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The Packers will move Bryan Bulaga from right tackle to left tackle for the 2013 NFL season.

The Green Bay Packers aren’t waiting until training camp to shuffle their offensive line.

Details of the Packers new-look line can be found in this excellent Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel story by Tom Silverstein. To summarize:

• Bryan Bulaga moves from right tackle to left tackle
• Josh Sitton moves from right guard to left guard
• T.J. Lang moves from left guard to right guard
• Marshall Newhouse (last season’s starting left tackle), Don Barclay (who got a few starts in 2012) and Derek Sherrod (coming off a major leg injury that forced him to sit out last season) will compete to start at right tackle.
• Evan Dietrich-Smith is the starting center

Essentially, Packers coach Mike McCarthy is moving his two most talented and experienced offensive lineman from the right side to the left, which is Aaron Rodgers’ blind side, the Packers franchise quarterback who just signed a five-year contract extension worth $110 million.

Having a shutdown left tackle isn’t as important as it used to be in the today’s NFL. If you have a quarterback like Rodgers — someone who is mobile, smart and reads the opposing defense like a coach — you can get away with having an average left tackle.

But why take that risk? Why not combine your all-world quarterback with a reliable left tackle? If I climbed inside McCarthy’s head, I’m guessing that’s what his thinking behind the move would be.  Read more... (552 words + 1 image, estimated 2:12 mins reading time)

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March Madness: Packers’ Sweet Sixteen”

As March Madness was zeroing in on the “Sweet Sixteen,” the ALLGBP readers voted for the Packers best sixteen players over the weekend.

With the top 12 already selected, our readers voted for the last four to make the list of “Sweet Sixteen.”

Here are the 12 that made it by default.

1) Aaron Rodgers

2) Clay Matthews

3) Josh Sitton

4) BJ Raji

5) Ryan Pickett

6) Tramon Williams

7) Randall Cobb

8) Desmond Bishop

9) Morgan Burnett

10) Jordy Nelson

11) James Jones

12) Sam Shields

And now here are the voting results for the last four spots. (The percentage numbers represent what percentage of the voters cast a vote for that player.)

93% Casey Hayward

86% Bryan Bulaga

67% Jermichael Finley

50% Tim Masthay

47% T.J. Lang

24% Brad Jones (write-in)

23% Dujuan Harris (write-in)

20% Davon House (write-in)

17% A.J. Hawk

9% C.J. Wilson

7% John Kuhn

5% Mason Crosby

5% Jarett Bush

Other random players received a vote here or there, not much worth mentioning, except that Aaron Rodgers got a write-in vote. Either someone didn’t read very well or they thought he was twice as good as anyone else on the roster. I guess we’ll never know.  Read more... (319 words + 3 images, estimated 1:17 mins reading time)

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March-Madness-Packers

As the NCAA Basketball Tournament is being played out across the land, I wanted to do something Packers-related with a “March Madness” theme. So here’s the idea:

We’re going to pick the 16 BEST players on the Packers roster.  And by we, I mean me and YOU – the readers. To make it simpler, I’ll pick the first 12. Then you will get to choose the last four from a group of 10 in the poll below.

This isn’t necessarily the Sweet Sixteen in terms of importance to the team (for example, Brett Goode might be in that group), simply the 16 best football players on the roster.

We’ll let the voting run through the weekend and announce the results on Monday? Sound good?

Disclaimer:  My top 12 are not necessarily ranked in order, they’re  just in the order in which they came to mind.

Green Bay Packers Sweet 16 – Best Football Players

1) Aaron Rodgers

2) Clay Matthews

3) Josh Sitton

4) BJ Raji

5) Ryan Pickett

6) Tramon Williams

7) Randall Cobb

8) Desmond Bishop

9) Morgan Burnett

10) Jordy Nelson

11) James Jones

12) Sam Shields

That last one was tough. I could have gone with Bryan Bulaga or Jermichael Finley, for example, but I’m still amazed Shields did not get drafted, with all the athletic ability he’s shown.  Read more... (326 words + 3 images, estimated 1:18 mins reading time)

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The Packers can always count on Josh Sitton on the offensive line.

Packers offensive line:  The Packers have invested a significant amount of resources into their offensive line over the last three years. Two first-round draft picks (Bryan Bulaga and Derek Sherrod), a notable free-agent signee (Jeff Saturday) and a few contract extensions (Josh Sitton and T.J. Lang). Despite all that investment, the offensive line is still nowhere near the level of the Packers’ skill position groups.

Where are we now:

Here are the current suspects;

• Bryan Bulaga (1st round)
• Don Barclay (undrafted)
• Josh Sitton (4th round)
• Evan Dietrich-Smith (undrafted)
• T.J. Lang (4th round)
• Marshall Newhouse (5th round)
• Derek Sherrod (1st round)
• Greg Van Roten (undrafted)

For expanded coverage of this topic, listen in using the player below or download the podcast from the Packers Talk Radio Network on Itunes.

Bulaga: There are all kinds of questions swirling around Bulaga right now. Will he ever be the pro-bowler many think he’s capable of being? Will he move to left tackle in 2013? What do we make of his dismal start in 2012? Can he stay healthy? That last question is probably the most important. I don’t think Bulaga was 100 percent healthy to start 2012, and that was part of the reason he struggled so much early. Whether he moves to the left side depends on a lot of things: What is Derek Sherrod’s status? Does Mike McCarthy want a more physical line? Does Ted Thompson draft another tackle in April?  Read more... (1244 words + 1 image, estimated 4:59 mins reading time)

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Packers G/T T.J. Lang

1) Introduction: Armed with a new four-year contract, T.J. Lang was excellent early in the season. Then he tore a ligament in his elbow in game five and regressed a little bit. Having to fill in at right tackle didn’t help matters, either. Overall, though, Lang had a good season and he’s another player the Packers don’t have to worry about when it comes to toughness and attitude.

2) Profile:

T.J. Lang

• Age: 25
• Born: 09/20/1987, in Royal Oak, MI
• Height: 6’4″
• Weight: 318
• College: Eastern Michigan
• Rookie Year: 2009
• NFL Experience: 4 years

Career Stats and more:

3) Expectations coming into the season: Teams don’t hand out four-year extensions to bad players (well, smart teams don’t, anyway). The Packers had high expectations for Lang and, for the most part, Lang proved he was worth his new deal. I’d rather not see Lang moved to tackle ever again, but it’s not like he was a total disaster out there. His flexibility is another asset.

4) Player’s highlights/low-lights: The Cardinals have a decent defensive line, but Lang might have had his best game against Arizona in week 9. He earned a season-best 4.6 grade for that performance from Pro Football Focus despite having to fill in at tackle once Bryan Bulaga went down. Quicker defensive lineman give Lang a little bit of trouble, but he’s capable of using his brain to work around those shortcomings.  Read more... (392 words + 1 image, estimated 1:34 mins reading time)

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Packers CB Tramon Williams found himself in the falling category. Safety Morgan Burnett was steady.

The Packers end of season, full roster stock report is upon us. Below are over 2,300 words of insight, analysis, opinions and nonsense about every player currently on the Packers roster.

Read closely and enjoy, because many of these players likely won’t be around in 2013.

I incorporated each player’s performance from this season, and their future outlook while categorizing. Please agree or disagree in the comments.

As always, thanks for reading the weekly stock reports. Onto the last one:

Rising

Aaron Rodgers
It wasn’t as great as his MVP campaign, but it was still damn good. With chaos and injuries swirling all around, Rodgers kept the Packers offense moving forward and limited mistakes. A fine all-around performance and no reason to think it won’t continue in 2013.

Randall Cobb
With Greg Jennings and Jordy Nelson hobbled most of the season, Cobb broke out and turned into the Packers most dangerous weapon. I worry a little about his durability, but his production when healthy was great. Oh, and he needs to drop fewer passes.

DuJuan Harris
Is this too much praise for the 5-foot-7, 210-pound rolling ball of butcher knives? Maybe. But if I’m buying Harris stock, I want in right now. I think he’s going to stick with the Packers and get a chance to make some noise.  Read more... (2396 words + 1 image, estimated 9:35 mins reading time)

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Sam Shields was one of the bright spots for the Packers against the 49ers.

The Packers season is over. They got smoked by the 49ers in the NFL playoffs on Saturday night.

I’m sick of writing about it. I’m sick of talking about it. I’m sick of thinking about it.

On to the stock report:

Rising

Sam Shields
The combination of Shields getting healthy and realizing he’s a restricted free agent really got him going. Shields will likely get a first-round tender and I expect the Packers to open their checkbooks and lock him up for the next few years. Let’s hope he stays motivated, keeps improving, and plays like he did down the stretch.

James Jones
With Greg Jennings likely gone and Jermichael Finley possibly following him out the door, Jones can establish himself as an upper-echelon receiver next season. Jones came to play on Saturday night. It was nice to see Jones use his size a bit this season. I always thought he played smaller than he was, but he went up and got a few balls in traffic this season and played angrier.  Read more... (559 words + 1 image, estimated 2:14 mins reading time)

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