Josh Myers’ NFL career has not been an easy one so far. The Green Bay Packers picked Myers, a center, in the second round of the 2021 NFL draft. He had massive shoes to fill from the start, taking the torch from Corey Linsley, a First-Team All-Pro the season before. Linsley struck gold in early 2021, parlaying his career year into a five year, $62.5 million contract with the Los Angeles Chargers that made him the highest paid center in the league.

Myers came to a job with some of the highest stakes—but also the possibility for tremendous success—in the league: keeping superstar quarterback Aaron Rodgers upright.

While protecting one of the greatest quarterbacks the league has ever seen comes with a boatload of stress, especially for an untested rookie, the Packers are rarely out of it with Rodgers at the helm. Even after a disappointing 2022 season that saw them miss the playoffs and finish third in the NFC North, Ohio’s Sportsbooks lists Green Bay as having the tenth-best odds (+3500) to win the Super Bowl next season, make sure to take advantage from their promo codes. Rodgers is notoriously eccentric, and it’s becoming increasingly unclear what Rodgers will decide to do with his future, whether he’ll retire, demand a trade or run it back in Green Bay, but if there’s one shred of a possibility that Rodgers suits up for the Packers next season, bookies know better than to count them out. Much like the Packers, Myers has struggled with up and down play over the past two seasons.

Path to the Pros

Myers is an Ohio native, born in Dayton, and he grew up in nearby Miamisburg.

Myers got the chance to be a home state hero in college, committing to the Ohio State Buckeyes. He earned First-Team All Big Ten honors during his last year in Columbus, prompting the Packers to spend a high pick on him. Myers agreed to a four year, $5.58 million deal with Green Bay following the draft in accordance with the rookie contract guidelines set forth by the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement.

Unfortunately, the selection has yet to pan out: while his current contract is fully guaranteed, he’ll have to do more to prove himself ahead of any future deal. A strong training camp and preseason performance was enough for the Packers to give him the starting role, but Myers played in just six games as a rookie. He missed a game with a finger injury, then tore his MCL and suffered a tibial plateau fracture in his first week back, a pair of injuries that kept him out until the last week of the season.

Knee surgery technology has improved in leaps and bounds in the last decade alone: Myers’ MCL surgery kept him out for just ten weeks when it would’ve ended his season and dramatically limited his offseason workouts just a few years ago.

Even so, he’s still dealing with the impacts of the injury, opting to wear braces on both knees—limiting his mobility—in an attempt to stay healthy.

Myers had an up and down 2022 season, allowing three sacks. Rumors have swirled around him since Green Bay’s season ended: the Packers may opt to draft, sign or trade for another center instead of waiting for Myers to figure things out, especially with Rodgers’ window to win a Super Bowl beginning to close.

It’s not his fault, but Myers also has to deal with comparisons to Chiefs’ center Creed Humphrey.

Kansas City picked Humphrey one selection after the Packers grabbed Myers, and he went on to win All-Rookie and All-Pro honors in his first two seasons in the league. Even if Myers turns out to have a solid NFL career, he and Packers fans might still have to deal with the stigma of what could have been.