Green Bay Packers: Second quarter rookie report
By Kenn Korb
Jason Spriggs
Like his draft-mate before him, Spriggs is stuck as another piece in a deep group of options in the trenches. Unlike Clark however, Spriggs hasn’t needed to see the field much at all — and hopefully, that will continue to be the case.
Spriggs got in some snaps against the Cowboys in Week 6 with Bryan Bulaga going down with an injury late in that game. In those snaps, he was below-average overall; his pass blocking was average on its own, but his run blocking was far into replacement-level territory.
It should be fine that Spriggs isn’t exactly starter-quality right now, however. Per Pro Football Focus, the Packers have consistently held the title of best pass blocking line throughout the entirety of this 2016 season. Every one of the usual starters from the year are at least an 82.2 rating on the season, and for the most part everyone has stayed healthy outside of a handful of drives missed within games between them. The only notable injury so far is to J.C. Tretter, and that just happened a week ago; in his place, Corey Linsley — the starter at center the past two seasons — stepped in and played well in his first action following a stint on the Physically Unable To Perform (PUP) list.
Even when Tretter is able to return, Linsley seems likely to hold onto his starting spot; this leaves Tretter as the probable first-up off the bench not only for the center position, but also at either tackle spot. He’s also just one of multiple linemen on Green Bay’s roster which can play in a handful of spots across the line. Besides Tretter, Don Barclay (infamous as he may be) is able in theory to play at tackle or guard; with the experience gap between those guys and Spriggs, they’ll be first up for snaps at the spots he would have a chance.
Hopefully we won’t see too much more of Spriggs this season; if he does see the field, it means the offensive linemen ahead of him have been stricken down by the same injury bug which has eaten away at plenty of other areas on this team.