Having watched the preseason of football my entire life (it’s only 3-4 games a year, but it feels like a lifetime), I’m convinced that the position where the NFL has the biggest depth problem after quarterback is the offensive line. Is that a fair assessment? Or are those simply the two positions where consistency is most important?
I would say it’s difficult for any team to be as deep on the offensive line as they would like because the unit needs five players and finding/developing five capable reserves is a huge challenge. In that regard, I compare it to cornerback. Offenses like to dig into the defense’s cornerback depth by sending four and sometimes five receivers out on the field to see if the opponent has an answer.
I tried to focus on the offensive line during Sunday night’s game. Overall, the line consistently looked like it was holding the defense back, but only four of five on each play. It didn’t seem to be the same four every time, either. It seemed like strength wasn’t as important as cohesion and consistency. After two preseason games, that shouldn’t be surprising. I think there are still a few glasses on the shelf.
I agree with the glasses. I like what Sean Rhyan and Monk have done this preseason, while Kadeem Telfort and Caleb Jones have made progress but aren’t there yet, and Travis Glover is just getting started. I wouldn’t go so far as to say “four out of five” when looking at the O-line film, but the point still stands that when one player gets beat up front, it can ruin the game and make the whole unit look bad.
It looked like Andre Dillard was the first OT after Walker and Zach Tom, as he started the game as LT and was the first OL to be substituted during the game. Would you say he has the edge in the swing tackle battle? From what I’ve seen, he’s played well in the passing game even without much help.
That’s probably a fair guess at this point, but he didn’t practice on Tuesday due to a shoulder injury, so stay tuned, I guess.
Keith from Springfield, MO
Is the flight plan to Brazil ready? Enough fuel and runway for a nonstop flight? The Navy used to fly us submarine crews from Maine to a forward base in Rota, Spain. On one flight we were overweight and as we were taking off I saw the airport fence about 20 feet below us. Our commanding officer said, “The most useless thing in the world is the runway behind you.” I’m concerned about flight safety for II and the team.
I am not privy to the details, but I have heard that arrangements have been made for an aircraft that can take off from Green Bay’s shorter runway and fly nonstop to Sao Paulo.
Kerry from Lakewood Ranch, FL
In the NFL, it seems to happen quite often that a team goes from last to first. Last year it was the Texans. Who is your candidate this year?
Frequent seems a little strong, but I’m in. I’d pick the Bengals, and if that’s not fair because Burrow was injured last year, then I’ll take the Chargers.
As I was listening to the two of you talk about Isaiah McDuffie, I wondered if the Packers aren’t putting as much emphasis on metrics when scouting later rounds as they are on how they perform on the field.
No late-round draft pick is the total package, so he’s still in the running. As Wes has written here several times, in the late rounds you look for something a player can build on to stay in the NFL. It could be a certain athletic trait, the measurables, his college game film, or something else. In McDuffie’s case, the production was there on the game film and he proved he could take his game to that level.
After reading about locker room ping pong (or table tennis, as the pros like to call it), at least one curious mind must know: Which Packer is currently at the top of the leaderboard?
I didn’t see them all play, but in the short amount of time I saw, Bo Melton and Anders Carlson looked pretty damn good.
Packers Perks is great! I just won sideline passes for this weekend’s game. The only downside is that my wife and I are bringing our three kids to the game and there are only two passes. How do we figure out who gets to use them?
Two kids run to the sidelines, the other raids the cheese curd stand?
Hello Mike. I really like your writing (and grammar). Do you have ambitions to write something, for example a sports biography, a short story or a novel? Of course, only if you find the time for it.
Fiction wouldn’t be my thing if I continued writing alongside this job. Whether I would venture into a non-fiction book about sports would depend on how much energy I have when I stop reporting on daily football news.
“Brazil can’t get here fast enough.” I thought we had to go TO Brazil.
