The end of 2020 could not have been worse for the Green Bay Packers after it was reported by Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, who noticed left-back David Bakhtiari suffered a knee injury at the end of the season on Thursday in practice.
The Packers’ fear is that Bakhtiari broke his ACL and was out for the season. Either way, it looks like Green Bay will make it into the playoffs without one of their best players.
Bakhtiari, a four-time All-Pro selection, is arguably the best offensive line offensive lineman in the NFL and the biggest reason defender Aaron Rodgers has been fired just 19 times this season.
Obviously, replacing Bakhtiari will be difficult. After all, there’s a reason the Packers made him the highest paid linebacker in NFL history just a month ago.
But packers have options. And an injury will not stop them from reaching the top of all sports, as long as they have an emergency plan for Bakhtiari’s absence.
The good news is that Green Bay is proud of a deep rotation on the offensive line, with several linemen registering in several positions this season.
In fact, the Packers have two of the NFL’s most versatile linebackers – Elgton Jenkins and Billy Turner – both with experience on the left wing.
Now in his second season, Jenkins was named to his first Pro Bowl after demonstrating incredible versatility. He only allowed one sack despite playing four different positions (left guard, center, left attack and right attack).
How good was Jenkins? He is only the third Packers linebacker in franchise history to be selected for a Pro Bowl in his first two seasons, according to Jason Wilde of the Wisconsin State Journal.
“You can see him playing guard to approach the center, he’s a guy who just faces the challenge, he loves the game,” offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett said last week. “It simply came to our notice then. He can do so many things and I think that only allowed him to play at a high level. “
Then there is Turner, who, after a shaky first season with the Packers in 2019, proved to be one of the team’s most valuable players this season.
Like Jenkins, Turner recorded time in several positions. He only allowed two sacks while seeing snaps in three different positions; right attack, right guard and left attack.
The versatility of both Jenkins and Turner allowed the Packers offense to make easy adjustments in the game, without causing much hiccups along the way.
“Being able to go from side to side in the middle of a game is not necessarily the physical part,” Turner said in November.
“You know that you are able to physically do those actions, those techniques that you have practiced for so long. It’s really just the mental aspect of telling yourself, “OK, instead of pushing with this foot, I have to push with the opposite. Instead of throwing this hand first, I have to use this hand. “
Also, let’s not forget, the Packers have an MVP defender in the middle of the best season of all time. Rodgers alone is able to lead the Packers to the Super Bowl.
So, although the Packers will definitely miss Bakhtiari’s presence in the rest, the team has options to replace him. And this is probably the most complete list in Green Bay since 2014. The Packers Super Bowl hopes not to be rejected due to an injury.