The end of 2020 couldn’t have been worse for the Green Bay Packers after that reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, who highlighted that left-back David Bakhtiari suffered a knee injury in practice on Thursday in practice.
The Packers ’fear is that Bakhtiari will break his ACL and be finished for the season. Either way, it looks like Green Bay will make it into the playoffs without one of their best players.
Bakhtiari, a four-time All-Pro selection, is arguably the NFL’s best passing blocking offensive line player and the main reason quarterback Aaron Rodgers has only been sacked 19 times this season.
Viously, obviously, replacing Bakhtiari will be difficult. After all, there’s a reason the Packers made him the highest-paid offensive line player in NFL history just a month ago.
But the Packers have options. And an injury will not deter them from reaching the top of all sports, as long as they have a contingency plan for Bakhtiari’s absence.
The good news is that Green Bay has a deep rotation on the offensive line, with multiple linebackers scoring points in various positions this season.
In fact, the Packers have two of the NFL’s most versatile linebackers: Elgton Jenkins and Billy Turner, both with experience on the left.
Now, in his second season, Jenkins received his first Pro Bowl after showing incredible versatility. He has allowed only one sack despite playing four different positions (left, center protection, left entry and right entry).
How good has Jenkins been? According to Jason Wilde of the Wisconsin State Journal, he is the third Packers linebacker in franchise history to be selected for a Pro Bowl in his first two seasons.
“He looks like he’s playing guard to attack the center, he’s a guy who just overcame the challenge, he loves the game,” offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett said last week. “And he’s so smart. He can do a lot, and I think that has only allowed him to play at a high level.
Then there’s Turner, who, after a tremendous first season with the Packers in 2019, has proven to be one of the team’s most valuable players this season.
Like Jenkins, Turner has recorded time in various positions. He has allowed only two sacks while seeing puzzles in three different positions; right attack, right guard and left attack.
The versatility of both Jenkins and Turner has allowed the Packers ’offense to make smooth adjustments to the game without causing many hiccups along the way.
“Being able, in the middle of a game, to go from side to side is not necessarily the physical part,” Turner said in November.
“You know that you are able to physically do these actions, these techniques that you have practiced for so long. It’s really just the mental aspect of telling yourself, ‘Okay, instead of pushing with that leg, I have to push with the opposite. Instead of throwing that hand first, I have to use that hand. ”
Also, not to forget that the Packers have a quarterback MVP in the middle of their best season, no doubt. Rodgers is only able to lead the Packers to the Super Bowl.
So while the Packers will surely miss Bakhtiari’s presence the rest of the way, the team has options to replace him. And this is probably Green Bay’s most complete list since 2014. The Packers Super Bowl hopes he won’t be ruled out due to injury.