Green Bay Packers have a few key needs in this week’s NFL Draft. One of them is an offensive tackle. Ricky Wagner is their right tackle, but he is on a two-year deal. Wagner will likely be gone after those two years. Green Bay needs to find their long-term replacement for Bryan Bulaga. Packers would love it if they found the next David Bakhtiari in this draft, but for the right side. Since Bulaga, Green Bay has struck out in the area of drafting right tackles. Here are my top five for the position. Also, we have a bonus top three for the center position. Packers’ starting center Corey Linsley is a free agent after this year. Centers are not content drivers for football.

1. Isaiah Wilson – He is more of a project than a starter right away for the right tackle. That doesn’t concern me considering Wagner and other potential right tackle replacements. He is massive and already a solid run blocker. Wilson needs to spend more time on his pass-blocking skills. The potential is there for him. Wilson also played right tackle mostly at Georgia.

2. Hakeem Adenji – Looking at Adenji’s profile, I see a future NFL starting right tackle? Perhaps. He showed the ability both pass block and run block effectively in college. Brugler highlights his ‘professional mindset. Adenji is a smart dude that should have went to the Air Force, but due to a cashew allergy, they rejected him. The Kansas tackle needs to get stronger out of the gate, but that will come with time. \

3. Ben Bartch – Here is the big red flag around Ben Bartch… He played in DIII. Most teams and scouts turn their noses up at that. As a former DIII Player, I know you have to be fucking good to be considered draftable in the first round rounds of the NFL Draft. Bartch will need some time to learn the NFL game, but he has a great tool kit that he can use in a couple of years.

4. Josh Jones – When looking at the offensive tackles, there are potentially seven guys who could get drafted in the first round. The profiles of the guys that could be there for the Packers in Round 1 are underwhelming. Jones gets my choice even though he hasn’t played any right tackle. As someone who shifted to right tackle in college, it is hard to learn originally, but if you’re smart, you can pick it up. Jones is a pass-blocker first which I believe matters more in today’s NFL.

5. Saadiq Charles – When a guy has maturity issues, I have no problem putting him on the Packers roster. Charles could be considered a top 60 player, but he is a bit of a shithead. Packers do not always bring those kinds of guys in but Green Bay does allow for a city where you cannot get into much trouble. He can truly move and not worried about fast EDGE rushers at all. The technique is less to be desired but that can be worked on.

Top three Centers for the Packers
1. Cesar Ruiz
2. Calvin Throckmorton
3. Keith Ismael

Thoughts: Ruiz is a hell of an athlete as an interior lineman. If Green Bay needed a guard this draft, he would be near the top of my list. Green Bay probably shouldn’t draft a player like Ruiz in round two of the draft. If they do, they could cut ties with Lane Taylor and look elsewhere with the money they might be saving to bring him back. Throckmorton is a fun utility guy, and Ismael seems like the perfect type of center that could be great to fill in the Linsley gap next season.

Charlie.