The Green Bay Packers have a three-way competition along the offensive line ahead of their Week 10 game against the Minnesota Vikings. Over the past two games, Green Bay started Aaron Banks at left guard and Laken Tomlinson at right guard. But veteran Kevin Zeitler finally got his chance on offense against the New England Patriots on Sunday, and he made the most of it.

In only 20 snaps, Zeitler played well in the run game and in the few pass protection reps he had. Now, both guard spots are open.

Offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich confirmed that the three players are competing for two spots and that the decision will be made throughout the week. However, Stenavich didn’t reveal who will start. The Packers won’t announce that for competitive reasons. The starting offensive line will only become clear minutes before kickoff, during warmups for Sunday’s game against Minnesota.

“I’m interested to see how it plays out this week with Banks, Zeitler, Laken, and how that’ll shake out,” Stenavich said on Tuesday. “That’s going to be big. But I like what I’ve seen from Zeitler. When he went in and played, he did a really nice job. It’ll be interesting to see how it plays out.”

Small sample, strong signal

Zeitler’s sample size against the Patriots was limited. Of his 20 snaps, only four were pass-blocking assignments. Still, according to PFF, he is now the highest-graded Packers offensive lineman in season on a play-by-play basis, both in pass blocking and run blocking.

“The plan was for Banks to be our left guard and Laken to be our right guard,” Stenavich added. “Zeitler was obviously the next man up. When Banks went down, Zeitler stepped in and did a nice job. Now we’re just seeing where everyone stands.”

Even in a handful of plays, the performance was an indication that Zeitler isn’t washed. He has the potential to be an upgrade along the offensive line, and that is relevant because Aaron Banks has been a problem for Green Bay, especially in run blocking.

The other piece of the puzzle is Laken Tomlinson. He is probably a better left guard than he is a right guard. Before these past two weeks, Tomlinson hadn’t played on the right side since 2016.

The most natural solution

There’s a scenario where the Packers move Tomlinson back to the left side and play Zeitler at right guard. That would be the most natural decision for Green Bay, since it upgrades right guard and puts Tomlinson back in his natural spot at the same time.

However, Banks is still competing for the left guard job. If he keeps it, Tomlinson would have to fight Zeitler for the right guard spot instead.

Moving Tomlinson back to the left and starting Zeitler at right guard is probably where the Packers should go at this point. But there’s some type of sunk cost fallacy at play with Banks. Green Bay gave him a four-year, $77 million contract in free agency last year. Then the team doubled down, deciding to keep paying his $18 million to keep him on the roster this season.

So the Packers are probably still trying to make it work with Banks, and they trust him to a certain extent. After the past few weeks, when he hasn’t played well, it might be time to finally give Zeitler an opportunity to start.

Game against the Vikings is a major test

Having the best five offensive linemen on the field is particularly important against Minnesota. And that’s because the Vikings have the best defense in football in both EPA/play and success rate. Under Brian Flores, it’s a unit capable of generating a lot of pressure with a blitz-heavy approach.

Protecting Jordan Love against that defense is paramount. Right now, Zeitler is probably more capable of doing that than Banks. Whatever the Packers decide, the answer won’t come until Sunday’s warmups, but the evidence from the Patriots game points in one clear direction.