Kevin Zeitler May Make First Packers Start Against His Old Lions Team

Sunday's game in Detroit carries more weight than most early-season divisional matchups. The Lions host the Green Bay Packers in the first divisional meeting of 2026, and both teams have reasons to feel like this one could tip the season in a new direction. For Detroit, the health picture is the good news. Practicing with a full group after the bye week, the Lions look as healthy as they have been all year, and the return of Brian Branch and Cade Mays should add real depth against a Packers team that's won three straight. For Green Bay, the more interesting storyline sits on the offensive line, and it runs straight through a familiar face.

Green Bay's line is the real problem

Three wins in a row can hide a lot, and the Packers know it. Pro Football Focus has graded Green Bay as the worst pass-blocking unit in the league so far this season and the second-worst run-blocking unit. That's a hard combination to overcome. Quarterbacks who can't get time in the pocket and running backs who have to create their own lanes put enormous pressure on every other part of the offense, and the numbers reflect it. Through six weeks, the Packers rank 23rd in points and 18th in yards, which is a clear ceiling for a team with their talent.

Teams in this spot usually don't have the luxury of waiting for a unit to fix itself. When pass protection struggles this badly, the coaching staff typically starts looking at personnel changes that might stop the bleeding, even if the adjustments create their own questions. Here's the thing: changing one spot on the line can ripple outward. A new player has to learn the calls, the communication and the timing with the quarterback, and that adjustment doesn't happen in a single practice.

Zeitler's path back into a starting job

Kevin Zeitler could be the answer Green Bay is looking for, and he already knows what Detroit's defense looks like. He started at right guard for the Lions for the entire 2024 campaign, a season that ended with a 15-2 record and an offense many people still point to as one of the best of its era. Pro Football Focus graded that year as his second-highest of a 14-year career, which tells you how much he contributed to that unit.

His route to Green Bay wasn't straightforward. Zeitler spent the offseason and the first month of the season without a team, and he eventually landed a new deal with the Packers. He has suited up in two games since, and he's played a handful of special teams snaps. He hasn't taken a single offensive snap for Green Bay yet. That's a veteran guard who has been on the sideline while the line struggled, and it's easy to see why some fans have been asking for him to get a look.

Three weeks is enough time to learn a playbook and start to feel comfortable, but it's still a short window for a player who has had no real reps with this group. That said, Zeitler's experience and his background in a scheme built on movement and communication may help him adjust faster than a younger player would.

What Thursday's reps suggest

The clearest signal so far came from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Tom Silverstein, who reported that Zeitler took some first-team repetitions on Thursday, alongside the usual starters. Travis Glover has been the one starting at right guard for the past three weeks, and he has been a big part of the struggles up front. Getting first-team work doesn't guarantee a Week 7 start, but it does tell you the coaching staff is at least considering the option seriously. Practice reps are where a coach gets a feel for a player's readiness, and a veteran getting those snaps at this point suggests the door is open.

Still, nothing about the depth chart is confirmed until the lineup is announced. Watch for who lines up at right guard in the first series, and pay attention to how the Packers handle the interior against Detroit's front. If Zeitler gets the call, the first few snaps will tell us whether the adjustment is working.

Familiar territory, and a Lions line that moved on

For Detroit, there's a bit of bittersweet irony here. The Lions don't appear to miss the 36-year-old Zeitler, and that makes sense. Detroit needed to get younger on the offensive line, and it made its move. Tate Ratledge was drafted to take over at right guard, and he has done a solid job since. Moving on from a veteran who was part of a historic season is never simple, but the roster decisions were about the long view, not a single year.

Still, watching a former starter line up across from your defense is never easy, particularly if he is an upgrade for the opponent. If Zeitler gives Green Bay stability at right guard, the Lions' defensive front will have to account for him in a way they didn't have to a few weeks ago. That's a different kind of challenge for Detroit, one that could shape how the rest of the game plays out.

My read is that this game will come down to whether Green Bay can protect its quarterback well enough to keep its offense on schedule. Whether the answer is Zeitler, Glover or someone else on the line, the Packers' struggles up front are the thing to watch on Sunday. If the protection holds, Green Bay has a real shot to keep its winning streak alive in Detroit.