Everything Hinges on These Questions About Packers’ Retooled Offensive Line

The Green Bay Packers have a quality starting quarterback with Jordan Love, a proven horse in the backfield with Josh Jacobs and the potential of an impact passing game with the core pieces intact for the next few seasons.

And none of it will matter if the offensive line doesn’t play better than it did last season.

With training camp starting in about two weeks, here are three key questions that the Packers must get answers to before the season kicks off.

Will Packers Be Better at Left Tackle?

The Packers drafted Jordan Morgan in the first round in 2024 with this time in mind.

As it turns out, they could have re-signed Rasheed Walker to a bargain-basement contract. Instead, they’ve handed the baton to Morgan, who was a 37-game starter at left tackle at Arizona.

At the time, the jury was out on whether Morgan would sink or swim as a left tackle.

While NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein thought Morgan had the “traits and talent to become a solid starter” at left tackle, The Athletic’s Dane Brugler wrote, “Though he can survive at tackle in the NFL, his skill set projects much better inside at guard, similar to Matthew Bergeron.”

Bleacher Report’s Brandon Thorn, who focuses on offensive line play, leaned more toward Brugler’s thinking. He envisioned a “smooth transition inside to guard” – which obviously was not the case in his snaps the past two seasons – before concluding:

“His questionable range and middling redirect skills will be difficult to overcome on an island against NFL edge-rushers, but he could make it work inside a run-first, play-action-based scheme that limits those exposures.”

The projections no longer matter. The Packers essentially packed Walker’s bags and called the U-Haul, and handed the starting job – no questions asked – to Morgan. There is no veteran on standby. There is no hot-shot rookie waiting in the wings. It was a coronation; it will not be a competition.

Really, it’s Morgan or bust.

At 6-foot-5 and 311 pounds, Morgan is undersized for an offensive tackle. With 32 7/8-inch arms, he lacks the coveted length for the position. He’s got talent but he doesn’t have experience. Until Week 18 of last season, Morgan hadn’t played a single regular-season snap at his preferred position.

Some college offensive tackles thrive when they move inside to guard. That was not the case for Morgan, who took his lumps to such an extent that he was unable to retain the starting job in each of his first two seasons.

“The character development, for sure,” he said of the upside of playing other positions. “I mean, you go out there and you just get beat … I mean, these guys out here, they’re good. I came in here, I had to play against Kenny Clark, and it’s like, ‘OK, I’m playing left guard, right guard against Kenny Clark. I’ve never played this position before against a vet that’s going to probably embarrass me every day.’

“So, it’s character development. At the end of the day, you just go out there and just try to do the best you can do and just grow from that.”

Morgan missed the preseason as a rookie due to a shoulder injury. Last preseason, he was locked in at left tackle for the games and played well. It’ll obviously be a big jump. Just as obviously, the Packers think he’s ready.

“Rasheed was out for a little while in preseason, so then we moved Jordan to left tackle and he did a great job,” offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said at the start of the offseason program. “He went and played in preseason against some pretty good defensive lineman from the Colts last year, and I saw him play, and I was like, ‘Yeah, he’s ready.’ He looked pretty good.

“We had to use him in other spots last year because that was what was best for the team. But I’m excited about him this year and what he’s going to do.”

After a strong series of offseason practices, Morgan is ready and confident – much more confident than when he was getting worked over by Clark.

Strong or Weak Up the Middle?

Last season, the Packers signed Aaron Banks to a colossal contract to play left guard, moved Elgton Jenkins and his colossal contract from left guard to center and continued to roll with Sean Rhyan at right guard.

That didn’t work out.

Whether it was nagging injuries (Banks), a season-ending injury (Jenkins) or continued wishy-washiness (Rhyan), the interior offensive line never became the strength the Packers were hoping it’d become. The offense as a whole, predictably, suffered.

Green Bay Packers linemen Jager Burton (52) and Anthony Belton warm up before minicamp. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The Packers will enter training camp with a set-in-stone interior trio of Banks at left guard, Rhyan at center and Anthony Belton at right guard.

There’s a reason to be bullish.

Banks has to stay healthy after playing 71 percent of the snaps last season. He had a sustained stretch of strong play during the second half of last season.

“Yeah, there were a lot of frustrating moments,” he said, “some of which is just frustrated at myself, just looking in the mirror like, ‘Man, just get healthy. We’ve got to go show them who you are and what you can do.’ Yeah, there’s frustration always when you deal with injuries.

“But I’m excited to come into this season and be healthy, have a year under my belt with the guys, have that camaraderie, build that togetherness amongst the O-line and just keep taking steps forward every day.”

The coaches never seemed willing to commit to Rhyan until they had to during the second half of last season when they moved him to center to replace the injured Jenkins. The three-year, $33 million contract he signed just before the start of free agency shows a strong belief that Rhyan will be an asset after learning a difficult position on the fly last year.

“A guy who’s snapping you the ball every play, you want to have that relationship,” Love said. “You want to build something with a guy. So, to be able to get Sean back was huge. I was excited to hear that news.”

The Packers count on Year 2 jumps from all their players. That will be especially true for Belton, last year’s second-round pick, who spent his rookie training camp and preseason playing tackle before replacing Morgan at right guard at midseason. After making the tackle-to-guard transition on the fly last year, he had all offseason and will have all of training camp to hone in on his game.

“Last year, just being able to play as a rookie, I learned a lot,” he said. “I learned a lot about the process, preparation. Just what comes with it. I was able to get acclimated, so now I know what to expect going into this year. Knowing what I need to work on. There were a lot of ups and downs that I had, but now I feel like I’m in a position where I can think less and do more.”

The projections here are pretty simple. The Packers should be better up the middle this year. If so, the rest of the offense will benefit.

Where’s the Depth?

Just about every offensive line coach has asked that same question at some point this offseason. There just aren’t enough good offensive linemen in the NFL for most teams to have a strong starting five, let alone a couple backups they’d feel good about playing.

So, the Packers’ lack of depth isn’t anything unusual. It is problematic, though.

At the end of training camp last year, they sent a sixth-round pick to the Eagles for offensive tackle Darian Kinnard. A fifth-round pick by the Chiefs in 2022, Kinnard in his first three seasons had played 71 snaps in the regular season. With Green Bay, he played 285. He was an asset at right tackle and as an extra tight end.

The Packers parted ways this offseason with Jenkins and Walker and added only Jager Burton with a fifth-round pick. A center and guard at Kentucky, Burton “definitely” will “be in the mix to compete for playing time,” coach Matt LaFleur said.

The Packers might have decent interior depth with Belton and Jacob Monk. The tackle depth might be nonexistent beyond Kinnard unless Brant Banks or Dalton Cooper, a pair off undrafted free agents in 2025, rise to the occasion. Banks had a solid preseason and was the No. 2 left tackle for most of the spring, though Cooper took some of those reps at minicamp.

Injuries are going to happen on the offensive line, a position populated by some of the toughest men in the sport. Premier right tackle Zach Tom, for instance, is coming off an injury-plagued season. Kinnard and Burton, more likely than not, are going to have a big say on whether the Packers return to the playoffs.

Related: Here are three questions about the tight ends, running backs and quarterbacks.

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