Throughout training camp, questions have persisted on whether or not Josh Myers would remain as the Green Bay Packers starting center. At least up to this point, all signs point to him retaining that role to start the 2023 season.
A few weeks ago, Matt LaFleur told reporters that what they what they were looking for from Myers was more consistency. When Myers has played well, he’s been a solid performer. Last season, he ranked seventh among all centers in PFF’s pass-blocking efficiency metric. However, it’s the frequent ups and downs that he has experienced that have left the Packers looking for more stability, especially with a young quarterback.
This summer, there have been times where TJ Slaton has really given Myers fits, along with running between the tackles being a bit challenging at times this summer for the offense—although that certainly does not all fall on Myers’ shoulders. It’s worth noting, however, that last season Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon would average only 3.5 yards per carry when running between Myers and Jon Runyan, according to PFF.
There have also been a few botched snaps between Myers and Jordan Love as well, although most of those took place at the beginning of training camp, as I’m sure there was a learning curve for each in working together. The fumbled snap during the New England game was different from the previous three where there was simply a bad exchange. From the sounds of it, Myers was put in a tough situation with him believing the defender jumped offsides.
“Basically, we were using a dummy cadence and one of their d-linemen flinched,” said LaFleur after the game. “He just didn’t go into the neutral zone. When that happens, we teach the centers to snap the ball if they cross into the neutral zone. It didn’t appear that their d-lineman went into the neutral zone and Jordan wasn’t ready for the ball.”
But with all of that said, outside of Zach Tom playing with the starters at center during one practice a few weeks ago, Myers has spent just about all of his snaps at that position with Tom primarily playing at right tackle. Outside of that one day of practice, there have really no signs that a competition between the two for the starting job is even taking place.
”I think he’s done a nice job,” said LaFleur on Sunday.” It seemed like yesterday, I thought all-in-all, especially when you talk about our pass protection, it was about as clean as you could get. I don’t even know if they had any hits or pressures on the quarterback. It’s not like everything was quick game or keepers either. We had some play-action passes. We had some longer developing concepts, and I thought, for the most part, the pocket was really clean.
”Obviously, he had the one miscue with Jordan on the fumbled snap that we can’t have happen, but I though Josh has been picking up his play each and every week.”
As LaFleur mentioned, Myers — and the rest of the offensive line — played quite well against New England. In eight pass-blocking snaps, Myers allowed no pressures, after also not giving up any pressures the week before in Cincinnati. The Green Bay run game with Jones and Dillon also found success on the ground as well between the tackles, with the offensive line able to create running lanes for each of them. Jones ran for six yards on his one attempt and Dillon averaged 4.2 yards per rush on six carries.
Although Myers is entering his third NFL season, he is still a relatively inexperienced player, with just over a season’s worth of playing time under his belt after missing a large portion of his rookie season with a knee injury.
“Last year was, again, almost like he was a rookie,” said offensive line coach Luke Butkus. “Josh is doing everything he can. He’s working his butt off, I don’t think anybody works harder than Josh. He just needs to keep working like everybody else. We’re going to get better and we’re going to push each other and get better every single day.”
Earlier in the offseason, when speaking with reporters, Brian Gutekunst did say that during the 2022 pre-draft process when the team was evaluating Tom, they did believe his best position was center. That could still be true today, but with his ability to play really anywhere along the offensive line, there may be more value in having him at tackle, a premier position in this game, where the player has to be comfortable being on an island at times.
”I think he’s shown the versatility,” said LaFleur on Sunday about Tom, “where he can play a lot of different places. I think he’s done a really nice job at that position (right tackle), but it’s hard to sit here and say that’s his best position.”
As always, a lot can change, especially along the Packers offensive line where they have shown that they aren’t afraid to make last minute changes or think outside the box when it comes to how they configure that unit. There is still a week of practices left in addition to one more preseason game, but outside of conjecture, there is very little to suggest that Myers won’t be at center come Week 1.