Acme Packing Company
As Zach Tom lay on the manicured turf of Cleveland’s Huntington Bank Field, the Packers made a surprising decision concerning his replacement.
Rather than turn to Anthony Belton or Darian Kinnard, two players who had previously manned the right tackle spot in relief of Tom, they tapped second-year tackle Jordan Morgan. Morgan, a career left tackle at Arizona, had never taken game snaps at right tackle for the Packers. As a matter of fact, he hadn’t played the position at all since high school. But he’d play 30 snaps there before flipping over to left guard, filling in for Aaron Banks.
The results weren’t great. Pro Football Focus gave Morgan both the lowest overall grade and the lowest pass blocking grade of his career, though admittedly that grade was for his overall performance, not specifically for guard or tackle. Regardless, head coach Matt LaFleur admitted post-game that the Packers may be asking too much of Morgan, who spent training camp working at left tackle, left guard, and right guard. The Packers have previously described him as a player who can play four of the five offensive line positions, but now LaFleur seems to think they’ve gone too far.
“Especially when you look at [last Sunday], playing multiple spots in one game,” he said. “I don’t think that’s easy on anybody, especially a guy who’s still a relatively young player. That’s something we’ve certainly got to look at.”
One effective way to look at that would be by abandoning the idea of playing Morgan at right tackle for now. The Packers have at least two other capable options, the aforementioned Belton and Kinnard. And if he’s healthy, I think it should be Anthony Belton getting first crack at the right tackle job this week.
The Packers worked Belton at both left and right tackle during their training camp practices, but per PFF charting, he lined up exclusively at right tackle in their three preseason games. That alone puts him significantly ahead of Morgan who, again, had literally never taken a snap at right tackle in a game before Sunday.
And Belton’s performance has generally been acceptable. Penalties have been a problem, to be sure. He was flagged eight times in the preseason and has drawn one flag in regular-season play, a costly holding penalty that wiped out a touchdown by Jayden Reed on the same play that Reed shattered his collarbone. I’m sure the injury would be a little easier to swallow if it hadn’t come on a play that ultimately didn’t count.
But outside of the penalty stuff, Belton’s been solid enough. He allowed two pressures in 16 pass blocking snaps Sunday, but had a clean sheet against the Commanders. He also offers some decent power in the ground game; they don’t call him “Escalade” for no reason. Belton will put his 6-foot-6, 336-pound frame to work to take players for a ride.
Furthermore, the Packers seem to like Belton more than Kinnard. It was a surprise to see Kinnard...
