Josh Sitton, left guard
FOX Sports Wisconsin's Paul Imig gives an in-depth statistical analysis and film study of every Packers player in his annual offseason checkup. You can find every report here.
Season stats (playoffs included): 18 games, 18 starts (1,160 snaps; 95.4 percent of total offensive snaps); zero sacks allowed, six quarterback hurries allowed, three penalties committed
ProFootballFocus.com season rating: 30.5 (ranked No. 2 out of 24 Packers offensive players; ranked No. 2 out of 78 among NFL guards)
Best game: NFC championship game loss at Seattle (played all 73 snaps); zero QB hurries allowed, zero sacks allowed, zero penalties committed; 5.2 PFF rating
Worst game: Week 3 loss at Detroit (played all 54 snaps); one penalty committed, zero QB hurries allowed, zero sacks allowed; minus-1.8 PFF rating
Expectations at the start of training camp: High
Expectations were . . . Exceeded
Looking live: Josh Sitton entered training camp in 2014 coming off of a season in which he was named a second-team All-Pro. It was Sitton's first time being selected to that elite group despite being among the NFL's best guards for the previous few years.
Sitton was ranked No. 21 in FOXSportsWisconsin.com's pre-training camp "Most Important Packers of 2014" series. That might sound low for such a great player, but the distinction is that it's not a list of Green Bay's best players in order. It's about who is most important to the team's success, and Sitton's streak of being one of ProFootballFocus' top-eight rated guards for the previous five seasons had made him such a consistent performer. I wrote at the time that Sitton was No. 21 "because excellence has become his standard. It's expected that Sitton dominates the majority of his matchups on the offensive line, because he's been doing it since the moment he became a full-time starter in 2009. If there was any concern whatsoever that Sitton could falter, it'd make his upcoming season a more important one to the Packers' overall success. Green Bay has been somewhat spoiled by Sitton's level of play."
In training camp, Sitton didn't do much during the one-on-one pass-rush/block drills. However, when JC Tretter was injured late in preseason, Sitton took some practice snaps at center.
Sitton played 78 snaps in the first three preseason games but sat out the preseason finale.
Upon further review: Sitton's dominance continued during the 2014 regular season. He was rewarded by being named as a second-team All-Pro again and as a Pro Bowl selection for the second time in his career. Judging by the ProFootballFocus ratings system, Sitton was robbed as a first-team All-Pro. Only Baltimore's Marshal Yanda had a higher season-long rating than Sitton.
Sitton suffered a torn ligament on his left foot's big toe Week 8 in New Orleans, putting the ensuing bye week at the perfect time for him. However, even after the time off, Sitton was still dealing with the issue. He missed practice time leading into the Week 10 game and was listed as questionable against the Bears. If Sitton wasn't an offensive lineman, he was told that the injury likely would've required surgery. Sitton said at the time that "when you're trying to move and plant and put all my weight on it, it's pretty painful." Sitton played through the pain, but he was able to take 34 combined snaps off between Weeks 10 and 11 due to the Packers' huge leads over Chicago and Philadelphia.
Sitton was very vocal after Green Bay's NFC championship game loss in Seattle.
Sitton was also down about the possible quality of the Packers' roster in 2015.
"There's going to be a lot of people who aren't going to be on the team -- a lot of people we can't pay. This team, I don't think we can be this good for awhile. It's going to be tough, anyway."
Sitton was likely very encouraged this offseason when finding out that both Randall Cobb and Bryan Bulaga took below-market-value deals to re-sign with Green Bay. The defense might take a step back with Tramon Williams and Davon House signing elsewhere, but the offense should be just as good.
Overall 2014 grade: A
Status for 2015: One-hundred percent chance of being a starting guard again. Sitton has two years remaining on his current contract and will count $7 million against the cap in 2015. When Sitton's contract expires following the 2016 season, he'll be going on 31 years old. There's little reason to believe, though, that his performance will drastically fall off after that. Yanda and Philadelphia's Evan Mathis (two of the top-five guards in the NFL) are both in their 30s, and Sitton is right at their level. Just looking at the 2015 season, barring injury, Sitton should once again be a dominant force at left guard for the Packers.
Next: Running back James Starks
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