Little has been consistent about the 2025 Green Bay Packers. They’ve dealt with constant adversity and the change that needs to come with it. Though through it all I’ve consistently had one thing that has worried me most about this team, and that is their situation on the interior of the offensive line. A myriad of different players have taken snaps at different positions across the line, but it appears the team has officially settled on a new starting right guard. That is 2nd round rookie Anthony Belton. This being such an important spot on this team, I thought it was necessary to do a little film review on Anthony Belton’s performance at RG so far. Let’s dig into it!
First off, I want to praise the Green Bay Packers for actually making a lineup change. For many years Lafleur and his staff have preached the need to find their “best 5” on the offensive line, but then they often give preferential treatment to high draft picks and high priced free agents. They didn’t do that here with Anthony Belton, and I want to praise them for it!
Earlier this year, Belton was buried on the depth chart behind Jordan Morgan and Sean Rhyan at the guard position. This is likely why Belton spent the whole of training camp practicing at tackle. The Elgton Jenkins injury forced Rhyan to move to center and likely began the start of Belton’s work at guard.
It’d be my guess that the Packers saw something promising in Anthony Belton’s work at RG during practice. After seeing that in practice they decided to give him the chance to compete with and eventually win the job from their 2024 top pick in Jordan Morgan. This is the Green Bay Packers philosophy in action. Anthony Belton proved himself as part of the “best 5” and now he’s in the lineup on Sundays.
Film Review:
In Anthony Belton’s one full game at RG, the Packers ran the ball better than they had all season when adjusted for opponent strength. Josh Jacobs tallied 17 carries for 83 yards on a 4.9 YPC average. The Packers ran for 125 yards as a team.
Those numbers listed above aren’t incredible by any means, but they are solid. And solid is good enough in the ground game for this year’s Green Bay Packers. Now let’s look into how Belton himself impacted this performance.
It doesn’t take an expert to realize that Belton’s calling card in the NFL is going to be his play strength and physicality. He’s a big man that truly plays up to his size. I’ve written before that I think he’ll record more pancake blocks/play than any other lineman on the team if he gets a chance to. That strength and physical mean streak sets him up perfectly to be a guard at the NFL level.
Physicality and force is of magnified importance on the interior of the offensive line, and Belton has that trait. Jordan Morgan, the incumbent at RG, noticeably did not have that trait in the same fashion. I think that’s why watching Belton is so refreshing. He is just stronger and he moves people in a totally different way. The Green Bay Packers desperately need that on offense.
Here’s an example of a block that Anthony Belton made on Thursday that I would bet Jordan Morgan isn’t able to make consistently.
Watch 91 shift his positioning even further outside of Belton’s right shoulder pre-snap. It’s like 91 knows ahead of time that the run is coming just outside of Belton. Belton gets his feet in a good position and then absolutely neutralizes 91 with his punch. The run only goes for a couple, but if Belton doesn’t make that block, then this play goes down for a loss. Another example of the little things making a big difference.
Here’s another play that shows the potential this beefy Packers O-line has to move humans out of the way.
This is duo run to perfection. If I am being honest, this play is rather routine and unremarkable as it specifically pertains to Anthony Belton. But I wanted to include this play because it shows the potential strength that Belton/Rhyan could be for this O-line. Those are two incredibly large and strong players, and they show themselves as a lethal and physical combo block pairing on this play.
Now sadly, the negatives for Belton in this game were also pretty evident. It all begins and ends with Lions defensive tackle Alim McNeill. Holy smokes that guy is good, and he gave Belton troubles all game long.
McNeill is a strong player, but I would argue his wins come most frequently through quick get off and speed moves. He allows his speed and quickness to set opposing lineman back on their heels and then can transform that speed into power when he needs to. So in short, McNeill has got it all going for him, that guy is a really great football player.
Belton got the full Alim McNeill experience on Sunday. He lost a few reps here and there pretty quickly because he simply got beat off the blocks by McNeill. Thankfully Jordan Love was able to get the ball out quickly on these plays. Here’s one example. McNeill knows that Belton is out over his skis trying to reach him, and he pulls/swims through him for an easy win.
Another shortcoming I noticed was Belton struggled to pick up a few twists and stunts. While this is a problem, and it’s something I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Bears try to exploit this week, it is also something I would expect to improve. This is the type of play you expect to see from a guy who has played tackle his whole life and just got thrown into playing guard at the NFL level a few weeks ago. Here Belton basically serves up a free lane for Aidan Hutchinson. In the future, Belton has got to recognize 91’s delayed rush and expect something like this coming.
The good news for the Green Bay Packers is that Anthony Belton is young, talented, and shows massive potential for growth. At least in my opinion. After diving into the tape, I am in full favor of handing this guy the reins at the RG position. Belton isn’t a polished player by any means, but I think he’s the best option for the team at this point.
As fans I’d keep an eye on how Belton improves against quicker interior pass rushers. He’ll have plenty of opportunities to prove himself in the next couple months. The Green Bay Packers will soon face Grady Jarrett, Zach Allen, Nnamdi Madubuike, and a slew of others. So, all of that goes to say that Belton is either going to sink or swim down the back half of this season.
Personally, I am well aware that Belton is not a perfect player, but I am still betting that he incrementally increases his value down the stretch. I’d bet he continues to help the run game while also continuing to be a bit leaky against quicker pass rushers. I do feel like he can be a high level guard in the long term, but I am not expecting that level of play right now after very limited reps at guard. That being said, you never know!
Go Pack Go!
