Two unlikely Packers could completely reshape the offensive line before Week 1

It's funny how fast this portion of the NFL calendar goes. You spend seven whole months waiting for the return of football to our lives, but once training camp kicks off, everything goes into hyperdrive.

On the cusp of the second preseason game against the Denver Broncos, there are only two public practices left! Saying the league goes from 0 to 100 would be an understatement.

There's so much packed into this month or so of practice. Everyone is learning on the fly. Fans, coaches, even the players. Some players are even learning that they might be losing their starting job.

Do you think Anthony Belton and Aaron Banks had an inkling that they would be in this position?

Let's look back: all the way back to the immediate aftermath of the devastating playoff loss to the Chicago Bears. There were plenty of questions for the organization to answer, but it did at least seem like the starting offensive lineup was already set.

Jordan Morgan would finally get his chance to start at left tackle. Aaron Banks, who flashed when healthy, would get his chance to prove the front office right. Sean Rhyan would settle at center, Anthony Belton at right guard, and Zach Bako-Bewele would continue to be the rock-solid anchor.

The football gods are rarely that foreseeable, especially for a unit that was as underwhelming as Green Bay's offensive line. Banks' injury concerns have not disappeared into the ether, and as he's struggled to return to team activities, rookie Jager Burton has flashed starting potential in his place.

Recent comments from Matt LaFleur have confirmed that Banks' starting position is, in fact, not secure.

"I think he's [Burton] going to make it extremely difficult [for Banks to reclaim the starting job]," coach Matt LaFleur said on Friday. "I think Jager has done a really good job."

Aaron Banks and Anthony Belton uncertainty raises questions for Packers' offensive line

Since Coach LaFleur's press conference on Friday, Banks has returned to the starting role on the left guard side. Perhaps his comments were aimed to wake Banks up to the danger to his starting spot? It's possible. This, combined with a strange series of events surrounding the exact nature of Banks' knee injury, has capped off an interesting week.

Meanwhile, over on the right side of the line, Belton has been embroiled in less of a "competition" than a "quiet phasing out." Belton, who began training camp at the right guard spot that he was expected to own through the 2026 season, has now spent time training to become the team's new swing tackle.

Which, to be fair, is an important role for the overall health of an offensive line, but not what we were hoping to get from a second-round selection entering his second year in the league.

In his place, the team has seemingly turned to third-year man Jacob Monk, a fifth-round selection in 2024. Monk got the start in that spot in the Week 1 preseason game against the Steelers, although he did spend the majority of his time at center that night.

After the first series, Monk was moved to center, his college position, while Donovan Jennings took over at RG. I wouldn't go so far as to say Jennings is also in on the competition – this is likely an example of the Packers' infamous tendency to cross-train.

What would the Packers' offensive line look like with Jager Burton and Jacob Monk?

If Burton and Monk were to be named to the starting lineup, what exactly would that look like? It's a complicated answer, but we have a few hints.

The first, and most obvious impact is the actual size of the offensive line. Taking Belton and Banks off the field means removing the literal two heaviest offensive linemen on the roster, at 336 and 325 pounds, respectively, for the 312-pound Burton and 308-pound Monk. That's a 41-pound difference that drops the OL's average weight from 319 pounds to 311 pounds.

For a team that really struggled to run the ball last year, that could be a problem, depending on how the team wants to run the ball. You can absolutely have success running the ball with undersized linemen, as the Packers showed for decades in the 00s and 10s, but you've got to run mostly a zone-blocking scheme. In 2025, the team ran zone-blocking nearly 50 percent of the time, a rate that has dropped steadily since they ran it 66 percent of the time in 2020.

The team has seemingly wanted to get bigger on the offensive line in recent years, which would make this entire idea all the more confusing. That's why you sign Banks and draft Belton in the first place: to get big. In the words of newly departed Jon-Eric Sullivan: "Big don't get small."

Ultimately, it is worth pointing out that the goal of figuring out this lineup should be to get the best five out there.

But if starting the best five linemen means Burton and Monk, there are implications. It means reversing that recent size trend, but also moving away from a running scheme that works a little better for Josh Jacobs. Jacobs might be a good enough back to make it work anyway, and I do think MarShawn Lloyd is better in a zone scheme than the man/gap scheme the team has increasingly leaned on.

I, along with everyone else, have been fascinated by Burton's quick start, and it looks like the Packers may have found another late-round gem. But it's perhaps only fair that Monk should get his chance to show off two years of development as well.

It's also worth mentioning that if Banks is indeed back for the long haul, another battle will develop between Monk and Burton for the right side. Burton did get some time there during Tuesday's practice.

There's still plenty of time for the Packers to try to fit Burton over on the right side, if that's the direction they'd like to go.

The remaining preseason games will tell us a lot about what the Packers intend. Whatever they decide, it's got to come quickly since the first game is only three weeks away.

Zero to 100, remember?

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow