Josh Myers is losing his grip on the Packers' starting center job
Unless you're the best of the best, you're job is never safe in the NFL; that's exactly what Green Bay Packers starting center Josh Myers found out last week. The Packers ignited a battle at center when Zach Tom ran with the 1s during Tuesday's practice. Myers has had trouble with snapping the ball and […]
Unless you're the best of the best, you're job is never safe in the NFL; that's exactly what Green Bay Packers starting center Josh Myers found out last week.
The Packers ignited a battle at center when Zach Tom ran with the 1s during Tuesday's practice. Myers has had trouble with snapping the ball and blocking during camp, which are obviously two major issues for a player at his position. Therefore Matt LaFleur and co. wanted to see what the uber-versatile (and effective) Tom could do.
"Josh has done a really good job, but we need more consistency and [the] complete confidence that he's fully capable of doing that and we've seen that from him," LaFleur said Thursday. "But it's just like every other position that we have. We need to pull out the best of everybody and so when you have capable people it naturally creates some level of competition and ultimately that makes us a better football team when we have guys pushing to compete for starting jobs."
Things didn't get any better on Saturday night when Myers botched his fifth snap -that's right fifth– of training camp. Per Pack-A-Day Podcast's Andy Herman, Myers has been responsible for all of the Packers' botched snaps, thus far.
David Bakthiari's health is the only thing keeping Myers in the starting picture
Bakhtiari is a day-by-day situation when it comes to how often he practices. LaFleur has been adamant that the process will be a very fluid one. Case in point: The Packers wanted to have Bakhtiari ready for Family Night, but he didn't step on the field for a single rep.
Tom was the starting center when Bakhtiari was on the field during Tuesday's practice. Yosh Nijman is a solid right tackle, so there's definitely a world in which Bakhtiari-Elgton Jenkins-Tom-Jon Runyan Jr.-Nijman are the best front five and it's clear the Packers are intent on exploring that world. They rotated Tom and Myers, but once Bakhtiari left practice early, Nijman slid over to left tackle, Tom went to right tackle, and Myers came back in at center.
If Bakhtiari is on the field, then Tom is going to get more reps at center. It's plain and simple. Especially as Myers continues to struggle. But, the two-time All-Pro's repeated absences are keeping Myers in the conversation – even though it's obviously by default.
Myers needs to snap out of whatever funk he's in. He was the first center taken in the 2021 draft and just two years later, he's competing for his job. The optics aren't good, at all, especially when the guy taken right after him, Kansas City Chiefs center Creed Humphrey, is already considered to be one of the best at his position and has an All-Pro and a Pro Bowl nod under his belt.
If Myers doesn't improve, then he could quickly find himself on the bench. Especially once Bakhtiari becomes a regular contributor on the field.
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The rookie really needed to show the Packers that he is on track and he did it on one of the summer’s biggest stages.
Featured image via Mark Hoffman / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
