After signing a four-year, $88 million contract extension last offseason, Zach Tom battled through an injury-plagued season in 2025, and the Green Bay Packers offensive line suffered for it. It was a disappointing year for the unit overall, and Tom’s injury woes were certainly a big part of that.
The right tackle left the Week 1 win over the Lions with an oblique injury, was not able to play the following week versus the Commanders, before trying to go against the Browns but managing just one snap before pulling himself out.
He then missed the 40-40 tie with the Cowboys, before returning after the bye in Week 6. Even still, he was questionable on the injury report in Week 6 and 7 with the oblique, and he was also questionable with a back issue for the Eagles game a few weeks later.
Following five weeks where he had no injury designation, his longest such stretch of the entire season, Tom then sustained a knee injury against the Broncos – a game which proved to be the death knell for the Packers season, as both Tom and Micah Parsons were knocked out for the year.
All told, Tom was only able to play 604 snaps, way down from playing over 1,100 in each of the previous two seasons.
Considering all the obstacles Tom had to overcome in 2025, it would have been understandable for his performance to suffer, and according to PFF’s grading, there was a slight dip, as his pass block grade went from 87.8 in 2024 to 81.9 in 2025, and his run block grade dropping from 81 to 78.5.
Even if those grades are to be believed, they were still good enough to rank him as the 10th best offensive tackle in the NFL last year, albeit down from sixth place the season prior.
However, almost every single one of his “under the hood” statistics, sourced from PFF’s own data, were better in 2025 than 2024 compared to eligible NFL tackles. That is at odds with PFF’s overall grading.
The fact he arguably played the best football of his career, at least statistically, is extremely impressive given the injuries he dealt with from start to finish. Of course, the sample size is smaller, but it is still 10-and-a-half games of work.
Pass protection is where the biggest improvement came, as he did not allow a single sack after giving up four in 2024.
If there is a weakness of his pass blocking, it has been giving up too many ‘low quality’ pressures i.e. hurries, and he was above average in that regard compared to the rest of the league for the first time since becoming a full-time starter.
His zone run blocking PFF grade did fall after he was ranked second in the NFL in 2024, but he still ranked in the 86th percentile in 2025, and his ranking in gap scheme blocks rose to a career-high ranking in the 83rd percentile.
Tom was also only committed one penalty last season, down from seven in 2024, making him one of the least-penalized offensive tackles in the league on a per-snap basis.
In spite of the torrid time Tom had with injuries last season, it seems as though his performance was really not impacted, and according to the stats, was actually even better, specifically in pass pro.
His contract, which ties him for 13th among offensive tackles in average annual value, is one of the best-value extensions in the league.
The important thing now is that Tom comes back fully healthy from his partially torn patellar and can be the same player he was before the injury.
From everything the Packers have put out, it sounds like he should be good to go for the start of the season, even if he has to miss some time at the start of training camp. Green Bay needs Tom healthy for all 17 games and the playoffs if their offensive line is to improve from last year’s struggles.
This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Zach Tom had career year for Packers in 2025 despite injury woes
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