The Green Bay Packers are 11-4 heading into their Week 17 matchup with the 13-2 Minnesota Vikings. A win on the road not only would avenge their Week Four loss to the Vikings at Lambeau Field, but would keep the Packers’ hopes of improving to the fifth seed in the NFC alive. Of course, they would need Minnesota to lose to the Detroit Lions and themselves would have to beat the Chicago Bears in Week 18 in order for that to happen.
Regardless of the outcome of either of the next two games, Green Bay is headed to the NFL playoffs for the second year in a row. They are not, however, playing their best football despite having scored 30 or more points in five straight games and pitching the first shutout of the 2024 season in the NFL last week.
“I still think there’s a lot more points out there for us, a lot more big-time plays,” quarterback Jordan Love said according to Matt Schneidman of The Athletic.
One NFL analyst has an out-of-this-world idea on how Green Bay might improve.
NFL Analyst Urges the Green Bay Packers to Reunite with David Bakhtiari
Early in the 2024 NFL offseason, the Packers made the decision to release five-time All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari. The three-time Pro Bowler had played in just 13 games over the previous three seasons due to a knee injury he suffered towards the end of the 2020 season.
With Bakhtiari out nearly all of 2023, former seventh round pick Rasheed Walker has taken over as the team’s left tackle. However, Patrick McAvoy of Sporting News believes that a 2024 NFL Playoffs run would be the perfect excuse for Green Bay to bring their former left tackle back into the fold:
“Bakhtiari spent 11 years with the Packers but hasn’t been with a team this season. He was a three-time Pro Bowler but injuries derailed his career. If he is healthy now, it wouldn’t hurt to bring him into the mix to help protect Jordan Love.”
There are, of course, several reasons why this would not and could not work. First of all, Bakhtiari has indicated recently that his playing career is over due to his knee injuries. Despite his optimism that he could play in 2024, he went unsigned and posted on social media that his knee simply is not healthy.
Secondly, if Green Bay or any team believed that Bakhtiari could still play, he would have been signed by now. Multiple NFL teams, such as the Kansas City Chiefs and Dallas Cowboys, have suffered significant losses on their offensive line. If Bakhtiari was healthy, he would have been picked up by one of these teams.
The Green Bay Packers Do Need to Make a Decision on Rasheed Walker Soon
Tork Mason
That all being said, Green Bay does need to make a decision on the future of Rasheed Walker fairly soon. A 2022 NFL Draft pick, he will be entering the final year of his rookie contract in 2025. The question the Packers need to answer is whether or not he has played well enough to have earned a second contract.
According to PFF, Walker has an 81.4 pass blocking grade, which ranks 17th out of 135 offensive tackles. Of course, this is an excellent grade to have. However, his run blocking grade is a woeful 49.8, which ranks 117th out of 135.
While Walker has only allowed two sacks all season and has stayed healthy, his run blocking performance is concerning.
With Packers offensive linemen up for new contracts, it should be expected that the team will target even more offensive linemen in the upcoming NFL Draft, even though they took three this past year.
