Green Bay Packers 2015 Impact Meter: C Corey Linsley

He was a rookie thrust into one of the Green Bay Packers' most important positions in 2014, but center Corey Linsley was up to the task. 

The Packers have one of the most effective offensive lines in the NFL; at the end of the 2013 season, it was ranked fourth in the league in pass-blocking efficiency by Pro Football Focus. But then center Evan Dietrich-Smith (now Evan Smith) departed in free agency before the 2014 season, and Green Bay had a 6'2", 308-pound hole to fill. 

Cornell's JC Tretter was the first man up. Drafted in the fourth round of the 2013 NFL draft, Tretter spent his rookie season recovering from an ankle injury. But after Smith's departure, Tretter was the obvious choice to slot in at starting center, given his knowledge of the offense. 

However, another injury, this one to his knee, landed Tretter on injured reserve with designation to return. Return he did in early November, but by that point, the Packers were content to stick with their new starting center: Linsley. 

Let's review what Linsley did well in 2014, where he could improve and then look forward to the impact he'll have in 2015. 

2014 Season in Review

Linsley, who actually played center at Ohio State, only had one preseason game to take snaps at the position for the Packers before he was thrust into the starting job in the season opener against the Seattle Seahawks in 2014. 

If you remember, in that preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Green Bay rested Aaron Rodgers. Linsley and Rodgers took virtually no snaps together before lining up against Seattle's defense on September 4, 2014, at CenturyLink field. 

It was a nerve-wracking situation for all involved, but everyone breathed a little easier after Linsley got that first performance under his belt. Pro Football Focus gave Linsley a grade of 2.2 for that game, his third-highest of the entire year. He allowed zero sacks, zero hits and only one hurry. 

The Packers may have lost that game, but it wasn't because of the rookie. 

Through the first eight games of the season, Linsley allowed only eight hurries and one hit. Though everyone was concerned about the relationship between Rodgers and Linsley prior to the season, his blocking in the run game would prove important as well.

During that eight-game period, Linsley was ranked the fourth-best center in the league in run blocking, per Pro Football Focus. The three players who graded out better than him were the New York Jets' Nick Mangold, Seattle's Max Unger (now with the New Orleans Saints) and Chris Myers, currently a free agent—all veterans with years of experience under their belts. 

On the season, Linsley was the No. 5 overall center in the league, per Pro Football Focus. He allowed one sack, two hits and 12 hurries. He finished fifth in pass blocking and 12th in run blocking. 

There were the occasional hiccups during the year. In Week 2, at home against the New York Jets, Linsley got off a bad snap which Rodgers fumbled, resulting in a recovery and subsequent touchdown by Jets defensive end Sheldon Richardson. 

Rodgers was clearly frustrated at the time. "We started off terribly with a fumbled snap that hasn't happened here in, I would dare say six years, possibly," Rodgers said, per ESPN.com's Rob Demovsky. "It's been a while. So that was a bad start."

And even though Linsley's performance in his Week 1 debut was admirable, Rodgers chewed him out on national television for not getting a snap off in time and being forced to burn a timeout. 

But miscommunications and mistakes such as these were exceedingly rare during Linsley's first year. It was, all in all, a phenomenal performance from the rookie who was thrust into a role with virtually no preparation at the end of the preseason. 

2015 Preview

Jeff Haynes/Associated Press

Linsley doesn't need to worry about competing with Tretter again; he proved in 2014 that he deserves the starting job.

The improvement gap isn't that wide for Linsley in 2015, given how solid his rookie performance was. But could he set his sights on a Pro Bowl year?

"Corey’s played as solid as anybody. At some point, there needs to be a little bit of campaigning about him for Pro Bowl, I think," Rodgers said about his center after 10 games last season, per Jason Wilde of ESPN Wisconsin. "He’s played that good. He doesn’t have the name recognition yet, but Corey’s been so solid at center for us."

Linsley didn't make the Pro Bowl roster his first year, but there's no telling what will happen in 2015 once he earns more national recognition. 

As for what Linsley needs to improve upon this year, it all goes back to communication with his quarterback and working out other kinks that simply come with experience. He anchors a stellar offensive line and certainly his play is improved by the play of those around him, especially guards Josh Sitton and T.J. Lang. 

Throughout his career, Rodgers has touted the importance of continuity in the quarterback-center relationship. Now, he'll have the same center for two consecutive years, after playing under Smith in 2013, Jeff Saturday in 2012 and Scott Wells from 2008-2011.

Projected 2015 impact meter: High