The Green Bay Packers offensive line entered the 2025 season with plenty of questions but the play of Elgton Jenkins wasn’t supposed to be one of them. Yes, the seventh-year man out of Mississippi State was changing positions, but he had started games and taken snaps at nearly every position along the Green Bay offensive line over the course of his career. And yet, through four games, Jenkins has clearly gotten off to a disappointing start to the 2025 season.
The Packers selected Jenkins in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft. The Packers prized not only his skills but his versatility. He played center, guard, and tackle in college and did a good job at all three positions.
Jenkins quickly stepped into the starting lineup as a rookie when Lane Taylor suffered an injury and was lost for the season. By 2020, he earned Pro Bowl honors, and he returned to the Pro Bowl after the 2022 campaign.
Over the offseason, the Packers opted not to re-sign center Josh Myers. The plan was to move Jenkins to center full-time. Gutekunst then signed Aaron Banks as a free agent to take over at left guard.
But through four games, Jenkins has struggled at center. After the team’s Week 3 upset loss to the Browns, he was candid with the media about his own disappointment with his play.
“I feel like I’m playing like s**t honestly,” Jenkins said. “I can play way better. A lot of things, a lot of small detail things that I can fix, overall. But I just feel like I’ve played like bleep] and definitely got to play better moving forward.”
Jenkins himself has been disappointed with his play but feels like there’s still time to fix the problem. “I don’t feel like I played at the level I can play at,” he added. “Let me say that. And it’s more so the small things that are learning mistakes or mistakes that I wish I would have learned from in camp. Like, I’d rather have it happen now, especially the game that we had as a unit. I’d rather for it to happen now and we can look ourselves in the mirror and be like, ‘This is not the standard, this is not how we play football’ and make sure that don’t happen no more throughout the year. But it’s the truth, and it happened, and all we can do is learn from it and get better moving forward.”
Head coach Matt LaFleur likes Jenkins’ approach to his struggles. “I personally think that’s a mature response,” LaFleur said when told of Jenkins’ comments. “We all need to be self-critical if we want to get better. He has a high standard for himself, which is exactly what you want. He’s one of our better players, so in order to win games in this league, you need your best players to play at their best.”
In 2024 at left guard, Jenkins graded out as a very good pass blocker and an above average run blocker according to Pro Football Focus. He always gave the Packers a consistent effort and performance. For the season, PFF said that Jenkins allowed just one sack all season and 16 pressures. Already this season, he’s allowed two sacks and five pressures in the first four games.
Jenkins run blocking is also grading out lower than it was a year ago, although the Packers entire offensive line has struggled blocking for the run across the board.
Obviously, there are other issues impacting Jenkins’ play. Starting right tackle Zach Tom has missed a lot of time due to injuries. So has Banks at left guard. Backup tackle Anthony Belton has also been out of the lineup. Starting right guard Sean Rhyan has also struggled next to Jenkins, which hasn’t helped either.
But ultimately, the Packers will need Jenkins to return to his usual level of play if the offensive line hopes to improve this season.
There is a lot at stake for Jenkins. Over the offseason, he stayed away from voluntary OTAs because he wanted assurances about his contract after this season before he switched positions. His cap hit increases to $24.8 million in 2026 which is likely too high a number for the Packers. The team will either let Jenkins go or restructure his deal before the start of next season. If Jenkins doesn’t play up to his usual standards, the Packers choice will be easy.
Jenkins has always provided the Packers with consistent play regardless of where he’s lined up along the offensive line. The team will need him to return to form if they hope to realize their very high expectations in 2025.