There’s a lot of news to go over from this past week of training camp and family night practices. But there’s one new development that I believe will be of major importance to the 2026 Green Bay Packers, and that is the now very real competition at right guard.
Many of us, myself included, assumed that Anthony Belton would win the right guard job outright this off-season. The Green Bay Packers invested heavily in Belton with a 2nd round pick, they trusted him down the stretch last season, and he’s the incumbent with more experience at the position than anyone else on the roster. It made sense to think that Belton would run away with the competition this summer!
And early on, it looked like that would be the case. For the first few weeks of camp, Belton was taking snaps exclusively at right guard with the first team. However, as camp has worn on, Belton has been occasionally moved to tackle and even demoted down to the second team offensive line as recently as yesterday.
What originally looked like a token competition is now as real as ever.
As of right now, I think the Green Bay Packers have 5 different options they can go with at the right guard position. They have the rest of training camp and pre-season to figure out their best option, but I am going to get into it here.
Option 1: Anthony Belton
Like I said earlier, Belton came in as the favorite at right guard, but sadly he hasn’t done much to cement himself in that spot. At least take it from the beat reporters who are there on the field every single day.
Pass protection skills were the major wart for Belton in year 1. According to PFF, Belton was the 8th worst graded guard in the NFL last year when it came to pass protection. That will never be good enough for a team like the Green Bay Packers, but most especially so when the 55 million dollar man is standing behind you in the pocket. All this to say, it is imperative that Belton gets better as a pass blocker in 2026.
So far it seems like he hasn’t.
I thought Matt Lafleur had a very interesting quote when asked about Anthony Belton last week. This one raised some alarm bells for me, because I feel it’s clear that Gutekunst drafted Belton to be a guard, and Belton has likely spent the whole offseason training to be a guard.
Lafleur saying this is curious because Belton’s clearest path to the starting lineup is 100% at the right guard position. If Lafleur thought of Belton as one of the “best 5” then I don’t think Lafleur would still be talking about him as a tackle. Just an interesting note.
Belton still has as good a shot as anybody to win this job, but he cannot afford to struggle in the preseason. It’s do or die right now for the big man.
Option 2: Jacob Monk
This is an option I am particularly intrigued by. Let me tell you why.
Monk was drafted as a versatile interior offensive lineman out of Duke in 2024. He is currently headed into his 3rd season on the team and coming out of college I really liked his tape.
While his first two seasons have been somewhat of a letdown compared to what I thought he might be right away, I still think there’s reason to believe in him this year.
The main reason for that being Monk’s performance in last year’s week 18 game against Minnesota. Remember that was the meaningless regular season game that the Packers almost treated like a pre-season matchup. None of the starters and many of the key backups did not see the field. In that game, Monk got the start at center and turned in a fabulous performance.
I went back to watch the tape from that game and came away pretty darn impressed. Monk played with impressive force right from the first snap, and showed a real tenacity when working to finish blocks. Like Stenovich said, Monk played “nasty” in this game.
This play was particularly beautiful to see. Absolute teach tape for a center trying to block an inside zone run play.
Then a little bit later in the game Monk finishes his block with a pancake all while Anthony Belton absolutely whiffs on his assignment from the right guard spot. An interesting comparison there.
Monk is a front runner for the right guard spot. Keep a close eye on him Thursday.
Option 3: Jager Burton
Burton, the 5th round rookie is largely an unknown for the Green Bay Packers, but here is what we do know.
Burton was a solid center in college. He was the type of guy who doesn’t have many weaknesses and just consistently performs at a high level. High floor, potentially low ceiling. His highlights might not jump off the screen at you, but there’s still a lot of value in a guy like this.
When watching his college tape at Kentucky it was abundantly clear that the rest of the linemen on his team weren’t even on his level. A play like this one illustrates that well. Burton does his job only to turn around and realize every other lineman missed their block and the play resulted in a loss of yards. Comical stuff!
Since arriving in Green Bay, Burton has built his own bundle of supporters within the coaching staff and front office. Lafleur and the coaching staff have given him rave reviews all throughout the offseason program.
Burton, a college center, is likely more of a longshot to win the right guard job, but don’t count him out. Lafluer doesn’t speak about specific players like this that often. Especially if Burton turns heads in preseason play, he’s got a real shot to start week 1.
Option 4: John Williams
John Williams is the forgotten man in Green Bay. The Green Bay Packers drafted him in the 7th round last season, and then he promptly suffered a back injury that cost him the entire 2025 season. Williams was on the PUP list all season, worked in practice for a few weeks but never appeared in a game.
Coming out of Cincinnati, Williams was a multi-year starter with incredible production. Williams allowed only 8 pressures as a left tackle in his final college season and turned in the 5th best PFF pass blocking grade in the nation.
I thought his quick feet and ability to mirror speed rushers were impressive. That foot speed allowed him to easily climb to the second level and get hands on people in the run game.
Williams really jumped out to me as an absolute steal in the 7th round of the 2025 NFL draft. Now the Green Bay Packers are giving him a chance to compete for the right guard position in camp, and it seems like early returns are quite high. Some smart people with boots on the ground are singing his praises.
Williams will be a key player to watch throughout the pre-season. He’ll likely play multiple positions, but I am most interested to see how he plays at right guard.
Option 5: Outside Addition (maybe Kevin Zeitler)
Knowing the Green Bay Packers, this might simultaneously be the best option for the team, and the option that is least likely to happen.
Kevin Zeitler is old yes, but he’d also be the perfect one-year stopgap for the Green Bay Packers right guard position. He wouldn’t cost much, and he’d immediately upgrade both the floor and the ceiling of this season’s offensive line.
Zeitler was the 9th highest graded pass blocking guard in the NFL last year, and the 13th highest graded guard overall. So, in other words, he graded 62 spots higher than Anthony Belton did.
Let’s go sign Zeitler, start him at right guard and then let the rest of these young guys have another year to develop as depth pieces behind him. The Packers may need to act fast. I don’t know that a guy like Zeitler will stay on the open market for long.
