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Zach Tom

NFC North Rumors: Tom, Bears, Vikes, Lions

August 16th, 2023 at 1:24pm CST by Sam Robinson

This offseason, Zach Tom loomed as a challenger for either the Packers‘ center or right tackle spots. While it is not known just yet where the second-year blocker will end up, it looks like his playing time will increase. Tom is going to end up starting, Matt Schneidman of The Athletic notes (subscription required). A fourth-round pick out of Wake Forest, Tom started five of the nine games he played last season and saw time at four of the five O-line positions (all but center). Tom did start at center for the Demon Deacons, however, playing there and at left tackle in college. Former second-round pick Josh Myers has been the Packers’ primary center over the past two seasons. Should Tom land at right tackle, Yosh Nijman — whom the team gave a second-round RFA tender this offseason — would be on track to be a backup.

Here is the latest from the NFC North:

  • The Bears‘ running back race is still too early to call, but The Athletic’s Adam Jahns and Kevin Fishbain posit that Khalil Herbert is the current frontronner. David Montgomery‘s top backup last season, Herbert flashed when available. The former sixth-round pick averaged 5.7 yards per carry, helping the Bears lead the league in rushing. With Montgomery now in Detroit, the Bears have held a three-man competition — between Herbert, UFA pickup D’Onta Foreman and fourth-rounder Roschon Johnson — to replace him. Even if Herbert wins the starter gig, Chicago’s run-oriented attack will likely require regular workloads from multiple backs.
  • Veteran running back Mike Davis stopped through Minneapolis for a recent Vikings workout, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. Minnesota, which is all set to complete a Dalvin Cook-to-Alexander Mattison transition, recently auditioned Kareem Hunt as well. Beyond Mattison, the Vikings roster Ty Chandler (2022, Round 5) and DeWayne McBride (2023, Round 7) as their top backfield options. Davis, 30, spent last season with the Ravens but did not carve out much playing time — even for a team reeling at running back. He fared better with the Panthers and Falcons in 2020 and 2021, respectively, combining for 1,145 rushing yards in that span.
  • Byron Murphy played a versatile role for the Cardinals, lining up in the slot and outside. The Vikings are planning to capitalize on Murphy’s slot experience, with ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert noting the free agency pickup will move inside when the team shifts to its nickel package. With nickel and dime sets now more common than base alignments, Murphy should be expected to see plenty of slot work in Minnesota.
  • A 2022 second-round pick, Andrew Booth has not made a strong case to move into the starting lineup alongside Murphy. The Clemson product is running Akayleb Evans, a 2022 fourth-rounder, along with Joejuan Williams and rookie third-rounder Mekhi Blackmon. Williams and Blackmon look to be competing for the CB3 role, The Athletic’s Alec Lewis adds, and the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling notes the rookie is believed to be ahead of the former Patriots second-rounder. Evans, who played 162 defensive snaps last season, has spent the most time with the first team of this group. The Vikings have rebooted at corner, letting both Patrick Peterson and slot Chandon Sullivan walk in free agency.
  • Danielle Hunter‘s reworked deal calls for a $20.95MM cap hit, and although this is now a contract year for the veteran defensive end, two void years remain on the deal (Twitter links via Goessling and ESPN’s Field Yates). Hunter’s $3MM in incentives are classified as not likely to be earned, per Goessling. The void years would leave the Vikings with a $14.9MM dead-money hit if they do not re-sign Hunter before the 2024 league year begins. Void years led to the Vikings taking a $7.5MM dead-money hit when Dalvin Tomlinson left in free agency this year.
  • While Teddy Bridgewater secured $2.5MM guaranteed from the Lions, GOPHNX.com’s Howard Balzer tweets the veteran QB’s Lions deal is worth $3MM in base value. The Lions used a void year, keeping the cap number at $2.66MM.

Latest On Packers’ Offensive Line

May 18th, 2023 at 11:25am CST by Sam Robinson

Elgton Jenkins passed on testing free agency to sign a lucrative Packers extension, a deal that ties the Pro Bowler to Green Bay through the 2026 season and one that looks to solidify the team’s left guard spot for the foreseeable future.

The Packers entered last season with plans of moving Jenkins to right tackle — opposite a recovered David Bakhtiari, whom Jenkins had previously replaced on the left side — before shifting their younger Pro Bowl blocker back to guard. The left side of Green Bay’s offensive line — when Bakhtiari suits up, that is — is not in question. Competition will take place at other spots along the Packers’ O-line.

Although the Packers took Josh Myers in the 2021 second round and have used him as a starter in all 23 games he has played — including 17 last season — he will be challenged this year. Second-year blocker Zach Tom poses as the top challenger for both the center and right tackle spots, Matt Schneidman of The Athletic notes (subscription required).

Chosen in the fourth round out of Wake Forest, Tom started at both center and left tackle for the Demon Deacons. Bakhtiari’s issues staying on the field last season moved Tom into Green Bay’s lineup in his stead, and while a role as a super sub of sorts could end up being where Tom ends up this year, Matt LaFleur said earlier this offseason center might be the young lineman’s best spot. Pro Football Focus graded Myers as the league’s 26th-best center last season. While Myers shook off the health issues that plagued him as a rookie, the Ohio State alum will no longer be handed a gig in Green Bay.

Packers OC Adam Stenavich said (via ESPN’s Rob Demovsky) Tom will also compete at right guard, though Schneidman adds Jon Runyan Jr.‘s spot is probably safer than either Myers or right tackle Yosh Nijman‘s. PFF slotted Runyan 37th among guards last season. The second-generation pro is going into a contract year. Nijman played 555 right tackle snaps for the Pack last season; Tom played 84. Nijman being tendered at the second-round level ($4.3MM) as an RFA does illustrate Packer confidence, however. Royce Newman, who has started 22 games since his 2021 rookie year, remains on the roster as well. Newman showed rocky form last season but offers versatility in having played 100-plus snaps at guard and tackle in 2022.

PFF ranked the Packers’ O-line third in the league last season, putting the team on solid footing going into 2023. Last year featured both Bakhtiari and Jenkins rehabbing major knee injuries. Both returned in 2022. At $17MM per year, Jenkins is now the NFL’s third-highest-paid guard (behind Chris Lindstrom and Quenton Nelson). Bakhtiari remains the league’s third-highest-paid tackle, at $23MM per year. While Bakhtiari’s game count this year — after he missed 22 contests from 2021-22 — will play a significant role in his post-2023 Packers future, the franchise will begin its Jordan Love era with a quality foundation up front.

Elgton Jenkins Likely To Stay On PUP List To Start Regular Season

August 8th, 2022 at 4:27pm CST by Sam Robinson

The offseason rumors of Elgton Jenkins‘ return not transpiring until at least October are looking likelier to be true. The Pro Bowl offensive lineman is likely to begin the season on the reserve/PUP list, Matt Schneidman of The Athletic notes (subscription required).

Players currently on teams’ active/PUP lists have until August 23 to be activated. If activations do not take place, they must begin the regular season on the reserve/PUP list — a roster designation that requires a minimum four-game absence to start the season. The potential unavailability of Jenkins and All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari continues to complicate matters for the Packers’ offensive front.

Jenkins, who has played a few spots along Green Bay’s offensive line, suffered his ACL tear on Nov. 21, 2021, going down on a noncontact play. If he remains on the PUP list going into the season, the earliest he could return would be the team’s Oct. 9 game against the Giants. That would be on the longer end for an ACL return, though these severe knee injuries — as Bakhtiari’s complications from a New Year’s Eve 2020 tear show — affect each player differently. The Packers also are known for injury-related caution.

Bakhtiari remains on Green Bay’s active/PUP list as well. The team managed to go 14-2, prior to a meaningless Week 18 loss to the Lions, with its starters last season. That came entirely without Bakhtiari and partially without Jenkins, who missed 10 games (counting Green Bay’s divisional-round loss to San Francisco).

The Packers have been using Jon Runyan Jr. as their first-string left guard during camp, per Schneidman, who adds a combination of Yosh Nijman, Zach Tom, Royce Newman and Jake Hanson have been combining to fill the other three tackle and guard posts. The Packers used third- and fourth-round picks on Sean Rhyan and Tom, respectively, this year. Josh Myers, who also missed a chunk of last season, remains at center. The team’s first depth chart listed Nijman at left tackle, Newman at right tackle and Hanson, a third-year blocker, at right guard.

Jenkins, who filled in for Bakhtiari at left tackle to start last season, is going into a contract year. A strong return from the ACL tear would put him in position to command top-tier guard money. He was a Pro Bowl guard alongside Bakhtiari, who signed a top-tier tackle contract weeks before his ACL tear, in 2020. Of course, the longer both he and Bakhtiari remain out the more questions it will generate about the state of Green Bay’s O-line.