On Thursday night, the Green Bay Packers played a game for the first time this preseason, giving other teams and their own fans the first look at a potential lineup. Several key players sat out in the team’s exhibition debut against the Pittsburgh Steelers, including starting right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele, but there were several notable developments across the offensive line after the first two weeks of training camp.
The right guard position has been one of the most unpredictable spots in the lineup so far, and that continued to be the case through Thursday’s game. Earlier this week, we at Acme Packing Company asked our readers who you expect to start at that position in week one, and there was a clear first and second tier of options in the results:
Second-year pro Anthony Belton, who was the team’s starting right guard in the late stages of last season, earns the nod as the overall favorite to start, but he failed to clear 50 percent of the vote at just 46%. Following him are the duo of rookie Jager Burton and third-year pro Jacob Monk at 26 and 21 percent, respectively, while Darian Kinnard landed a distant 3%, behind “other” at six percent.
Interestingly, the top three vote-getters in this poll were all members of the starting lineup on Thursday. Belton actually got the nod at right tackle in Bako-Bewele’s place, while Burton played Aaron Banks’ left guard and Monk got the start at the contested right guard spot. Monk then shifted over to center after the first series, when the team gave starter Sean Rhyan a rest, and Donovan Jennings stepped in at right guard instead.
Meanwhile, the Packers’ continued cross-training of Belton at both guard and tackle is starting to make it more difficult to pin him down as a potential starter, as it appears he is the top option to back up Bako-Bewele. Would the team rather have him as a swing backup at both spots on the right side with a different player in the starting lineup at guard? It’s tough to say, but after playing all of his snaps at tackle on Thursday night, that seems plausible.
In any case, the Packers need a cohesive offensive line if they want to have a chance to win a division title this season. According to FanDuel Sportsbook, the Packers still have the second-best odds to win the NFC North at +260, trailing only the Detroit Lions (+150).