GREEN BAY, Wis. — After three games, it has already become apparent that if the Green Bay Packers’ offensive line can’t protect Jordan Love, they’re not going to get very far.
Well, Love might. He’d at least make it to a hospital up the street after being hit 34 times since the Sept. 13 opener versus the Minnesota Vikings, including 12 times in Thursday night's loss to the Atlanta Falcons. To this point, the performance of the team’s makeshift offensive line has been downright, well, offensive.
That’s why general manager Brian Gutekunst is throwing sh— at the wall until something sticks. After signing 34-year-old Laken Tomlinson off the Dallas Cowboys’ practice squad on Saturday, the Packers are also bringing aboard Mekhi Becton, a former first-round pick of the New York Jets. Becton had a successful workout with the Packers Monday morning, earning a spot on the practice squad.
“It’s great,” said head coach Matt LaFleur on Monday. “These guys have played a lot of football, so they know how to play the game. The game’s not too big for them. Certainly, there’s going to be a learning curve there.”
The Packers are hoping that learning curve isn’t too steep. Tomlinson’s five years playing under Kyle Shanahan with the San Francisco 49ers could help him acclimate to the Packers’ offense quickly, considering the vast similarities in concepts and schematic philosophies. The same can be said for Becton, who played under LaFleur’s younger brother, Mike, for two seasons with the Jets when he was the team’s offensive coordinator.
Becton is the third addition to the Packers’ ailing offensive line in the last 11 days. They also signed Cordell Volson, a 48-game starter for the Cincinnati Bengals, to their practice squad on Sept. 17. He has yet to be elevated for either of the two games the Packers have played since then, but they could opt to experiment with him as a potential answer to their guard conundrum. Volson played exclusively at left guard during his time protecting Joe Burrow in Cincinnati.
The 6’7”, 363-pound Becton limped through an injury-plagued tenure with the Jets after they spent the No. 11 overall pick on him to become their left tackle. He sustained cartilage damage in his knee in the Jets’ first game of his sophomore campaign, knocking him out for the remainder of the year.
The Jets moved Becton to right tackle ahead of the 2022 season, while George Fant took the reins at left tackle, but that experiment was short-lived. Becton sustained an avulsion fracture in his right kneecap during training camp, landing him on season-ending injured reserve.
Becton signed a one-year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles in the spring of 2024, but there wasn’t much of an opportunity for him to compete for one of the starting tackle spots. With Landon Dickerson and Jordan Mailata already holding down each bookend, the Eagles moved Becton inside to right guard, where he’d ultimately prosper. He started all 15 regular-season contests at right guard, as well as all four of the Eagles’ postseason games en route to a Super Bowl win over the Kansas City Chiefs.
He’d earn a two-year contract with the Los Angeles Chargers to serve as their right guard, but he was released just one year into the deal after struggling for much of the season. It was later revealed that Becton played through a labrum injury in his shoulder that would require offseason surgery.
Now healthy and cleared by doctors, Becton has the experience—64 career starts—to immediately compete on an offensive line in Green Bay still searching for answers.
“All you can control is how you respond to every situation,” said LaFleur. “We’re going to try and attack it head-on and try to put the guys out there that we feel give us the best opportunity to go win a football game.”
The Packers have started three different players at left guard to begin the season. Aaron Banks, the preferred starter, spent the entirety of the summer battling tendinitis in his knee before picking up a toe injury in the Sept. 20 loss to the Jets. His health isn’t something the Packers can count on throughout the season. Donovan Jennings started one game in place of Banks and replaced him in the second half versus the Jets, but he has struggled severely. Ditto for Jacob Monk, whom the Packers have been persistent in their attempts to make their right guard.
Jager Burton, a fifth-round rookie, started at left guard against the Falcons, but to say he struggled in the first exposure of his young career would be an understatement after he surrendered 10 pressures. Both the left and right tackle positions appear to be solidified with Jordan Morgan and Anthony Belton, respectively.
If the Packers deploy Becton at his familiar position of right guard, he’d be playing beside another behemoth in the 6’6”, 336-pound Belton. LaFleur wouldn’t attach a specific position to Becton, saying that he’ll be situated “more so on the right side.” That could indicate that the Packers are allowing Becton to compete with Monk at right guard, or that they’re considering moving Belton back inside to right guard—an eight-game starter there a season ago—in favor of Becton at right tackle.
At the very least, the Packers at least now have the luxury of experience between Tomlinson, Becton, and Volson. Across five seasons, Becton has played 1,621 snaps at left tackle and 1,951 at right guard.
The Jamaican-born Tomlinson has played in some capacity for seven different teams throughout his career, but wherever he’s gone, he’s stabilized the offensive line. He’s played almost exclusively at left guard over 12 seasons, but most notably, Tomlinson has consistently remained available. The offensive line is a grueling, demanding place to make your money—Tomlinson, though, has epitomized durability.
Across the first 10 seasons of his career, Tomlinson missed just one game. In that same span, he started 155 of a possible 164 games. That included a seven-year stretch from 2018 through 2024 where the ironman Tomlinson started 116 consecutive games, earning a Pro Bowl nod in 2021 with the 49ers for his stellar performance.
Zachary Jacobson is the author of The Packer Dispatch. He is entering his 12th season covering the Green Bay Packers after spending seven as the Editor-in-Chief of Packer Report. He is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America. Follow him on Twitter @zachjacobson or contact him via email at itszachariahj@gmail.com.