Packers’ Former 1st Round Pick In The Middle Of ‘Most Important Position Battle’

The Green Bay Packers want to start- as general manager, Brian Gutekunst announced clearly earlier on in the offseason – competing for championships in 2025.

Whilst there are still some question marks at cornerback if All-Pro, Jaire Alexander, does end up being traded away, the roster feels both strong and deep – although perhaps lacking some bona fide blue chip talent.

Yet there are suprisingly few major battles for starting spots on the team, with the majority of the starters fairly entrenched into the lineup, unless things were to go quite wrong for them in training camp this coming August.

Offensive Line The Biggest ‘Position Battle’ For Green Bay

The only true open positional competition – besides perhaps at receiver, although there is generally greater fluidity at that position with regards to backups getting offensive snaps in regular season games – is on the offensive line, as Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine points out.

On his breakdown of Green Bay’s pre-training camp offseason, he lists O-line as the team’s “most important position battle”. And not just one specific spot, but the composition of the entire line could be looking different to how we expect sitting here in June.

“It’s hard to narrow down the Packers’ biggest position battle to one spot on the offensive line.” Ballentine writes, “They are willing to shuffle players around to get their best five on the field more than most. That’s going to be the case once again. On paper, they should have the talent to put together a good unit. It’s just a matter of figuring out what the best combination is.”

Given the Packers consistently value player flexibility on the line, there are numerous permutations and combinations for how the starting five could end up. Even cornerstone right tackle, Zach Tom, was being mentioned for a potential move all the way to center last offseason.

Right now, new free agent acquisition, Aaron Banks, and Packers veterans, Tom and Jenkins, will all be starting if – in the case of Jenkins’ potential contract dispute, mentioned by Ballentine – present and healthy.

Sean Rhyan will likely have the inside track at right guard, although that could be complicated by the presence of second round rookie, Anthony Belton, whom the Green Bay selected back in April with the 54th overall pick – who could give Rhyan a run for his money in August.

The main competition will thus likely be between former first round pick, Jordan Morgan and Rasheed Walker at left tackle. Walker had a reasonably strong year at left tackle, and has certainly outperformed his original billing as a seventh round pick back in 2022.

However, his rookie deal expires in 2022, and with other potential payees like the top-5 caliber Tom on the right side, and Quay Walker on defense, and/or Rhyan at guard, the Packers may be looking at cheaper long-term option at the position.

There is also a very possible scenario in which Walker beats out Morgan and retains the left tackle position, whilst Morgan – who some profiled as a guard coming out of college in 2024 – plays well enough for a starting role and takes the right guard spot away from Rhyan, who then moves out of the lineup.

It is impossible to know exactly which five will start; and at which positions. But it will certainly be one of the more interesting storylines to follow during the Packers’ offseason over the next few months.