errors must be corrected, and the young offense must keep getting better. Nevertheless, the Packers face two difficult games in a row (at Detroit and at home against the Chiefs) before playing five games in a row against very beatable opponents to close out the season:
With a 6-5 record, the Vikings presently occupy the seventh and last NFC playoff spot. Green Bay might actually have a shot at making the postseason if they can string together a few victories, including one-handed victories over Detroit and Kansas City in addition to victories over the teams they are “supposed to beat.”
Although many people would consider that to be a pipe dream, it is actually possible. But the Packers must make one significant offensive adjustment if they are serious about starting their best players.
It’s a reasonable argument to make who should start and play more at left tackle, Yosh Nijman or Rasheed Walker. Both players, though, have had both successful and unsuccessful moments in the game. To put it briefly, the coaches must assess each player’s performance each week and make split decisions about playing time. The front office will undoubtedly give the left tackle position a close examination during the offseason.
However, one player stands out as being noticeably worse than the rest of his fellow countrymen on the offensive line when it comes to fielding the best five offensive linemen: Jon Runyan Jr. The Packers would start right guard Sean Rhyan, a third-round pick in 2022, in the starting lineup if they were truly committed to playing their best five.
How awful has Runyan been exactly? Even though PFF rankings are not ideal, in this instance they do a good job of illustrating how awful Runyan has been in comparison to the other starting linemen:
Runyan is the Packers starting lineman with the lowest grade in both run blocking and pass blocking, as can be seen. Now, all of the offensive line—aside from Tom—has had difficulty run blocking, but Runyan has been the worst by far.
