Acme Packing Company
The Green Bay Packers are riding high after a dominant win in Week 1 over the Detroit Lions, who previously won the NFC North in consecutive seasons. This is your reminder, though, that it’s only Week 1.
That can be a good thing, if the Packers continue to improve, or a bad thing, if their future opponents catch up to them. One way Green Bay can take a step forward is by identifying a true starter at positions where they’re currently rotating several players, preferably the better option of the bunch.
With that in mind, I want to take a snapshot of the three spots where the Packers have open positional battles right now and are rotating several players in what are usually “starting” looks.
When Rasheed Walker told the press post-training camp that he had outright won the left tackle job in Green Bay, it was obvious that Jordan Morgan would be fighting for playing time at right guard this season. Morgan, a 2024 first-round pick, had played left tackle, left guard and right guard this summer, but left tackle (Walker) and left guard (Aaron Banks) are now cemented every-down starters.
In Week 1, Morgan played 15 right guard snaps to Sean Rhyan’s 32. The former first-rounder also played three snaps at left guard before kneeldowns, following Aaron Banks’ exit from the game. Currently, Banks is listed as an estimated non-participant in practice with an ankle/groin injury, which means that Morgan could end up starting at left tackle against the Washington Commanders on Thursday Night Football. If Banks can go, though, expect Morgan to continue to rotate with Rhyan at right guard.
This summer, Isaiah McDuffie and Isaiah Simmons were the only two players the Packers allowed to compete at the third linebacker position, with the assumption that Quay Walker and Edgerrin Cooper would play every down for Green Bay. The third linebacker only comes on the field for the Packers’ 4-3 base defense snaps, which usually hover around one-third of Green Bay’s total defensive snaps played from game to game.
Simmons never made the team, so it wasn’t a surprise when McDuffie was the starter at linebacker #3 to start the season.
What’s interesting, though, is that in the third quarter of the Detroit Lions game in Week 1, the Packers actually subbed in Ty’Ron Hopper, the 2024 third-round pick, for McDuffie. Is that a sign of what’s to come versus Washington, or did Green Bay just want to give Hopper a few defensive reps? That single snap that Hopper played on defense was the last time that the Packers played their 4-3 defense, as they chose to sit in their nickel pass defense for the rest of the game to prevent a quick score through the air. Neither McDuffie nor Hopper played on defense for the rest of the game. The data on whether McDuffie was actually benched for Hopper is incomplete.
In 17 games last year, Hopper played only 18...
