The Green Bay Packers head into 2026 with real questions along the offensive line, but Anthony Belton isn’t one of them.
That’s a notable shift for a player who barely got on the field early in his rookie year. Green Bay’s second-round pick in 2025 opened the season trying to make it work at right tackle while Zach Tom dealt with injury, but the fit never really took. Through the first 11 games, Belton logged just 91 snaps, most of them on the edge.
Then the Packers moved him inside, and everything changed.
A second-half reshuffle, sparked in part by Elgton Jenkins’ season-ending injury, pushed Green Bay to rework its guard setup. In Week 12 against the Minnesota Vikings, the Packers planned to rotate Belton and Jordan Morgan at right guard.
Belton ended up taking over in the second half of that game and never let go of the job. Over the final seven games, every one of his 423 snaps came at right guard.
The results weren’t flawless. Rookie linemen rarely are, and Belton had his share of growing pains, especially in pass protection. But the move unlocked what Green Bay drafted him for in the first place: a massive, 6-foot-6, 336-pound blocker who can overwhelm people when he gets to play to his strength.
That showed up most clearly in the run game, where Belton turned into a true road-grader for the Packers.
Now he enters 2026 as the full-time starter at right guard, and that matters beyond just the depth chart. It gives him a cleaner offseason, a clearer role, and a chance to build on what he learned as a rookie instead of chasing it.
“Last year, just being able to play as a rookie, I learned a lot," Belton said this offseason, according to Rob Reischel of Forbes. "I learned a lot about the process, preparation.
Just what comes with it. I was able to get acclimated, so now I know what to expect going into this year.
Knowing what I need to work on. There were a lot of ups and downs that I had, but now I feel like I’m in a position where I can think less and do more.
Because last year was more coming in as a rookie and trying to finally figure out what’s going on versus now it’s more I can observe and take information in better.”
That final line is the one that sticks: “Think less, do more.”
For Belton, that sounds like the right formula. Let the size, power and natural force do the talking, and Green Bay may have found a reliable anchor on the interior.
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