The Green Bay Packers can take away a lot of positives from last week’s win over the New York Giants. One of the biggest may be the performance of Aaron Banks, who showed some flashes of what he could be after struggling for most of the season.
Injuries and poor performance have defined the first year of Banks’s four-year, $77 million contract. However, his play on Sunday provides some hope for the future. It leads to a massive opportunity as Green Bay hosts the Minnesota Vikings in Week 11, and it could turn his story around and provide some stability to an offensive line that needs it.
Aaron Banks’s Week 12 Encore Could Provide Hope for Packers’ O-Line
Entering Sunday, fans were wondering if Banks’s time in Green Bay could be short-lived. According to Pro Football Focus, Banks had an overall grade of 56.8 and allowed 10 pressures and a sack on 168 pass-blocking snaps (5.9% pressure rate). He also dealt with several injuries, including groin, ankle, back, and neck issues, and being at less than 100% may have hindered his performance.
That made Sunday’s game against the Giants a refreshing change. Banks’s 83.4 overall grade was the second-best in the NFL in Week 11 behind Ezra Cleveland of the Jacksonville Jaguars. He also allowed just two pressures on 30 pass-blocking snaps, which gave Packers fans hope that he could turn it around.
Going against a Giants defensive front that has struggled may have helped Banks on Sunday. But the biggest question now is whether he can sustain it.
If the answer is yes, the Packers would be thrilled with that outcome. Banks was the centerpiece of the Packers’ offensive line overhaul this past offseason, slotting in at left guard and moving Elgton Jenkins over to center. Jenkins struggled in his new role before suffering a lower leg fracture in a Week 10 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, but he’s not the only player who has had issues.
Jordan Morgan continues to have issues at right guard as the 2024 first-round pick continues to acclimate to the NFL. Rasheed Walker has been solid at left tackle but is set to become a free agent next season. If the Packers decide to release Jenkins this offseason, pull the plug on Morgan, and Walker signs somewhere else, the Packers could be looking for three new starters next offseason alongside right tackle Zach Tom.
This makes it incredibly important that Banks’s Week 11 performance was not an outlier. If he can build off this performance, he can validate his contract and fill a spot on the offensive line that could look much different next season. If he can't, the Packers will have to go back to the drawing board and endure a full-scale rebuild next offseason.