Former Indiana Guard Simon Stepaniak Signs Rookie Deal with Packers
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Former Indiana guard Simon Stepaniak has agreed to terms on a four-year deal with the Green Bay Packers, the team that drafted him in the sixth round of the 2020 NFL Draft in late-April.
Stepaniak is slotted to get a four-year deal worth about $3.447 million, according to the NFL's collective bargaining agreement. Stepaniak played right guard most of his career at Indiana — he started 31 games — and he played well. Pro Football Focus charged him with just one sack as a senior. The Packers are hoping to use him at all three spots on the interior of the line.
“I’ll be able to play any of the three interior spots," he said during his conference call upon being drafted. “I’m focused on just getting as good as I can and learning the new playbook and just giving everything I can for the guys on the team and doing my part helping the team out.”
Stepaniak is 6-foot-4 and 315 pounds, and is very strong. He made Bruce Feldman’s annual “Freaks” list and at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis is late February, he put up 37 reps on the 225-pound bench press despite not being to fully train following an ACL injury sustained during a December practice prior to Indiana's bowl game.
Stepaniak said his rehab from the torn ACL surgery is still going well and he is still on pace to be ready for training camp.
“My knee’s progressing phenomenally. It's going really well. The timeline is to be ready for camp. It’s healing great,” he said.
Sports Illustrated's Packer site, Packer Central, talked with Indiana offensive line coach Darren Hiller about Stepaniak and how he will fit with the Packers.
“He understands angles and he’s smart,” Hiller told Packer Central recently. “He’s just got to continue to get better on the outside zone. Just watching the Packers, I know they run quite a bit of outside zone. It looks like maybe they have an outside zone and a midzone-type concept. Simon fits in.
"To me, because of his athletic ability and his strength, I think he can thrive in any type of scheme. I’ve coached guys who were maybe a little bit bigger and stiffer. The zone scheme, you have to have some athletic ability. It’s not just get on a track and block whatever’s on that track. There’s some concepts and combinations that you have to be able to get onto linebackers and run some combo blocks. He has that fluidity.”
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