Campen has really become a good coach. He didn't start out all that great, but he's a real asset now.

Although versatility is a good thing for OL, I think I'd like to see a little more more ability, consistency and production from the Packers backups.

This is positive spin on a sub par reality. Yes, some of the second string OL can play G and tackle, or C and G, but not to the standard required to inspire any confidence. The reality is we need to bring in a specialist Tackle, ideally a swing player but certainly a RT. The next draft should see at least 2 OL in the first three picks, but with some luck we can pick up a credible tackle in the next couple of days to help our QB this season

The fact that our OL line for at least 1 game last year was pretty much all guards, and they held their own, says a lot about GBs coaching and the versatility of the OL. Hopefully it doesn’t come to that again this year.

Barclay
"held in such high regard"...."they don't have someone of Barclay's stature"......."capable of playing all five positions on the line". Riiiight.

If Barclay is the poster boy for quality, Aaron Rodgers won't last to the bye week before being injured. Barclay couldn't play tackle as well as Spriggs.

At the moment I'm looking at the starters plus Spriggs, Pankey, Patrick (making 8), plus a decent chance there is a ninth. That isn't horrible, and it isn't ideal either, just somewhere in between. If the O line survives the season without cluster-injuries there, they should be ok.

So all these backup line guys can play multiple positions equally as badly? Someone must have pointed a gun at your head to write something positive about the backup offensive line given what we have watched this summer.

Positive article. I wish I could be so positive. From what I saw last year with injuries and what I’ve seen so far this preseason from the 2’s and 3’s I don’t have a lot of confidence in the OL if and when injuries occur to our starters. I know OL talent is scarce, especially Tackle, so I had really hoped some of these backups improved from this time a year ago. Haven’t seen that improvement. Never thought I would miss Barclay!

We all know, you get what you pay for. What did we expect when you spend all high draft picks on D only to see most of them flop.

Hindsight being 20/20 i wish TT would have been run out of town after his 4th draft.

These versatile players can play several positions poorly. Tt's like a basketball coach saying they have a lot of players that can take the 3 point shot. Trouble is they can't make them

I'm not as down about the OL as some here. Yeah, we would have issues if a starting tackle misses significant time, but that's true of virtually every NFL team out there and the Packers have two of the best tackle tandems of any team with Bahk and Bulaga. Although this article is more than a bit rosy, the truth is that the Packers DO have versatile players (starters and backups) on the OL. MM decided to put every backup OL man in the game last week against Oakland's starters and, predictably, they were over-matched. Does that mean they were all bad? I don't think so. I'm especially glad we picked up the TE Lewis as he could act as an almost additional lineman if (fingers crossed it's not needed) something should happen to a starter. As others have pointed out, in the regular season if one starter has to be replaced by a backup that backup would have better players next to him to help him out. The fact that most of this preseason has had articles where Packers' fans are worried about the play of BACKUPS at various positions says a lot about the team. :) I'm stoked for the real games to begin!
Go, Pack, Go!

They are all eligible for the ' Participation Award ' that so many believe valuable.

Remember the term “Jack of all trades, master of none”? My own father was like that. As part of the Greatest Generation it was a common trait. Yet there were often times when he called on a specialist. Being flexible is nice until one gets bent out of shape. And in my humble opinion, the current Oline backups have been bent out of shape.

It is good to have versatile players but that versatility should be based upon the player being solid at their primary position before taking on other roles. For example, TJ Lang was an excellent Guard but he could move into the Center spot if necessary. Then he would be backed up by a player who was at least a decent guard.

Now we have backups who have not demonstrated that they can play one position and we're asking them to be versatile along the line. That may be too much for young players like Spriggs, Murphy, Pankey, Amichia and others to handle at this point. It may be a better approach to let them gain confidence at one position before moving them around.

For now, we'll need to rely on our starters remaining healthy (fingers crossed). Thanks, Since '61

You could march me out there - all 6'1 240 pounds of beer - and I could fill in at any position on the offensive line. I'd be "versatile" and would perform as poorly as such versatility icons as the great Don Barclay, the "budding" Jason Spriggs and the tanking Kyle Murphy.

Give me a fucking break.

I am mostly disappointed and a little surprised by our backup OL situation. Last year it appeared to me that Murphy, McCray, Patrick and to a lesser extent, Spriggs, could play guard, and some RT sort of adequately. I didn't see a backup LT though I had hopes for Spriggs. Still, even though I figured Bulaga would go on the PUP, I was not tremendously concerned. I looked for a RT in the draft but Jackson was an easy choice over say, Brian O'Neill (if he is an OT). In the 3rd round or so, Orlando Brown didn't make it to us. When we moved up I thought it might be for Noteboom, but we needed a player like Burks too.

I thought: Oh well, we can get by with what we have on the OL and Gute can't fix everything with one draft. I guess we are going to find out.

Though being fairly disappointed with the back-up Oline playing as an incohesive unit when asked to play as a starting 5 the gnashing and wringing is unwarranted IMO. Most of the time a random cog is needed to keep the gears in working order. No team in the NFL can field an effective Oline with 3 or 4 starters sidelined.

Versatility is fine. If only they could block. Hello!

I am clearly in the minority opinion here, but I believe the coaches likely value versatility of their level replacement level players at a much higher level than us fans.

Just consider, its unlikely the whole line goes down at once, so having a player that can be plugged in at any spot goes down allows:

1) the other 4 spots to stay put at their best positions to maximize the line overall. No kicking Lane Taylor out to tackle so you have TWO players out of position, etc.
2) Single players can be game planned around. Heck, McCarthy did that with FIVE guards last year.
3) Frees up a roster spot at another position, allowing depth in other areas.

When you see a team take advantage of Turnstile Barclay, that should be on Coach for not adjusting.
Same with Spriggs- this year, he looks adequate. If he gets left on an island as if he was a pro bowl LT, particularly against a speed rusher, that's just bad coaching.

Versatility should not be undervalued. Ideally have at least one swing tackle (R v L) and one G-C-G.

Go Pack Go!

if you get the "versatility" moniker in GB it means you are a below average O-lineman who happens to be have the ability to perform poorly at multiple positions.