It might be hard to find good tackles in the NFL, but the Green Bay Packers have done it again. A fourth-round pick in 2022, right tackle Zach Tom was good from the get go, but he’s taken a huge step forward this season. After three weeks, it’s not absurd to say that Zom is on his way to fight for an All-Pro selection — something no Packers offensive lineman has done since David Bakhtiari in 2020.
Through three weeks, Tom is the fifth best tackle in football in pass block grade (84.2) according to PFF. He’s second amongst right tackles, only behind Philadelphia Eagles’ Lane Johnson. Tom and Johnson are the only tackles in the NFL who haven’t allowed any pressures so far.
Numbers
Zach Tom has played exactly 200 offensive snaps in 2024. The Packers have had some run-heavy gameplans with Malik Willis at quarterback, and that’s not an area of particular strength for Tom.
But the tackle has played well in every phase of the offensive game. His pass block grade (84.2) is the best of his career (it was 73.9 last season), and the run block grade (76.9) is too, up from 75.8 in 2023.
Watch his technique, something extremely important for a player who fell in the draft because he was seen as an undersized lineman:
Tom has had 89 pass block snaps, with a 100% efficiency, not allowing a single pressure. He only had two bad plays, committing two penalties.
And all of that has happened even after Tom missed some of the offseason program and the start of camp with a pec injury.
“I’m not surprised by it. Once I saw him, probably the first day he was out there, full go, when he got back in camp, I was like ‘wow, he looks like he hasn’t missed a beat,” Packers offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said earlier this season. “So it was pretty impressive just to see him go out there in business as usual, be Zach Tom. It was cool to see.”
Future implications
There was an offseason talk that the Packers could perceive Zach Tom as a better center than he is at tackle. But his performance at tackle is so good and so valuable that there is no reason to move him.
Right now, Tom is in his third NFL season, which means he is going to be extension eligible next offseason. With top right tackles making almost as much money as the top left tackles, it’s fair to expect a huge new deal coming — especially if Tom keeps playing at such a high level throughout the season.
Top of the right tackle market (average per year):
Penei Sewell (Detroit Lions): $28 million Lane Johnson (Philadelphia Eagles): $20.187 million Jawaan Taylor (Kansas City Chiefs): $20 million Ryan Ramczyk (New Orleans Saints): $19.2 million Mike Onwenu (New England Patriots): $19 million
It’s hard to find real blue-chip players drafting late every year like the Packers have. But Zach Tom seems to be that type of player — and for a premium position player in the fourth round, the value is just insane.