When the Green Bay Packers began training camp last week, there was no question whom the coaching staff had decided would take over at left tackle while All Pro David Bakhtiari rehabs his knee injury.  Since day one, Elgton Jenkins has moved from his left guard spot over to tackle.  It’s always difficult to accurately assess line play when you’re not playing full contact football, but by all accounts, Jenkins has been unmovable.  Even edge rusher Rashan Gary, who is having an outstanding camp, embarrassing offensive linemen, has been unable to get around the third year veteran. 

“Elgton has really been impressive so far at left tackle” says Dean Lowry, who lines up on the other side of the ball every day.  “We know how powerful he is on the inside, so to see him really display his feet and his athleticism on the outside, that’s been really impressive just watching him.” 

The decision to go with Jenkins at LT represents a change of heart on the part of the coaching staff.  Starter Bakhtiari missed four regular season and two playoff games in 2020.  In each one of those games, the coaches chose to start Billy Turner over Jenkins at the position.  Turner was adequate for the most part, but looked badly overmatched against Tampa Bay’s aggressive defense in the NFC Championship game (as did the entire O-line).  Turner would wind up playing 217 snaps at left tackle, compared to just 27 for Jenkins. 

Apparently, the coaches decided that would change in 2021.  “Coach Steno (offensive line coach Adam Stenavich) told me I would get a shot at left tackle, so I’ve been working on it all offseason” Jenkins told the media Tuesday. 

The former second round pick has been a blue chip gem from the start.  In 2020, just his second year in the league, he made the Pro Bowl as a left guard.  But that doesn’t begin to tell the story.  During the season he played four of the five line positions.  27 snaps at left tackle, 681 at left guard, 297 at center, and 32 at right tackle.  Amazingly, he seems equally proficient everywhere he lines up.  In a total of 1,037 snaps, he allowed just one sack and merely two hits on the quarterback (per Pro Football Focus). 

Playing tackle is not new to him.  He played it for two years at Mississippi State, before he was shifted to center.  “I don’t really have a favorite position” he says,  “but I’m more comfortable at left guard right now.”  He credits Bakhtiari, Turner and all of the other O-linemen for helping him adjust to playing on the outside.   It’s going well in camp. Very well.  So well, in fact, that it brings up a poignant question: 

Is Jenkins too good, too talented, too valuable to be playing guard?  No disrespect to the guard position, but there is a reason that tackle is among the highest paid positions in the NFL.  It’s their job to stymie the league’s premier pass rushers.  Often, they are the guardians of the franchise, especially in Green Bay, where the health of a certain future Hall of Fame signal caller means everything to the team.  To make a run at the Super Bowl, you need the entire offensive line to be good.  You need your tackles to be great. 

Jenkins is clearly the second best O-lineman on the team.  As Bakhtiari ages and battles injuries, Jenkins may surpass him sooner than later.  Shouldn’t he be the permanent right tackle?  And the starter-in-waiting for the day Bakh retires?  Wouldn’t it be a better long term decision to make that move now?  Return Turner to right guard, use newly acquired Dennis Kelly, who started 16 games for the Titans last year, as the fill-in left tackle,, and let Lucas Patrick, Ben Braden and Jon Runyan compete for the left guard spot? 

Perhaps the reason the coaches would prefer to keep Jenkins at guard is the ability to field the best left side in the league, a side you can dependably run behind on third and short....a side you can bootleg to and not worry a renegade linebacker will flatten your quarterback.  Maybe, in the big picture, the coaches feel it’s better to be just okay on one side, if you can be outstanding on the other.   

There might be another reason.  This one economic.  The versatile athlete will be heading into a contract year in 2022, a year which is already a salary cap mess.  Jenkins, no matter where he plays, will be worth at or near the highest salary at his position.  Trent Williams and Bakhtiari currently share that distinction for tackles, averaging $23 million per year.  The highest paid guard is Washington’s Brandon Scherf at just over $18 million.  If you are the front office, which figure would you prefer to match?  The Packers would surely rather make Jenkins the highest paid guard than the highest paid tackle.  But to justify that, they must play him primarily as a guard. 

When the Packers open the season at New Orleans, Elgton Jenkins seems a lock to be the left tackle starter.  When David Bakhtiari comes back, it seems equally certain Jenkins will return to the inside.  Whatever the reason, I trust the coaches are making the right decision here.  But one has to wonder if it’s only a matter of time before he moves back to tackle...... and never leaves.