Anthony Belton, number 71 for the Green Bay Packers, is the latest guy getting thrown into Matt LaFleur’s offensive line blender, and it looks like it’s hurting him way more than helping the team. The Packers have been moving Belton around from tackle to guard and back again for his whole NFL career so far, and honestly, you have to wonder what they are even doing at this point.
The LaFleur OL Philosophy: Genius or Just Chaos?
Matt LaFleur, now in his eighth season as head coach, has never been shy about shuffling his offensive linemen around. Guards become tackles, tackles become guards, and heck, anyone can play center at any time. The whole idea is to get the “best five” guys on the field, no matter what position they “traditionally” play. For a while, especially in the early years, this approach worked! They got the most out of their talent up front, and the flexibility seemed like a superpower. Positions just mattered less than performance.
But let’s be real, this “move anybody, anywhere, anytime” strategy has totally blown up in their faces too. Think about that brutal 2021 Divisional Round loss to the 49ers. The Packers rolled out Billy Turner at left tackle, a spot he hadn’t played in over a year, while Ricky Wagner was at right tackle. What about Yosh Nijman, who had held down the left side capably for most of that season? Nah, let’s try some musical chairs in a playoff game! That decision was a head-scratcher then, and it looks even worse now given what’s happening.
Jordan Morgan’s Development Got Stunted, And It’s Happening Again
If you want a prime example of this philosophy backfiring, just look at Jordan Morgan. This guy was a dyed-in-the-wool left tackle, pure and simple. What did the Packers do? They installed him at guard as a rookie and basically kept him locked in that box until this season. Even when Rasheed Walker was struggling in 2025, Morgan was still stuck inside. The team might have thought Morgan was more versatile than Walker, but the call to keep him at guard instead of strengthening tackle was a mistake.
LaFleur himself pretty much admitted last year that they spread Morgan too thin, especially asking him to play multiple different spots in a single game. What’s the result? Morgan’s development got stunted in his first two seasons. How can a player truly grow when they’re constantly wondering where they’ll be playing next?
Belton’s Future: A Rattled Swiss Army Knife?
Now, all signs point to Anthony Belton walking right into the same situation. The thinking is clear: the Packers want Belton to be their swing tackle for 2026. Okay, fine, that’s a defined role. But then they also seemed to want him to be their starting right guard. So they want him to be *both*? The constant moving between tackle and guard has apparently rattled him badly enough to affect his ability to play both guard and… well, the article cuts off there, but you get the picture.
This is a real problem. If the team can’t commit to a consistent spot for Belton, how can he be expected to excel or even properly develop? After seeing what happened with Jordan Morgan, you gotta wonder if this whole “versatility as ultimate goal” thing for the offensive line is actually doing more harm than good for individual player growth. It’s time for the Packers to figure out what they want Belton to be, or they risk another promising lineman getting lost in the shuffle.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Acme Packing Company.
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