GREEN BAY — The number jumps off the page — or off the Green Bay Packers’ team website, as it were.
As the Green Bay Packers prepare to embark on the 2019 season under first-year head coach Matt LaFleur, changing offensive systems — not to mention run-blocking schemes — and starting fresh on that side of the ball for the first time in more than a decade, they do so with an ultra-experienced offensive line as the foundation.
The five projected starters up front — left tackle David Bakhtiari, left guard Lane Taylor, center Corey Linsley, right guard Billy Turner and right tackle Bryan Bulaga — have a combined 31 years, 408 games and 325 starts (including playoffs) of experience among them.
Add in five potential backups who also have NFL regular- or post-season action of their own — like interior linemen Justin McCray (25 games, 13 starts) and Lucas Patrick (26 games, six starts) — and the Packers have one of the most experienced lines in the league.
Everywhere except in their offensive line coach, that is.
Stenavich
After moving on from 55-year-old James Campen, who spent a combined 20 years as a Packers player and coach, including the past 11 seasons as line coach, LaFleur hired 36-year-old Adam Stenavich, who has never been a lead offensive line coach and actually played for Campen as a Packers practice-squad player in 2006 and a training-camp prospect in 2007.
LaFleur decided not to retain Campen, who said in an ESPN Wisconsin interview following his departure for the Cleveland Browns that he had “fought like hell” to stay in Green Bay, in part because he wanted a line coach well-versed in the outside zone blocking scheme he will employ in the run game. Stenavich came to Green Bay after serving as the San Francisco 49ers’ assistant line coach.
Stenavich is one of a host of young coaches the 39-year-old LaFleur hired as his assistants, but his inexperience should be mitigated by how much football his charges have played.
“I think we can maybe relate to the players in a different way, have a different perspective on things. How we motivate and coach might be a little different than an older coach,” Stenavich replied when asked how he might relate to such veteran players while having to follow Campen — a veteran who may have been the most-respected position coach on ex-head coach Mike McCarthy’s staff.
“But it really doesn’t matter. It’s really about how you coach and how you teach. You can be 55, you can be 36, as long as you are on your stuff and you’re presenting it in a way that makes sense so the players can buy in, that’s what it’s all about.”
Throughout the offseason, it certainly appeared that the veterans were buying into the new system, as the open-to-the-media practices were dotted with moments where Bakhtiari, Bulaga, Linsley or another vet would stop a drill to ask Stenavich or assistant line coach Luke Butkus for details on a technique or blocking pattern.
While the pass-blocking expectations won’t be vastly different than what they’ve done while protecting quarterback Aaron Rodgers in the past, the zone blocking scheme will be. The Packers did some of it under McCarthy, but his run-game philosophy was a hybrid that utilized more of a power scheme. That figures to be the biggest adjustment for the linemen, and while the offense worked on the ground game throughout the offseason, training camp will be the more important testing ground.
“I think you’ll get a better feel once the training camp stuff comes in,” offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett said. “But I think they’re understanding of what we’re trying to accomplish. They’re very athletic guys up front, so you can see them move and run and take advantage of that. So, I think that’s been really good.
“We got see Bakhtiari run around the corner and watch him use his athleticism, and I think that’s what this system’s going to allow those guys to do with Corey and everybody. So, it’s exciting.”
Here’s a closer look at the offensive line as the Packers prepare for training camp, which kicks off with its first practice Thursday morning:
Depth chart
69 David Bakhtiari: LT, 6-foot-4, 310 pounds, age 27, seventh year from Colorado.
65 Lane Taylor: LG, 6-3, 324, 29, seventh year from Oklahoma State.
63 Corey Linsley: C, 6-3, 301, 27, sixth year from Ohio State.
77 Billy Turner: RG, 6-5, 310, 27, sixth year from North Dakota State.
75 Bryan Bulaga: RT, 6-5, 314, 30, 10th year from Iowa.
64 Justin McCray: G, 6-3, 317, 27, third year from Central Florida.
78 Jason Spriggs: T, 6-6, 301, 25, fourth year from Indiana.
74 Elgton Jenkins: G, 6-5, 311, 23, rookie from Mississippi State.
62 Lucas Patrick: G, 6-3, 313, 25, third year from Duke.
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