For Packers, Future Is Now With Sean Rhyan

GREEN BAY Wis. – The Green Bay Packers have spent the year straddling the fine line of winning in 2023 and building for 2024, a balancing act personified by the rotation at right guard between veteran Jon Runyan and second-year player Sean Rhyan.

Runyan has started every game this season, but Rhyan has been sprinkled in for a series or two throughout the second half of the season. The last two weeks, however, the snap count has been just about 50-50.

Clearly, the coaches consider Runyan the better player; that’s why he keeps starting for a playoff-contending team. Runyan, however, will be a free agent at the end of the season. The Packers would love to hand the job to Rhyan, for whom they made a heavy investment in as a third-round pick in 2022.

The big picture isn’t on Rhyan’s mind. Rather, his focus is only on Sunday night’s showdown at the Minnesota Vikings.

“My grandma used to say if you look too far in the future, you’re never going to see what’s in front of you,” Rhyan said. “So, I’m just going week to week, day to day. I’m not trying to think too far in the future. As a team, too, we’re just trying to go 1-0, focus on this week. What the future holds, I don’t know. But all I know is this week we’ve got the Vikings, and I’m excited to get after them a little bit.”

The Packers’ thinking all along has been clear. Go with Runyan, the steady, proven performer, but give critical experience to Rhyan to see if he’s worthy of replacing Runyan next year. After a a dismal rookie season in which he didn’t play a single snap from scrimmage and served a six-game suspension to end the year, is Rhyan good enough to be a starter?

There’s only one way to find out.

Starting with the Week 8 victory over the Rams, Rhyan has played 115 snaps. That includes 62 snaps the last two weeks.

Based on that, is Rhyan good enough to be a starter next year?

“Yeah, I think he’s got a chance to be, for sure,” said offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich, whose background is offensive line play. “He’s still got a ways to go. I like what I see from him from a physicality standpoint. He does a good job in the run game at the point of attack.

“But he still has a ways to go in pass protection. That’s going to be his biggest thing moving forward. If he wants to be a staple guard in this league, you have to, obviously, excel in that realm. That’s one thing we’re really going to focus on with him as we move forward just to elevate that part of his game.”

The numbers support that contention. According to Pro Football Focus, Runyan has allowed two sacks and 20 total pressures in 526 pass-protecting snaps. That’s one pressure for every 26.3 passing plays. Rhyan has allowed zero sacks and four pressures in 73 pass-protecting snaps. That’s one pressure for every 18.3 passing plays.

Rotating offensive linemen is unorthodox, to say the least. Former Packers coach Mike McCarthy liked to say the best offensive lines are the ones that play together. If the revolving-door approach was the way to go, more teams would be doing it.

However, there has been an unexpected bonus beyond getting Rhyan needed experience to inform a key offseason decision.

“Obviously, thinking in the future, yeah, it’d be nice to be a starter, but as things are right now, me and Johnny are rotating and I think it’s given us an edge,” Rhyan said. “During the game [at Carolina], we were playing Derrick Brown and I went in there for the second series and he goes, ‘Man, why do you guys keep switching guards? I can’t get used to any of you.’ I go, ‘Oh, well, perfect.’

“So, it’s great. Obviously, starting is everyone’s goal. Their first goal in the NFL, I think, is to get into that starting role. So, obviously, my eyes are set on that, but this year rotating is helping us a little bit to keep us going in the right direction.”

For the season, the team is averaging 6.12 yards per rushing play when Rhyan is on the field, according to league data. That’s 1.79 yards better than when he’s not on the field. Against the Panthers, including some snaps against the excellent Brown, Rhyan allowed zero pressures in 15 passing-play snaps.

“It was fun playing against him,” Rhyan said. “Everyone’s good in the league but I like it when we get in the film room and we go, ‘Hey, we got Derrick Brown, this guy’s a good player.’ I was like, ‘Well, if he’s such a good player, let’s get after him and see what we can do.’”

This week, the challenge will be against Minnesota’s Harrison Phillips; next week, it will be against Chicago’s Andrew Billings. They aren’t as good as Brown but they are quality starters and good measuring sticks for Rhyan and the Packers.

“When I do get those guys, I don’t look at it as a bad thing, I look at it as a good thing,” he said. “‘This guy is one of the best in the league and I get to go against him, I can’t ask for anything more.’ Just because if you do – when I do – well against those players, it’s a little bit of a confidence boost. I’m doing the right things, treating myself the right way and doing all that. So, it’s kind of almost a reassurance thing. It’s not like I’m scared or, ‘Oh, snap,’ you know?

“We got whoever’s in front of us. It’s the NFL. You know, I’m striving to kind of try to become one of those guys. So, it’s fun. It’s a journey I like to take.”