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The end of 2020 couldn’t have been worse for the Green Bay Packers after reported by Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, top left tackle David Bakhtiari injured his knee in practice Thursday.
The Packers’ fear is that Bakhtiari has torn up his ACL and is finished for the season. Either way, it looks like Green Bay will enter the playoffs without one of their best players.
Four-time All-Pro selection Bakhtiari is arguably the NFL’s best offensive pass-blocking lineman and the main reason quarterback Aaron Rodgers has only been sacked 19 times this season.
Obviously, replacing Bakhtiari is going to be difficult. After all, there’s a reason the Packers made him the highest-paid offensive lineman in NFL history just a month ago.
But the Packers have options. And an injury won’t deter them from reaching the pinnacle of all sports, as long as they have a contingency plan for Bakhtiari’s absence.
The good news is that Green Bay is enjoying a deep rotation on the offensive line, with several linemen recording shots at multiple positions this season.
In fact, the Packers have two of the NFL’s most versatile linemen – Elgton Jenkins and Billy Turner – who both have left tackle experience.
Now in his second season, Jenkins has been named to his first Pro Bowl after showing incredible versatility. He only allowed one sack despite four different positions (left guard, center, left tackle and right tackle).
How good was Jenkins? He is only the third Packers lineman in franchise history to be selected for a Pro Bowl in his first two seasons, according to Jason Wilde of the Wisconsin State Journal.
“You can see him playing the goalie to tackle the middle, he’s a challenge guy, loves the game,” offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett said last week. “And he’s so smart. He can do so much, and I think it just allowed him to play at a high level.
Then there’s Turner, who, after an unstable first season with the Packers in 2019, has proven to be one of the team’s most valuable players this season.
Like Jenkins, Turner recorded the time at several positions. He only allowed two bags while seeing shots at three different positions; right tackle, right guard and left tackle.
The versatility of Jenkins and Turner allowed the Packers’ offense to make smooth adjustments in the game without causing many hiccups along the way.
“Being able to go side to side in the middle of a game doesn’t have to be the physical part,” Turner said in November.
“You know that you are able to physically do these actions, these techniques that you have been practicing for so long. It’s really just the mental aspect of being like, ‘OK, instead of pushing with that leg, I have to push with the opposite. Instead of casting this hand first, I have to use this hand. ”
Plus, we don’t forget that the Packers have an MVP quarterback in arguably his best season ever. Rodgers alone is capable of leading the Packers to the Super Bowl.
So while the Packers will certainly miss Bakhtiari’s presence for the rest of the time, the team have options to replace him. And it’s probably Green Bay’s most comprehensive roster since 2014. The Packers’ Super Bowl prospects shouldn’t be dismissed due to injury.
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