Not so long ago, Anthony Belton was the Green Bay Packers' projected starting right guard. That's where he spent most of his time last season after being drafted as a tackle out of North Carolina State.
Based on camp and the preseason, it certainly seems as if the Packers are ditching the whole experiment on the interior and re-training Belton at tackle.
Belton started at RT in the preseason against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He's been stationed at tackle in practice, especially of late. On Wednesday, he was absent from the "starting lineup" with Zach Bako-Bewele back in the fold.
The Packers went with Jacob Monk at right guard, as in the preseason opener. That competition seems to be between Monk and rookie Jager Burton. Belton has seemingly exited the mix altogether.
Packers are pivoting from original vision for Anthony Belton
Instead, Green Bay appears to be grooming Belton as a swing tackle. That does make some sense, given his struggles at guard last year and the way Burton and Monk have shown up in camp.
Deploying Belton at tackle would also create additional flexibility off the bench, with veteran T/G Darian Kinnard no longer seeming like a lock to make the roster.
It's a shift from the Packers' approach with Belton as a rookie and earlier in the summer, when it seemed like Belton and Burton would compete for a starting role at RG. Now that Monk has gained momentum and effectively secured a roster spot, the team has pivoted away from Belton as a frontrunner for an interior role.
Does it increase the upside in the starting lineup? Probably it does, in addition to improving positional depth and versatility.
The only cause for pause, at least for some fans, is that Belton may lack a tackle's technical finesse and agility. He has the frame and the length to hold it down at 6-foot-6 and 336 pounds, with nearly a 7-foot wingspan. It's more about movement.
Well, the Packers will see. Many viewed Belton as an interior conversion project when he was drafted, but right now, Green Bay has apparently ditched that experiment.Â
There are other reasons it makes sense. Jordan Morgan looks like an excellent left tackle replacement for Rasheed Walker, but he's not entrenched positionally like Walker was.
Burton arrived via the draft and turned heads almost on impact. Monk went from red-alert cut candidate to competing for a starting role. Still hard to figure that one.
But it is what it is, and with an altered landscape, it's good to see Green Bay open-minded enough to potentially "take the L" on converting Belton to the interior. Given how raw he was as a prospect, it might simply be that he isn't quite ready for a starting role at either position.
Enlisting Belton as a swing tackle could be a better fit for him stylistically, as well as buy him some time to continue developing at the NFL level.
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