The Green Bay Packers can credit their offensive linemen as a major factor in their powerhouse offense. Despite key players missing time and frequent shuffles, the line perseveres. The Packers have relied on ‘next man up’ philosophy, and will have to do so yet again.
Center Corey Linsley suffered a sprained MCL against the Bears and will be out for 3-6 weeks. In his absence, Elgton Jenkins likely moves to center, while rookie Jon Runyan Jr. gets an extended look at left guard.
Runyan, a sixth-round pick and son of former Eagles offensive tackle Jon Runyan Sr., has looked promising in his limited snaps thus far. He got his first snaps at LG in week one and has played 50 snaps in both the Colts and Bears games, filling in solidly when Elgton Jenkins had to switch positions.
After playing tackle in college, he entered the NFL as a guard. While his football intelligence and character were praised, scouting reports focused on lack of refined technique as his biggest downfall.
Runyan is exceeding expectations in Green Bay. The game doesn’t seem to be too big for the rookie, according to teammate David Bakhtiari. The Athletics’ Matt Schneidman captured the following.
With questions at offensive line coming in 2021, Runyan is auditioning for a spot as a starting guard for the Packers. The coming weeks will give us a long view of the ascending player. The Packers have a good history of finding star linemen later in the draft. Runyan could be the next.
Matt Hendershott is a Packers fan and Miller High Life enthusiast from Northwest Ohio. He has a Master of Arts in Media and Communication from Bowling Green State University. You can follow him on Twitter @MattHendershott.
4 responses to “Rookie Jon Runyan Jr. enters the spotlight”
I Liked the idea of this pick from day 1. I had no expectations that he’d see the kind of playing time that’s been forced on him. In his first game, I want to say he played like 13 snaps, and he played nasty! Thats a big deal. As David stated, he’s going to be raw in adjustments and in understanding what he’s looking at, but if you play nasty, it’s going to cover a multitude of things. This is a great opportunity for John very early in his career. It’s the kind of stuff longer careers are build on. Also, Lucus Patrick? Wow, “Nasty”! Dominant looking last week. Nice to have 2 young guy’s coming up on this roster and playing like that, we’ll need it!
Packers’ best pick of last year’s draft. A sixth round steal.
Packers’ best pick of last year’s draft. A sixth round steal.