The Green Bay Packers’ offensive linemen were playing two different games last season: football and musical chairs. The constantly shifting components also extended beyond the offensive line, with key skill players like Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, and Tucker Kraft missing significant time.
The Packers looked like the cream of the crop through the first two weeks of 2025. Then, the last month turned into a disaster. For that reason, the key to 2026 might just be continuity.
No team had more offensive players start a game last year than Green Bay. Its 27 different offensive starters were tied for a league high with the New Orleans Saints. No disrespect to the Saints, but being lumped in with them in almost any category last year isn’t a good sign.
For the Packers, it started up front with the offensive line. Their most-used combination, per Sharp Football Analysis, was Rasheed Walker at left tackle, Aaron Banks at left guard, Sean Rhyan at center, Anthony Belton at right guard, and Zach Tom at right tackle.
There are a couple of issues with this.
Elgton Jenkins was the starting center to begin the year before a season-ending injury derailed those plans. Even when Jenkins was healthy, the switch from left guard to center wasn’t going smoothly.
Belton, a second-round rookie out of North Carolina State, starred in college at left tackle. Between poor play from Jordan Morgan at the position and Rhyan having to scoot over to center after the Jenkins injury, Belton found a home at right guard. It may not have looked the most comfortable or natural at times, but Belton settled in as best he could.
Seeing that the most frequent combination on the offensive line consisted of a reserve rookie playing out of position and the starting right guard logging more snaps at center isn’t exactly a recipe for success.
There’s another problem with this, though.
That group of five was Green Bay’s most-used combination on the offensive line last year, but they only played 178 snaps together. That’s the fewest among every single NFL team’s most-used O-line combo in 2025. On top of that, the group of Walker, Banks, Rhyan, Belton, and Tom played just 17.6% of all Green Bay’s offensive snaps together. That landed 30th among all other teams’ most-used combinations.
Now the Packers will likely be rolling with the following group, from left to right: Morgan, Banks, Rhyan, Belton, and Tom. Staying healthy will be as important as anything for a group that hasn’t worked together much.
Those continuity issues also extended beyond the line. Christian Watson was recovering from tearing his ACL in the regular-season finale in 2024. It cost Watson the first six games of the season. Meanwhile, Jayden Reed had two surgeries, one on a broken clavicle and another for a Jones fracture, after bowing out in Week 2. Reed didn’t return to action until Week 14 and only played in seven games.
Tight end Tucker Kraft was on pace to shatter some of Green Bay’s franchise-record numbers for a tight end in a single season before he tore his ACL in Week 9, putting him on the shelf for the rest of the season.
All of this led to head coach Matt LaFleur constantly shuffling pieces in and out of the lineup. Green Bay, which often boasts about its depth on the offensive line, suddenly found its stockpile depleted. There was still plenty of quantity at wide receiver, but it took a dip without Watson and Reed at different parts of the season.
Every team fights through injuries. The Packers will start 2026 with their best player, Micah Parsons, set to potentially miss half the season. Kraft is not guaranteed to be good to go for Week 1 either, although he seems hellbent on making that happen.
Green Bay isn’t different from other teams when it comes to injuries. Still, the sheer numbers from last year speak for themselves. No team had to start more players on offense than the Packers, and their most-used combination on the offensive line played fewer snaps than all other groupings’ most-used starting five.
It sounds obvious to say that a team can be more successful than the previous year if they stay healthy. But given how many key players went down with injuries last season, and how relatively little the Packers’ roster has changed, it’s essential to their plan. They believe they had a winning group put together last year, but those players didn’t get to work together. It makes their plan to run it back for another year with the same personnel a legitimate strategy.
