Right guard Travis Glover was ruled out with a knee injury against the Carolina Panthers, and Green Bay had a veteran replacement sitting on the bench.
The Green Bay Packers made a surprising call along the offensive line against the Carolina Panthers
last Thursday, and it might be a long-term arrangement for the rest of the season. When right guard Travis Glover was ruled out with a knee injury, the expectation was that Green Bay would finally start veteran guard Kevin Zeitler at right guard.
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That didn't happen. The Packers started Aaron Banks at left guard
once again and moved Laken Tomlinson from left guard to right guard.
"When you look at it, the way Laken's been playing, you can't take him out of the lineup," head coach Matt LaFleur said after the game. "With Aaron Banks coming back, we decided to go that route. That's not to take anything away from [Kevin] Zeitler. We certainly feel good about him as well, but we thought that was the right move."
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That decision came down to trust. LaFleur and the coaching staff are happy with Tomlinson's performance since Green Bay signed him off the Dallas Cowboys' practice squad
. He has now started five games for the Packers: the first four at left guard and the Panthers game at right guard. On the right side, he allowed only one pressure, which was a fairly decent outing.
The new version of the offensive line
If health permits, this could be the final version of the Packers' offensive line. The center spot is the one exception. John Williams started there against Carolina, but Sean Rhyan should take back the starting center job once he returns from his high ankle sprain.
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The formation with Banks at left guard and Tomlinson at right guard could very well stick, even though Banks allowed four pressures and was bad in run blocking too
. It's concerning to a certain extent how much Green Bay trusts Banks at this point. Before the Panthers game, he had played only 22 snaps, all of them in Week 2 against the New York Jets. He was active but served as a backup against the Detroit Lions, then returned to the starting lineup against Carolina.
Tomlinson's move was also unusual. He has played left guard for most of his career, and he had only 65 right guard snaps before this season. All of them came in 2016, when he was still a young player. Run blocking was still an issue on the right side, but he was respectable in pass protection, and that was enough for the Packers to keep him there.
At this point, it simply sounds like the Zeitler plan won't happen. Green Bay signed him to a one-year, $4.05 million contract, but the team has refused to start him time after time. The reasonable plan to play Tomlinson at LG and Zeitler at RG didn't materialize.
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Initially, the Packers chose Glover at right guard. Then, once they had a clear opportunity to play Zeitler with Glover out, they moved their left guard to the right side instead. It's odd to see Green Bay trust essentially everybody else.
Laken Tomlinson might stick around
The bigger takeaway is how much the Packers believe in Tomlinson. He's a 34-year-old guard, and he has been solid on both sides of the line. Before the Panthers game, LaFleur said on the Packers Radio Network that Tomlinson has been the team's most reliable and consistent offensive lineman this season.
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That is a very telling assessment from the head coach, and it extends beyond the current depth chart. Considering how the offensive line projects for next year, with Banks potentially being released due to cap considerations, it wouldn't be surprising to see Green Bay re-sign Tomlinson. The Packers seem to be pretty happy with what they're getting from the veteran, and they showed it by picking him over a player they paid to be a starter.
This article was originally published on A to Z Sports. Read the full story here: Packers signal a potential season-long change up front, but the move comes with an unexpected catch
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