Getty The Packers consider Sean Rhyan a "viable" option to play center in 2023.
Sean Rhyan’s rookie campaign with the Green Bay Packers was the epitome of disappointment, having played zero offensive snaps and missing the final six games of the regular season with a six-game suspension for a PED violation.
The Packers, however, believe the 2022 third-rounder could be a “viable” candidate to compete at center with two-year starter Josh Myers for the upcoming 2023 season.
Rhyan, who played primarily left tackle at UCLA, was defined as a guard when offensive line coach Luke Butkus spoke about him prior to the start of the in-person portion of the Packers’ offseason program, but he indicated he would be getting reps at center once the on-field workouts began. And Rhyan did exactly in the first week of OTAs, getting enough reps at the position for reporters to ask about his viability at center.
“At this time of the year, we kind of experiment with a lot of these guys, but yeah, absolutely,” Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said on May 23 when asked if center could end up being Rhyan’s best position. “He’s a viable candidate to potentially be inside. We need more than one guy to snap. We always want to train three or four guys to get that done.”
Josh Myers Remains Frontrunner at C — For Now
GettyJosh Myers is likely still the frontrunner for the Packers’ center job in 2023.
Entering the second week of OTAs, Myers is still the frontrunner to start the 2023 season as the Packers’ starting center after playing 1,440 snaps at the position over his first two seasons. In terms of longevity, though, the No. 62 overall pick in the 2021 draft has some work to do to prove he can be the fixture Green Bay wants him to be.
Myers caught a rough break as a rookie, suffering a torn MCL and a tibial plateau fracture in Week 6 against Chicago that resulted in him having multiple surgeries and missing the majority of the 2021 season. Because of that, Butkus viewed Myers “almost like he was a rookie” heading into his second campaign, but Myers continued to struggle in 2022 even with a full season unimpeded by injuries.
On one hand, Myers was a sturdy pass-blocker for the Packers in his second year. He yielded just three sacks and eight pressures over his 643 pass-blocking snaps, ranking better than every center except for Philadelphia’s Jason Kelce in terms of pressures allowed (among centers who played 80% of their team’s offensive snaps in 2022).
Overall, though, Myers finished as Pro Football Focus’ 24th-highest-graded center (60.4) overall out of the 31 who played at least 679 snaps (50%) in 2022. He was particularly bad in terms of run-blocking, which figures to be an even bigger part of the Packers’ offensive game plan now that Aaron Rodgers is no longer under center.
“Josh is doing everything he can,” Burkus said on May 17, via PackersNews.com “He just needs to keep working, just like everybody else.
“He’s not, not meeting our expectations. That’s not what we’re talking about. He just needs to keep working to get better, like everybody in that room.”
Packers Have ‘A Lot of Competition on the Right Side’
GettyPackers guard Jon Runyan Jr. will also be fighting for his starting job in 2023.
Myers isn’t the only offensive lineman fighting for his job in 2023. Packers offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich — the team’s line coach from 2019 to 2021 — indicated the only truly settled positions right now are left tackle (with All-Pro David Bakhtiari) and left guard (with Pro Bowler Elgton Jenkins), leaving the remaining mix of veterans and youngsters to vie for the other three starting roles in the coming months.
“We’ve got a lot of competition on the right side, whether it’s right guard, right tackle or even center,” Stenavich said on May 16. “We’re just going to go out there and kind of put these guys in different spots. I know right now [2022 fourth-round pick] Zach [Tom] is going to compete a lot at right guard and right tackle and possibly some at center, just kind of see how that goes. But like you said, just getting those best five out there that gel the best and are the most physical, that’s what I’m looking for.”
Tom will be one of the most fascinating pieces to watch for the Packers heading into the new season. He was thrown into the fire due to injuries during multiple points in his rookie campaign with the team, playing most of his snaps at left tackle but also getting reps at right tackle as well as both guard spots. With a strong camp and preseason, he could very well contend for one of the three open starting jobs for 2023.
The Packers also have two-year starter Jon Runyan Jr. trying to hold onto his right guard job against challenges from Tom, Rhyan and Royce Newman. He has all the reason in the world to be motivated entering the final year of his rookie contract, but the Packers could opt to go younger — such as with Tom or Rhyan — and move him back into the reserves if the competition shakes out that way before September.
