November 10th, 2008

Scott Wells Had A Terrible Game

packeraaron in Offensive Line, Scott Wells

Rereading my posts from this morning, I think I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how awful Scott Wells was yesterday. He missed assignments left and right, never seemed to adjust to what the Vikings were doing with their front seven and was obviously at fault when he failed to pick up the delayed blitz that leveled Rodgers. And it follows a game where Wells’ lack of physicality was exposed by a much tougher Titan interior defensive line.

Overall, it will be interesting to see who lines up with the first unit offensive line at practice on Wednesday…


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October 2nd, 2008

A Good First Step

packeraaron in Mike McCarthy, Offensive Line

Encouraging to hear that McCarthy has the team in pads and concentrating on fundamentals this week. (Makes you wonder if he started Wednesday’s practice with the Lombardi classic: Gentlemen, this (holding it up) is a football…to which Max McGee responds “You’re going too fast for us”) The work is sorely needed, especially for the offensive line. Now the next step is to see some tackling drills…


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September 23rd, 2008

Not Soon Enough

packeraaron in Aaron Rodgers, Mike McCarthy, Offensive Line, Scott Wells

The return of Scott Wells is welcome news.

The Packers biggest problem over the course of the last three weeks (and there have been plenty) is the lack of a consistent running game. With Wells back and Spitz over at right guard for Tony Moll (who simply has no business playing guard) I fully expect McCarthy to start feeding Grant the way he did down the stretch last year. He simply has to take pressure off Rodgers, who was asked to do way too much against Dallas. Not that I think he can’t handle it. He can. But there’s zero reason, on a team this talented, that Rodgers should be asked to win games. Even a halfway decent running game will help tremendously.


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September 9th, 2008

Credit Where It’s Due

packeraaron in Offensive Line

Corey and I both have, at times, disparaged the interior of the Packers’ offensive line. I have to say, after some early sloppiness, which is to be expected, the trio of Daryn Colledge, Jason Spitz and Tony Moll just did a fantastic job handling Pat and Kevin Williams. Colledge in particular was just astounding in the way he negated Pat Williams on Ryan Grant’s big run and again when he absolutely clobbered Williams on Rodgers’ touchdown run.

The old axiom that games are not won between March and July is partially true. You can’t buy a champion in free agency. But guys like Colledge, Spitz and Moll spent the entire offseason in Green Bay, working out and getting stronger, while studying the offense and attending OTAs and mini-camps. Where did Jared Allen spend his offseason? It wasn’t entirely spent in Minneapolis, I can assure you.

The best thing about the offensive line in general? It’s only going to get better. The Packers will get Wells back and Sitton eventually. Who knows how it will shake out, but you’ve got to think Colledge made a real push for playing time last night. And remember how the line gelled as the season wore on last year? You’ll see more of that this season as well.

I think Jason Spitz summed it up perfectly:

Not many of you guys gave us much of a chance.

You can’t disagree with that. Kudos to Spitz and his O-line brethren. Let’s hope we see improvement from week to week from here on out.


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September 2nd, 2008

Wells Is Hurt

packeraaron in Offensive Line, Scott Wells

Not that it’s breaking news, but the fact that Wells can’t make it through back-to-back practices tells you all you need to know. They need to sit him a few weeks and let Spitz play center. The Packers are planning to start Colledge at left guard and Moll at right. And again I ask - what in the world happened to Alan Barbre?


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August 19th, 2008

The Barbre Mystery Continues

packeraaron in Mike McCarthy, Offensive Line

Even with Wells out again with a ‘trunk’ injury (what the hell does that even mean?) Allen Barbre can’t lock down a guard spot, having once again split time with Daryn “Alphonso Boone Is My Daddy” Colledge at this mornings practice.

This is getting ridiculous. Barbre was touted by McCarthy all offseason as someone who the organization thought was going to make a big jump this year, someone they thought so highly of there was no need to navigate ‘the dangerous waters’ of free agency, even armed with a stupid amount of cap room and the mother of all catches available for the landing in Alan Faneca.

But instead of naming Barbre the starter, they have fooled around with his splitting time with Colledge, who has pretty much proven that he will be adequate right up until he gets his quarterback killed on one of his horrible, once-per-game lapses in pass protection. Now, they have become overly enamored with a rookie on the right side, but have declared that former right side starter Spitz is too good to be on the bench. So Barbre, even though he has played well throughout camp, and absolutely pummeled people during the Bengals game, sits on the bench while Spitz is doing his best Daryn Colledge impression.

Start Barbre. Let Spitz and Sitton battle it out when Wells comes back. Enough of this.


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August 18th, 2008

Hey, Whatever Happened To…

packeraaron in Alan Barbre, Jason Spitz, Josh Sitton, Mike McCarthy, Offensive Line

… Alan Barbre competing for the left guard spot? I mean, I understand wanting to get your rookie Sitton on the field and all, and the fact that Campen and McCarthy have repeatedly stated that Jason Spitz is their best guard regardless of side (wonder how they feel about THAT statement after watching the tape from Saturday night) but how in the hell does Barbre go from looking good in OTAs, then lining up with the starters on the second day of training camp, to barely being able to sniff the starting lineup?

McCarthy and Campen need to get this fixed and stop screwing around. If Sitton is that good, fine, but Spitz has shown that he can be bullrushed regardless of which side he is on (or even if he’s in the middle - anyone remember his stint at center against the Bears last year? Not pretty) Let Barbe at least get a look in. As Vic Carucci notes over at NFL.com, Barbre looked good against the Bengals. ‘Good’ is not a word that leaps to minds when assessing Spitz’ performance.


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August 7th, 2008

On Guard

packeraaron in Josh Sitton, Offensive Line

Lost amongst the Favre brew ha-ha, (and really, what football info hasn’t been?) is the fact that starting center Scott Wells has been out with an injured ‘trunk’. (Don’t ask) While no one thinks it’s serious, he’s been out a good couple days now and it is definitely something to watch.

The good news is that Wells absence has allowed rookie Josh Sitton a chance to shine with Jason Spitz moving over to center while Wells is out. (Remember, Spitz was drafted as a center) Watching Sitton during Family Night, I can tell you the kid has the one thing the Packers’ offensive line has lacked since McCarthy installed his zone-blocking scheme. To put it simply, Sitton’s got a bit of nasty to him. The guy keeps blocking up until (and possibly just after) the whistle blows. And for a team that was the worst in the league on third and short, he’s a welcome addition.

Now word comes that McCarthty has indicated that Sitton is being given a chance to win the right guard spot, indicating that Spitz could move to left guard if Sitton was inserted on the right after Wells’ return. Anything that sends Colledge to the bench is fine with me…


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