In the middle of the Mike Sherman era in Green Bay, the Packers were said to have one of the best offensive lines in football. The middle of that line consisted of Mike Wahle at left guard, Mike Flanagan at center, and Marco Rivera at right guard. In 2005, both Wahle and Rivera left and the team went 4-12.
The man to replace Mike Wahle on the left side was Scott Wells; a seventh round pick from the 2004 draft. When Mike Flanagan left for Houston after the 2005 season, Wells moved to center where he has remained since.
Year after year the Packers have had players try to take Wells spot in the starting lineup, and he has consistently fought them off to keep hold of the Packers’ starting center position. The 2009 Packers’ line earned a bad reputation with the number of sacks it allowed, but things have changed. Josh Sitton at right guard has become one of the best in football, and by far the second best player on the Packers line in 2010 was their Secret Superstar, Scott Wells.
The Games That Defined Him
One of the biggest jobs a center has is run blocking, and that’s the area Wells excelled at. Twice Wells was given the highest run-blocking grade of the week and he ranked No.2 in another.
His first big game came against Detroit. Wells had a number of very good blocks on Corey Williams, and was also able to get to the second level to wall off the Lions’ middle linebacker at the time, Landon Johnson. The Packers ran the ball up the middle nine times that day for 46 yards.
The very next week against the Redskins, Wells dominated the Redskins’ nose tackle Ma’ake Kemoeatu. On six different occasions, Wells was noted as having strong blocks on Kemoeatu. The Packers running up the middle in that game? 11 attempts for 122 yards. One of those runs was for 71 yards, but even eliminating that from the total, that’s an average of over five yards per run.
In the wild card round against the Eagles, Wells had his best game of the season – and the seventh best for a center in 2010. The reason he was so successful in this game was his ability to get through the D-line to latch onto linebackers, most often Jamar Chesney. The Packers only ran the ball 10 times up the middle in this game, but netted 40 yards.
Low Points
In 11 of Wells 20 games, he had a run block rating of +0.8 or higher. However, he did have a number of games against quality defensive tackles that brought his overall rating down some. His biggest challenge was Pat Williams, ending with a raw run block rating of -4.0 over the course of two games against the Vikings’ plugger.
There were six other defenders that gave Wells particular trouble. One of those came in the Super Bowl where he struggled to block Casey Hampton, though he did find success in the title game against Ziggy Hood. It was this lack of consistency that held him from a higher spot on our center list. He finished as our eighth ranked center, a distance behind the top where Nick Mangold and Matt Birk had a combined five games – including the playoffs – with negative ratings.
Looking Ahead
After the 2011 season, Wells will be a free agent. The Packers have a good history of locking up their players, though, so don’t be surprised if they get Wells inked to a new contract before the year ends. The only other starter currently projected to be a free agent after the 2011 season is Jermichael Finley, so Wells should be one of the top priorities.
Although he just turned 30 which is around the age offensive linemen generally start their decline, Wells has kept getting better. Chad Clifton is much older and will need replacing before Wells, and Daryn Colledge is a free agent and there is a bit of uncertainty to if he will return. In his first year, Bryan Bulaga rated as one of the worst tackles in the game, so although he will be given more chances to succeed we’re not sold on him yet ether.
With all these question marks, the certainty that Wells and Sitton provide is invaluable, and they should pair up as one of the NFL’s best offensive line tandems for the next few years.
Given the nature of his position, Wells could remain a secret … but he shouldn’t.
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