GREEN BAY – Anthony Belton still has some work to do as a pass protector as the Green Bay Packers’ starting right guard, at least based on his performance in the first period of one-on-one pass rushing drills in this training camp.
Belton is coming off his first offseason practicing as a guard after playing tackle in college and not moving to guard until the middle of last season.
He’s had an easy transition to his new position as a run blocker, where at 6-foot-6 and about 330 pounds he’s a ready-made road grader. But he struggled with pass blocking last season, and some of those issues have carried over to training camp.
In a one-on-one pass-blocking period Aug. 4, Belton went 1-for-3, losing to defensive lineman Warren Brinson, and a little later on back-to-back reps against Anthony Campbell, who finished last season on the Packers’ practice squad. Belton’s win came when he held up against Karl Brooks’ bull rush on the last snap of the period.
“I’m doing too much thinking, and it’s kinda slowing me down,” Belton said after practice. “I ain’t a rookie no more.”
One-on-ones aren’t the be-all in evaluating pass blocking, in part because the defense has the advantage knowing it doesn’t have to defend the run, and for inside rushers especially, there isn’t the traffic that can clog lanes.
But one-on-ones provide a competitive, mano-a-mano environment that requires pass protectors to use good footwork and hand technique.
On Belton’s first one-on-one rep, Brinson beat him cleanly right off the snap.
“Just a bad rep on my end,” Belton said. “I’ve gotta – everything, mechanics, gotta have a functional base, can’t block somebody one-on-one when you have a base you can’t function out of.”
On their first rep, the 6-6, 307-pound Campbell bull-rushed Belton into the tackling dummy that represents the quarterback in the pocket. On the second, Belton slipped to the ground as he was battling Campbell.
Belton still appears to be adjusting to the speed of the game on the inside, where defensive linemen are on him instantly when rushing the passer, as opposed to at tackle, where he takes a slide step or two before engaging with a rusher.
“Every time you get a chance you have to hammer it into your mind: base, balance, punch,” Belton said. “Find those little things and remind yourself. It’s all fundamentals. You gotta have a good base, gotta punch, and you can’t just punch and stop your feet.
“(At) guard you’re kinda in that phone booth, you can’t whiff, there ain’t no recovery (time) on the inside, you gotta be able to anchor, you gotta be able to mirror.”
The Packers are counting on Belton to be much improved as a pass blocker over last season at guard. He still has a ways to go to get there.
Anthony Campbell is on rise on D-line
Campbell is emerging as a dark horse to make the 53-man roster after finishing last season on the Packers’ practice squad.
At 6-6⅛ and with 34½-inch arms, he’s batted down four passes in five practices and made the occasional play as both a run and pass defender. And he went 4-0 in one-ones Aug. 4.
Besides beating Belton twice in that period, he also smoked fifth-round pick Jager Burton right off the snap on another rep, and later manhandled guard Josh Gesky.
Last year as Arizona’s head coach, new Packers defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon mostly had six or seven defensive linemen on the roster all season. The Packers presumably will do the same with Gannon running their defense this year.
Barring injury, it’s a given Devonte Wyatt, Javon Hargrave and Chris McClellan will be on the 53, and highly likely that Brooks and Brinson will make it as well.
That leaves one or two roster spots for Nazir Stackhouse, Johnathan Ford and Campbell. Stackhouse was on the Packers’ roster all last season, and Ford finished the season on the Packers’ roster after they claimed him off waivers Dec. 30.
Campbell, on the other hand, signed to the Packers’ practice squad the week of their playoff game at Chicago. He’s still probably an underdog to win a roster spot, but his start to camp at least gives him a chance.
“It’s a very tough, competitive situation in that D-line room, and the interior D-line,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “We’ve got a lot of guys that have shown up making plays, putting pressure on the quarterback, doing a great job in the run game defeating blocks, playing great technique. I’m excited about that group.”
Injury report
PUP: Edge Micah Parsons (knee), CB Kamal Hadden (ankle), LS Matt Orzech (calf), TE Luke Musgrave (neck), DL Jordon Riley (Achilles), DL Javon Hargrave (knee).
NFI: RB Chris Brooks (knee).
DNP: CB Carrington Valentine (hamstring), DB Johnathan Baldwin, TE RJ Maryland (hamstring), TE Luke Lachey (foot).
Returned: G Aaron Banks (knee/load management).
Tidbits
∎ There was some shuffling on the offensive line in practice Aug. 4.
To start the first team drill, Belton bumped out to right tackle, where Darian Kinnard has been working as the starter all camp while Zach Bako-Bewele works his way back from patellar-tendon surgery. Jacob Monk replaced Belton at right guard, and fifth-round pick Jager Burton replaced Monk at left guard.
For most of the rest of practice, though, the starting line was as it has been most of camp, from left tackle to right: Jordan Morgan, Monk, Sean Rhyan, Belton and Kinnard.
Burton, who just returned to team drills Aug. 3 also took some snaps at center with the No. 2 offense.
Also, John Williams, a seventh-round pick last year, took some snaps at left tackle with the No. 3 offense. He’s played center, left guard and left tackle in camp.
∎ Receiver Isaiah Neyor had the best catch of the day, a tough toe-tap catch on a deep out along the sideline from quarterback Kyle McCord.
∎ Backup linebacker Ty’Ron Hopper had one of the best defensive plays of the day. On a third-and-3 during a move-the-ball period, his stuff of running back MarShawn Lloyd at the line of scrimmage drew a big celebration by the defense.
∎ Morgan won all three of his reps against Lukas Van Ness in one-on-one pass-blocking drills. Brinson went 3-0 against Belton, guard Dylan Barrett and Rhyan.
∎ One of the Packers’ newly signed tight ends, Drew Biber, is from Cedarburg. He said he was recruited to play Division I basketball by IUPUI, which is a rival for UW-Green Bay in the Horizon League, but instead chose to play football at Purdue. He played four seasons with Purdue then finished his career with a season at Minnesota.
Quote of the day
LaFleur on concerns for offensive-line continuity with Bako-Bewele and Banks still not participating in team periods: “It’s always a concern. Certainly you want those guys out there. Just how they get off on the snap count is absolutely critical to our success, in the run game, in the pass game. So you definitely want those guys out there, and hopefully that will be in the near future.”
This article originally appeared on Packers News: Anthony Belton still work in progress as pass blocker | Packers Insider
Reporting by Pete Dougherty, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Packers News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Pete Dougherty, Green Bay Press-Gazette | USA TODAY Network
