The Packers have spent years trying to solve the Corey Linsley problem, and so far the answers have come up short.
Josh Myers arrived in the second round, but that move aged badly when Green Bay passed on Creed Humphrey, who has since become an All-Pro with the Kansas City Chiefs. Elgton Jenkins, a two-time Pro Bowl guard, got a look at center and couldn’t make it stick. Sean Rhyan has also been tried there, and while he logged seven starts and picked up a contract extension, the job still doesn’t look settled for the long haul.
Now there’s a new name in the mix: Jager Burton.
Burton, the Packers’ 153rd overall pick, fits a familiar Green Bay center story in a way that’s hard to ignore. Corey Linsley was taken 161st in the 2014 NFL Draft, eight picks later than Burton. Back then, Linsley was the afterthought behind JC Tretter, who was penciled in as the starter before an injury in Week 1 pushed the rookie into a brutal debut against Seattle and the defending Super Bowl champions.
Bruce Irvin even said he would “pray” for Linsley while predicting it was “going to be a long night” for the rookie center.
It wasn’t. Linsley handled the moment, allowing just one pressure, zero hits, and zero sacks, according to PFF. From there, he never let go of the opportunity.
Burton hasn’t played an NFL snap yet, but he’s already pushing his way into the conversation after turning heads in the offseason workout program. Matt LaFleur has praised the Kentucky product and suggested he could compete for playing time this summer, which could mean a backup role across the interior or something bigger if the door opens.
And the door might already be cracked.
Rhyan’s seven starts at center were enough to earn the Packers a new deal for him in March, but they also came with rough numbers. PFF gave him the lowest pass-blocking grade among 40 centers and ranked him 31st overall.
Burton brings a different résumé. At Kentucky, he logged snaps at all three interior spots and piled up 1,689 combined snaps at guard.
He didn’t spend much time at center until 2025, when he played 817 snaps there and put together the best season of his college career. PFF credited him with 12 pressures allowed, zero sacks, and zero hits, and his pass-blocking grade ranked 34th among 157 qualified centers.
The profile is familiar: versatile, athletic, and overlooked. Linsley was all of that, too, and an immediate starting chance turned into an All-Pro career. Burton is nowhere near that point yet, but he’s in position to make noise fast as a fifth-round rookie.
If he does, the Packers may finally have found the center they’ve been chasing since Linsley left.
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