Packers: Projecting Elgton Jenkins’ impact as a rookie

Much like Rashan Gary at number 12 overall, Elgton Jenkins was a bit of a surprise for the Green Bay Packers at number 44. Here it was his impact as a rookie could look like.

The Packers‘ free agent spending spree included adding Billy Turner on a surprisingly rich contract. While the guarantees aren’t extreme, the four-year, $28 million contract raised a few eyebrows around the NFL. Turner struggled mightily after being drafted in the third round by the Miami Dolphins in 2014.

Turner eventually latched on with the Broncos and started 11 games this past season and performed well. While the signing appears to be pretty high in dollars for a player who had one solid stretch, he will be an effective problem solver for the Packers. Essentially, the team brought him in for his tremendous versatility along the offensive line. Turner can pretty much play four different positions along the offensive line.

The Packers pretty obviously are content with Turner along any part of their offensive line. This was evidenced by them passing on Andre Dillard at number 12 overall, again at 21, and passing both times on the tremendously talented Jawaan Taylor. If the Packers were only comfortable with Turner playing guard, they in no way would have passed on the riches that were available to them at offensive tackle at number 12 or 21.

Turner will play right guard this year and then likely slide out to tackle once Bryan Bulaga is done as a Packer after this year. Jenkins will then be able to step right in and be the team’s starting right guard. Jenkins, due to the signing of Turner, won’t be asked to do too much right away as a rookie, if anything at all. But due to Bulaga’s extensive injury history, Jenkins should be ready to go before every snap.

Turner is essentially the team’s primary backup right tackle at the moment even as he starts at guard. Should Turner get hurt, the Packers will slide Jenkins right in to the lineup and make Jason Spriggs the backup tackle. Jenkins therefore should expect to have his name called at some point during his rookie season. Lane Taylor is also coming off of a very disappointing season, and drafting Jenkins appears to be another way in which the team is looking to push their left guard.

Jenkins isn’t a jaw-dropping athlete, instead he is just more technically sound then almost every other guard in his draft class. The Packers opted for the player who anchored the offensive line for Mississippi State as their center, but switched to guard on several occasions and has even showed the ability to jump out to tackle should the need arise.

Between Turner and Jenkins, the Packers are getting two versatile offensive linemen who can play across the line and will finally solve the age-old problem in Green Bay of not having enough depth on the offensive line. Ted Thompson routinely buried his head in the sand when it came to addressing depth on the offensive line, and when he finally did, whiffed spectacularly on Spriggs. Jenkins and Turner is a great start towards fixing that mess.