Packers’ $77 million veteran could provide a massive boost to a position group desperately in need of stability
Green Bay’s pass block win rate sits dead last in the NFL at 18%, and the guard position has been a revolving door of pressure allowed through three weeks.
The Green Bay Packers own the worst pass-blocking offensive line in the NFL. They rank 32nd in pass block win rate at just 18%, according to ESPN, and no other team sits below 22% (the Arizona Cardinals are 31st). Injuries have compounded the talent deficiencies along the line, and left guard Aaron Banks’ potential return is a significant part of that equation.
“Another guy we have to work through the week and we’ll see,” head coach Matt LaFleur said on Monday about Banks’ potential availability.
Banks’ sequence of injuries
Aaron Banks missed the season opener with a knee injury. He returned for the Week 2 game against the New York Jets but left after only 22 offensive snaps, then missed the Week 3 Thursday night game against the Atlanta Falcons because of a toe injury. Banks did not practice at all last week and was listed as a DNP on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before being ruled out on the eve of the game.
If Banks can return after the mini-bye to play against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, it would represent a massive difference for Green Bay. Not necessarily because Banks is a great player. He certainly has not played up to the four-year, $77 million contract the Packers gave him in free agency last year, averaging $19.25 million a year. But Banks is at least an average starter who brings competent play to a guard position that badly needs it.
Throughout his 22 snaps in Week 2 against the Jets, Banks did not give up a single pressure. In the Falcons game, rookie fifth-rounder Jager Burton, who replaced Banks at left guard, gave up 10 pressures alone.
The numbers across the rest of the offensive line are not very different. Jacob Monk has already given up 11 pressures this season, Anthony Belton has given up eight, Jordan Morgan has given up 11. Center Sean Rhyan is probably the best man along the line, giving up six through three full games. Pressures are coming from everywhere.
Banks leads the Packers by far in PFF pass block grade (82.3) through three weeks. The second-best guard on the roster by that metric is Donovan Jennings at 53.7. Monk sits at 41.9, and Burton is at 17.2. Going from 17.2 to 82.3 at the same position is a potentially transformative difference. You might not value PFF grades much, but it generally points in the direction of what’s happening upfront.
What the left side could look like
Banks would not fix the offensive line by himself. But competent play at left guard would make things much easier for quarterback Jordan Love. It would also stabilize the left side of the line, because Morgan has not been great at left tackle but has been passable, and Rhyan has been a solid center.
The right side remains a bigger concern with Monk at guard and Belton at tackle. The Packers do have options to mix things up, though. Green Bay signed Laken Tomlinson over the weekend off the Dallas Cowboys’ practice squad and added Mekhi Becton. Last week, they had also signed Cordell Volson to the practice squad, and while he is still learning the offense, he could potentially be elevated soon. At tackle, the Packers could test John Williams, who has practiced more at left tackle but had a strong preseason and could be an option on the right side if the coaching staff is not satisfied with Belton.
The offensive line will probably remain a major question mark throughout the entire season. But if Banks can return this week against Tampa Bay, he has the potential to at least stabilize a unit that badly needs it.
