After a quiet, injury-plagued 2025, Jacob Monk is surging up the depth chart. His hard-nosed style and collegiate experience now have him threatening for a starting role with the Green Bay Packers.
We're officially 25 days from the start of the 2026 NFL season for the Green Bay Packers. Whether you're ready or not, football season is here.
The Packers kick off their 2026 season against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, Sept. 13, from U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Talk about pressure. The Vikings are certainly in a transitional place as a franchise, but getting going against an NFC North foe ratchets up the intensity of this season from the get-go.
It's a big season for the Packers. There's a belief that they're in a Super Bowl window right now, which means every single game is important. That means the intensity will be there in Week 2 at MetLife Stadium against the New York Jets and it will certainly be there in Week 3 against the Atlanta Falcons, when the Packers will play at Lambeau Field for the first time in 2026.
There's going to be a lot of proverbial ink spilled on this 2026 season and we here at PackersRoundtable hope that you spend as much time as possible with us talking about the ins and outs and ups and downs of the Packers.
As we prepare for the 2026 season, though, we're going to kick things off with a rankings series looking at the Top 50 Packers heading into the 2025 season.
At No. 25, we have offensive lineman Jacob Monk
Ranking the Top 50 Packers Heading Into 2026: No. 25, Jacob Monk
Green Bay Packers center Jacob Monk (62) blocks Baltimore Ravens defensive lineman Broderick Washington (96) during an NFL preseason game on Saturday, August 24, 2024, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. Tork Mason/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin.Every preseason there's a player or two who end up rising above their station and breaking out in a big way. This training camp, that player seems to be 2024 fifth-round pick Jacob Monk, who is making a serious push to be a starter along the offensive line.
Had this list been completed before training camp, Monk wouldn't have even made the Top 50. He's really impressed in training camp, though. He checks in at 6-foot-3, 308 pounds and he has two traits that head coach Matt LaFleur really likes.
First, he's versatile. He can absolutely play either guard spot and even center at the NFL level. In 58 starts for the Duke Blue Devils in college, Monk played right tackle, right guard and even center.
LaFleur has also said that Monk plays a "hard-nosed" style of football and he's quick off the ball, which the Packers love.
If Anthony Belton is going to lose the starting right guard gig, it's going to be because Monk has stolen it from him.
2025 Synopsis:
Monk had a tough 2025 season, which is why he wasn't really on the radar heading into training camp. He dealt with a hamstring injury that kept him sidelined for much of the campaign. He made it back in time for the Week 18 game against the Minnesota Vikings and started that game because LaFleur was resting his actual starters.
Monk then, unfortunately, tore his biceps in the playoff loss to the Chicago Bears while blocking on a field goal attempt.
He played just 57 snaps in 2025.
Notable Quotables:
"I feel like there's only one way to play the game and it's fast, physical, and aggressive. That's really all that is. I know as long as you play hard and play fast, you always have a chance on each and every play. Every play's not going to be perfect, but strain and finish will help you." - Jacob Monk
Projected Role in 2026:
Monk will be a starting guard in 2026. Assuming Belton can stabilize his level of play to hold on to the right guard spot, Monk can slide over to left guard and take over for Aaron Banks, who is dealing with tendinitis in his knee and has overall been a dissapointment as a starter.
Previous Rankings:
