SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - OCTOBER 25: Josh Gesky #73 of the Illinois Fighting Illini in action against the Washington Huskies at Husky Stadium on October 25, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Training camp roster battles are basically a myth.

A team’s roster is basically set by the time the dust settles after the first week of free agency, and whatever details need to be sorted out are pretty much taken care of by the end of the NFL Draft. The idea that someone comes out of nowhere to make an NFL roster is more or less just a media creation. Teams know what they have and they stick with what they’ve got, by and large.

But battles do happen, and if you keep an eye out, you can see when teams set them up. And I think the Packers have set themselves up a little fight on the interior of their offensive line.

Let’s set the scene first. The top of the Packers’ offensive line is essentially set; six jobs are all but locked up. From left to right, the starting lineup is essentially set. Barring injury, Jordan Morgan, Aaron Banks, Sean Rhyan, Anthony Belton, and Zach Tom will be the Packers’ starting lineup, and Darian Kinnard will come off the bench as their swing tackle and occasional tight end. Allowing for some uncertainty with Tom’s knee situation, I don’t think anything there is controversial. You could even throw 2026 draft pick Jager Burton in there to make it seven roster locks and nobody would bat an eye.

But that leaves us at least two and possibly (even probably) three spots available. And it doesn’t take much to see where the Packers want the battles to play out.

Hybrid guard/tackle Donovan Jennings returns for another crack at a roster spot, as does 2025 draft pick John Williams. Travis Glover, primarily a tackle with a bit of guard experience, also returns after missing all of 2025 with a back injury. Jacob Monk, a pure interior lineman, returns as well, and he’s joined on the inside by undrafted free agents Josh Gesky out of Illinois and Dillon Wade out of Auburn.

Handwaving a few other prospects, I think you can see where the tension is here: the real battle is among the guys hardwired to play inside: Monk, Gesky, and Wade.

Monk we know well after a few years in the Packers’ system. What about Gesky and Wade?

Gesky joins the Packers after a long and relatively distinguished career at the University of Illinois under head coach Bret Bielema, formerly of Wisconsin Badger fame (and infamy). Dane Brugler’ 23rd ranked guard in the 2026 edition of The Beast, Gesky appeared in 47 games during his college career, starting 34, primarily at left guard. Gesky logged more than 2,000 snaps on the left side of the line in his college career, though he did make appearances at both right guard and right tackle.

He boasts good size at 6-foot-5 and 310 pounds (he played at close to 330 in college) and tested well at his pro day, posting a 9.63 Relative Athletic Score with generally great numbers, except for the agility drills, which were, frankly, terrible. Nevertheless, he profiles athletically as the scouts say he plays: a generally athletic people mover with limited movement ability in space. That’s a profile that can play.

And it’s a similar profile to Wade, who’s a bit heavier and stubbier than the current iteration of Gesky at 6-foot-3 and 316 pounds. Brugler’s 25th ranked guard, Wade started his college career at Tulsa, spending three years there. He appeared in zero, five, and then 12 games (starting all 12 in the third year at left tackle) before transferring to Auburn, where he appeared in and started 37 games over the next three seasons.

Wade moved around a bit more than Gesky, transitioning from tackle to guard during his time at Auburn. They’ve strayed from this profile a bit of late, but this makes Wade a consummate Packers lineman; they used to make a killing on switching college tackles to guard in the pros. Why not just bump the timeline up a bit?

Wade appears to have the athletic ability to make it work. Between the NFL Combine (he was invited, Gesky was not) and his pro day, Wade compiled a 9.23 Relative Athletic Score, though he did not perform the agility drills. Still, judging by his tape, the number isn’t a fabrication. Wade can move — it’s play strength that comes up as the concern in his game, according to scouts.

For my money, the Packers’ interior prospects (outside of Jager Burton) are roughly of equal quality, so a lot of how the Packers’ weigh this situation is going to come down to the story they want to tell about the players they have on the roster.

If Monk and, say, Jennings are last two prospects ahead of Gesky and Wade, I think you’re weighing investment versus potential here. Monk and Jennings have both been with the program for a while. The Packers have put a lot of time and resources into both guys, and they’ve been slow to move on from players they’ve invested in heavily, for better and for worse.

But in Gesky and Wade, they have four years of team control ahead, along with a lot of potential upside. I think both players have a higher ceiling, at this point, than Monk or Jennings. If you’re looking for long-term development, I think either player offers considerably more.

But that’s what this battle likely comes down to: what story do the Packers buy? If all players are roughly of equal quality, what the Packers tell themselves will probably carry the day. And it’s the story that the players are able to tell that will make all the difference. Narratives, real and imagined, can end up making all the difference.

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