GREEN BAY, Wis. — What has been considered by many to be a strength of the Green Bay Packers' roster isn't exactly perceived similarly by Pro Football Focus.
In their 2025 offensive line rankings ahead of training camp, which commences later this month, they tabbed the Packers at No. 14, which ranks last in the NFC North. The Chicago Bears came in at No. 4, the Minnesota Vikings at No. 7 and the Detroit Lions at No. 13.
All four teams oversaw significant change—for better or worse—this past offseason. The Bears made a concerted effort to keep Caleb Williams upright after a year in which they surrendered a league-high 68 sacks, swinging trades for a pair of guards in Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson. They also signed Drew Dalman to plug into their center position. Continuity is one of the most important assets for an offensive line, so it remains to be seen whether or not the Bears' revamped protection plan for Williams will pay off.
The Vikings, meanwhile, followed a similar path in an effort to bolster the interior of their offensive line. Ryan Kelly and Will Fries, who spent the last four seasons together with the Indianapolis Colts, were signed by the Vikings in free agency and they spent a first-round pick on Ohio State's Donovan Jackson. All three players are expected to start.
(Photo: USA TODAY Sports)
The Lions appeared to go backward, but evidently not enough for them to fall behind the Packers in the rankings. Frank Ragnow retired and Kevin Zeitler departed in free agency, signing a one-year deal with the Tennessee Titans. They intend to fill the void with Christian Mahogany, a sixth-round pick from last spring and Tate Ratledge, a second-round rookie from Georgia. The entirety of the group up front is held together by one of the league's best tackle tandems in Taylor Deck and Penei Sewell, but that may not be enough for the Lions' offense to sustain the success that they've enjoyed in the Dan Campbell era.
Inexplicably, despite seemingly upgrading at multiple positions and losing only one starter, the Packers are on the outside looking in.
After allowing Josh Myers' contract to expire so their four-year starting center can enter free agency, the Packers made the decision to move Elgton Jenkins from left guard to center. He'll still remain at the interior, but now he'll carry an even greater responsibility—and perhaps there's no one better than the two-time Pro Bowler to embrace the challenge.
In Jenkins' place, the Packers signed 28-year-old Aaron Banks to a four-year, $77 million dollar deal with the expectation that he'll be a day-one starter at left guard. With the exception of his 2021 rookie campaign that saw Banks play five snaps at right guard all year, the former second-round pick has primarily been a left guard for the San Francisco 49ers. He's started 49 of a possible 57 games for the 49ers since 2022, including the team's Super Bowl LVIII loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. According to Pro Football Focus, the 6'5", 325-pound Banks has allowed just three sacks in his career. That's three sacks in 1,683 pass-blocking snaps at left guard, including just one sack in his last 1,068 snaps. Pro Football Focus has a metric called, "Pass Blocking Efficiency," which is defined as a signature stat that "measures pressure allowed on a per-snap basis with weighting toward sacks allowed." Banks, whose career efficiency rating is 96.9, is coming off a year in which he registered a season-high of 97.1.
The Packers will also be returning Jordan Morgan, last year's first-round pick. He's going to compete with Rasheed Walker for the starting left tackle job, but the Packers will likely experiment with him at right guard where there's currently an opening and where he spent the majority of his time as a rookie. Morgan split time at the position with Sean Rhyan, who, like Walker, will be entering a contract year in 2025. His rookie year was cut short after opting for season-ending shoulder injury to repair an issue that had plagued him since training camp.
Jordan Morgan played in just six games as a rookie. (Photo: USA TODAY Sports)
As if to prepare for the departures of Walker and Rhyan, the Packers spent another premium pick on an offensive lineman, drafting North Carolina State's Anthony Belton at No. 54 overall. It's difficult to project just what Belton is and ultimately can become with time developing in the league, but the Packers' personnel department typically doesn't miss when it comes to scouting offensive linemen—they've earned the benefit of the doubt, even if the Belton selection may have been somewhat of a head-scratcher at first. For some added depth, the Packers also spent a seventh-round pick on Cincinnati's John Williams.
Standing at 6'6" and 335 pounds, the possibilities are endless for Belton, who the Packers believe can play both tackle and guard. He was a three-year starter at left tackle for the Wolfpack—a position that he exclusively played at the collegiate level. Across 38 games dating back to his sophomore campaign, he's played 2,218 snaps at left tackle. Not only is he experienced, but Belton ensured that quarterbacks CJ Bailey and Grayson McCall were hardly touched under his watch. In 438 pass-blocking snaps last season, Belton allowed just three sacks and 12 pressures. For his entire career at North Carolina State, Belton is responsible for allowing eight sacks overall.
In what has suddenly become a crowded depth chart, the Packers took note of their shortcomings in January's Wild Card loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Both Jenkins and Myers left the game with injuries, leaving the Packers to sporadically shuffle their offensive line. Both Travis Glover and Kadeem Telfort stepped into the line of fire and drastically underperformed, essentially unraveling anything and everything head coach Matt LaFleur threw at the Eagles' stout defensive front.
What will remain unchanged is Zach Tom's status as the starting right tackle. He's arguably the most coveted player up front for the Packers and will likely receive a record-breaking contract extension sometime before the start of the regular season.
Zachary Jacobson is the Editor-in-Chief of Packer Report. He is entering his 11th season covering theGreen Bay Packers. He is a member of thePro Football Writers of America. Follow him on Twitter@zacobson or contact him via email atitszachariahj@gmail.com