3 Days Until Training Camp: 15 Biggest Battles
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers will hit the practice field for the first time of training camp on Wednesday. There will be starting positions up for grabs and roster battles to be won.
Here’s one battle the Packers absolutely don’t want to see contested: offensive tackle.
Ideally, the Packers will line up in Week 1 with David Bakhtiari back at his customary spot at left tackle and Yosh Nijman at right tackle. However, with Bakhtiari opening training camp on the physically unable to perform list, concerns remain about the ACL tear sustained on Dec. 31, 2020.
If Bakhtiari is out, Green Bay’s offensive line would go from strength to major question. Getting his first real playing time last season, Yosh Nijman played surprisingly well in eight starts in place of Bakhtiari and Elgton Jenkins at left tackle. He is athletic and packs a powerful punch. The real dilemma would be at right tackle. During the offseason, that was the domain of Cole Van Lanen.
A sixth-round pick last year out of Wisconsin via nearby Bay Port High School, Van Lanen struggled through the preseason, landed on the practice squad and played one kneeldown snap in the regular season. With a year of experience under his belt, is Van Lanen ready to block Za’Darius Smith in the opener at Minnesota?
The other options are right guard Royce Newman, who kicked outside to right tackle a bit during the final week of OTAs, and third-round pick Sean Rhyan, who was a three-year starting left tackle at UCLA.