Acme Packing Company
The Green Bay Packers practiced without Zach Tom, Aaron Banks or Anthony Belton on Friday. Without them, the Packers’ offensive line will likely look like Rasheed Walker, Jordan Morgan, Elgton Jenkins, Sean Rhyan and Darian Kinnard (left to right).
That lineup, in limited snaps, hasn’t been bad for Green Bay this year. Together, those five have played 18 snaps together, averaging 10.7 yards per play. On 8 of 18 plays, the Packers have either had a play of 14 or more yards or a touchdown. I’m sure most people would take that.
The real issue, though, is if even one more player drops out of action.
Teams almost always carry eight offensive linemen into games. With Tom, Banks and Belton likely out, Travis Glover and Jacob Monk on the injured reserve and John Williams on the physically unable to perform list, the backups going into Week 4 action against the Dallas Cowboys have virtually no NFL experience.
Green Bay only has two remaining backup offensive linemen on its active roster, meaning that Donovan Jennings and Brant Banks are basically locks to be active in the upcoming game. This also means that one of Dalton Cooper or Lecitus Smith, the team’s practice squad offensive linemen, is likely to be called up against Dallas.
Jennings, a 2024 undrafted signing who has yet to play a regular-season snap, is probably going to be the Packers’ sixth offensive lineman in this game. When the line is projected to be healthy, like it was in Week 1 and Week 3, Jennings is a healthy scratch.
Banks was just called up to the active roster this week, after previously being a member of the practice squad. He’s an undrafted rookie who hasn’t been active in an NFL game yet.
Cooper didn’t even spend the summer in Green Bay, as he was a member of the Kansas City Chiefs until after cutdowns, when he signed with the Packers as a practice squadder. He, like Banks, is an undrafted rookie.
Smith was just re-signed to Green Bay this week, marking his fourth stint with the team. He was previously with the Packers from August 5th to August 26th this year.
So, yeah, the line depth is getting really thin in Green Bay really quickly, which shouldn’t be surprising considering that three members of the active roster are banged up, along with three former draft picks who are already on injury lists.
This will also impact the Packers’ special teams units. Green Bay’s preferred field goal protection unit includes Banks, Tom and Belton, who are expected to be out in Week 4. On top of that, the team has recently been resting tight end Tucker Kraft, who is another preferred field goal protection player, because of how much he’s being asked to play on offense due to Luke Musgrave’s lack of development as a blocker.
I’m sure this isn’t what Green Bay fans want to hear after losing a game due to a blocked field goal against the Cleveland...
