Jake
Hanson.
Jake
Hanson.
Oregon· 6'4"· 303 lb· 5.50s 40
"A four-year Oregon center who won with leverage, smarts and anchor rather than range; the tape said reliable backup, and the 5.50 forty said his ceiling stopped there."Pre-draft read
Hanson is a thickly built, technically sound center who wins with leverage, hand placement and processing more than with length or explosive movement. He snaps and steps with a compact first move, fits his hands inside quickly, anchors well against bull rushes and calls protections with the confidence of a four-year starter who rarely looks lost against stunts.
His secondary trait is functional strength: he generates movement on double teams and drive blocks in a gap and duo run game. He is a limited athlete on the move, struggles to reach shaded nose tackles and to climb cleanly to linebackers, and high shotgun snaps were an issue at times.
Gap and duo power run game with a pocket passer, where the center works double teams and anchors inside rather than reaching in space.
Year 1: inactive-to-No. 8 lineman learning behind a starter. Ceiling: spot-starting center or guard who can fill in for a month.
Outside-zone heavy offense that asks its center to reach nose tackles and climb laterally to linebackers on every snap.
His value was always tied to experience and reliability, not traits.
NFL Draft Highlights: Oregon offensive lineman Jake Hanson
Pre-draft highlight reel of his work at center for Oregon, including run-game double teams and pass protection.
Beyond the Pads: Jake Hanson, University of Oregon
Oregon feature on the four-year starting center, his background and his role on the line.
Jake Hanson announces he'll return to school in 2019
His announcement that he would return for his senior season alongside Justin Herbert.
Hanson projected as a smart, durable interior backup with a chance to compete for a starting center job. Teams were buying experience, protection reliability and play strength in a power run game, with the understanding that his limited movement would shrink his scheme fit and cap his ceiling.
He took over as Oregon's starting center as a redshirt freshman in 2016 and started 49 games over four seasons, missing a start only because of a targeting penalty in 2018 and two games with a concussion in 2019. He did not allow a sack in his first three seasons, earned second-team All-Pac-12 honors in 2018 and 2019, and anchored a 2019 line that was a Joe Moore Award finalist. The flag was athleticism: a 5.50 forty and poor range on the move.
Boards generally slotted him as a Day 3 center. Green Bay took him at No. 208 in the sixth round, back-to-back with guard Simon Stepaniak, as low-cost interior depth, betting that his experience and anchor would buy time for his movement to improve.
- 01
Experience and durability
Started 49 games at center over four seasons and missed starts only for a targeting penalty and a concussion.
- 02
Pass-protection anchor
Did not allow a sack in his first three seasons, sitting down firmly against power rushers and resetting his hands.
- 03
Line communication
Makes the protection calls with confidence, identifies pressure pre-snap and passes off stunts smoothly with his guards.
- 04
Play strength
Put up 33 bench reps at the Combine and moves defenders off the ball on double teams and gap-scheme drive blocks.
- 05
Clean technique
Keeps a compact base, fits his hands inside quickly and rarely gets penalized, with just one flag in his final season.
- 01
Limited range
A 5.50 forty and heavy feet make it hard for him to reach shaded nose tackles or cut off backside defenders in wide zone.
- 02
Second-level blocking
Struggles to climb cleanly to linebackers, often arriving late or overrunning his landmark in space.
- 03
Snap consistency
High shotgun snaps were a problem at times throughout his Oregon career and would need to be cleaned up quickly.
- 04
Modest length
Average arm length lets longer interior rushers get into his chest first and control him when he misses his initial punch.
Relative Athletic Score (Kent Lee Platte) benchmarks combine/pro-day numbers against every measured prospect at the position since 1987. 10.00 is elite; 5.00 is average.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 5.50sp50
- Vertical
- —in
- Broad jump
- —in
- Three-cone
- —s
- Shuttle
- —s
- Bench
- 33repp50
| Yr | Team | G |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Oregon | 12 |
| 2017 | Oregon | 13 |
| 2018 | Oregon | 13 |
| 2019 | Oregon | 12 |
| Career | — | 50 |
Games by season from Sports-Reference/Tankathon (12, 13, 13, 12 = 50). Oregon and the Packers confirm 49 career starts at center. Per-season starts are derived from the documented absences: he did not start one 2018 game after a targeting penalty and missed two 2019 games with a concussion. Redshirted in 2015. Did not allow a sack in his first three seasons; allowed two sacks as a senior.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Experienced backup center who spot-starts when injuries hit and moves between rosters as interior depth.
The upside: a smart, strong late-round interior lineman who grows from backup into a multi-year starting center.
Former Oregon center whose lack of play range limited him to a short run as a depth lineman.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Hanson did not appear in a game as a rookie in 2020, then played five games in 2021 and six in 2022 for Green Bay, with one start at center, before a season-ending injury placement in November 2022. The Packers waived him in August 2023. The Jets signed him to their practice squad in November 2023, promoted him in December, and he started four of seven games at right guard. He re-signed in 2024 and played 12 games with two starts as interior depth, then signed with Atlanta in 2025 but did not stick on the regular-season roster.
In hindsight, the evaluation held up: the experience, anchor and intelligence translated to a roster spot, but the limited range kept him from ever winning a starting job. Through 2024 he appeared in 30 games with seven starts, a reasonable return for a sixth-round pick and a classic backup interior lineman who lasted on the strength of his preparation, toughness and versatility at center and guard.