The Green Bay Packers played the go big or go home in the recently concluded 2025 NFL draft and they actually won that one with the quality of their picks that many critics give a favorable grade.
Matthew Golden take up much of the headline but another key addition is Anthony Belton, a left tackle from the North Carolina State.
Packers’ most immediate need is in the offense department but size is another major concern for them heading into the next season.
This is where the 6-foot-6, 335 pounds Belton comes in.
“I think if you look at some of the teams — whether you’re talking about the NFC North or you’re just talking about the NFC in general as you get into the playoffs — some of the defensive fronts that you face, I think you’ve got to have guys that can hold up,” said Jon-Eric Sullivan, Packers vice president of player personnel.
Sullivan said they also considered the weather in Wisconsin in drafting Belton.
“We play in the cold and you can wear people down as the season goes along and the elements change,” he said.
“It’s kinda the way we were raised in this thing up here. We want to be big across the front, we want to be physical, we want to be able to overwhelm with size and physicality. That’s what attracted us to him.
Green Bay Packers got the ‘Big Escalade’
Some critics are not sold about Packers drafting Belton for he is still raw.
No one can contend against his strength since that is what got him to college.
NC State’s own strength and conditioning director Dantonio Burnette saw first hand how he manhandled teammates during practices and opponents during games to the point that he had to give him the monicker ‘Big Escalade.’
“The genesis behind that nickname is that Anthony Belton, he’s a really big guy – 6-foot-6, 336-pound guy – that is very smooth and is an excellent bender,” Burnette said in an interview with Sports Illustrated.
“When you see him change direction, it’s like, man, that’s wild that a big guy can move that well and be smooth while still doing it. He’s a big guy that’s very under control, so it was one of those things that, during the team run, he was out there killing the guy that he was going against. It was just one of those nicknames that I came up with.”
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