The Green Bay Packers Keep Beefing Up Their Offensive Line, Draft Wake Forest’s Zach Tom

Three decades ago, then-Packers general manager Ron Wolf had a knack for finding quarterbacks. He traded for Brett Favre, then drafted future NFL starters Mark Brunell, Ty Detmer, Matt Hasselbeck and Aaron Brooks.

Ted Thompson later became a wizard when it came to finding wide receivers. During his tenure, Thompson drafted eventual standouts such as Greg Jennings, James Jones, Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb and Davante Adams.

Today, G.M. Brian Gutekunst’s specialty is quickly becoming the offensive line.

On Saturday, Gutekunst used his second of two fourth round picks — No. 140 overall — to select Wake Forest center Zach Tom. That marked the second offensive lineman the Packers selected this year and their eighth — that’s right, eighth — since the start of the 2020 draft.

Tom was a 34-game starter at Wake Forest who played both center and left tackle. During his time with Demon Deacons, he played 3,107 snaps and gave up just two sacks.

The 6-foot-4, 304 pound Tom is extremely athletic and ran the 40-yard dash in a blazing 4.94 seconds. He measured 9-feet, 10 inches on the broad jump, had a 33-inch vertical leap and has enormous 10-inch hands.

Tom’s arms are just 33 ¼”, though, meaning he might have to move to the interior. But Green Bay believes his versatility will make him an extremely valuable asset.

“We feel like he’s a five tool guy,” Packers co-director of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan said of Doubs. “He’s obviously played left tackle at a high level at the school, he’s played center, we think he can play guard as well. That was part of the exciting thing is the value at that pick.

“He’s got twitch, he’s got athleticism, he can bend. I think some people questioned his size, but when you watch him, he’s got some innate strength, and his ability to play the angles, move his feet, drop his backside and bend allows him to play bigger than he potentially is. We’re excited about the kid. We think he can help us in a lot of different spots, especially to get him there.

Tom was a first-team All-ACC performer last season, helping the Demon Deacons to the Atlantic Division title and an 11-3 record. He also led Wake Forest in snaps with 1,205.

Tom started nine games at left tackle in 2020 and was named second-team all-ACC. And he started 13 games at center in 2019 and was named honorable-mention all-conference.

Much like Elgton Jenkins, Billy Turner and Lucas Patrick in recent years, Tom believes he can help the Packers in several spots up front.

“I feel like my strength is my versatility,” he said. “So I feel comfortable playing any position on the offensive line, so I’m just ready to play wherever they put me and go from there. I don’t like to bog myself down into one position.”

Since 2020, Gutekunst has now used draft picks on Jon Runyan, Jake Hanson and Simon Stepaniak in 2020; Josh Myers, Royce Newman and Cole Van Lanen in 2021; and Sean Rhyan and Tom in 2022.

Many of those players can play multiple positions, and now, so can Tom.

“He left a great impression, he checks all the boxes that way,” Sullivan said. “He’s a great kid, he’s smart, he’s tough, he’s been a leader of that football team for a lot of years now, and he’s going to be a great addition to the locker room.”