VermontPackFan
08-12-2010, 10:36 AM
Finally some good news we have all been waiting/hoping to hear about this kid...Preseason games will his proving ground.
Article by Jason Wilde @
http://espnmilwaukee.com
GREEN BAY – There’s an interesting story brewing on the Green Bay Packers’ offensive line, and it doesn’t involve first-round pick Bryan Bulaga, or the competition at left guard, or the two old, reliable bookend tackles.
No, what’s even more remarkable than Bulaga’s shift from left tackle, the renewed battle for the left guard job between Bulaga and incumbent Daryn Colledge and the age-defying work of Mark Tauscher and Chad Clifton is this:
Breno Giacomini is having a good camp.
“He sure has,” offensive line coach James Campen said.
After two years of essentially redshirting after the Packers chose him in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL Draft, Giacomini has shown so far in camp that he was worth the wait. He has been very good in the one-on-one pass-blocking drills and combination pass-blocking drills against the defensive linemen, and he’s been working with the No. 2 offensive line at right tackle while T.J. Lang – the presumptive heir to Tauscher at the position – has been working at right guard with the 2s and right tackle with the 3s for most of camp.
In fairness to Lang, he missed all of the organized team activity practices and the mandatory minicamp after having offseason wrist surgery in April, but to Giacomini’s credit, he’s more than taken advantage of his opportunity with Lang shaking off the rust.
“A guy like that, he sticks out in the huddle. You can see he’s a big man,” Campen said of the 6-foot-7, 318-pound Giacomini. “He plays the game with the right attitude – he’s a tough son of a gun. He’s very assignment sure – he very rarely has a mental error. He’s just got to play. He’s got to get out there and play. So this preseason is going to be big for him.
“It all looks like it’s going in the right direction for him, but now let’s get out there and play in these preseason games and see what happens. It’s very important for him.”
Giacomini will get that first opportunity on Saturday in the exhibition opener against the Cleveland Browns at Lambeau Field. While Tauscher and the rest of the starters will only play a series or two, Giacomini figures to get plenty of work. And he’ll have to fare better than he did last season, when he was beaten for a sack against the Buffalo Bills that left backup quarterback Matt Flynn with a separated shoulder that ended his preseason.
But he appears to be a better player than he was then, and the extensive work he’s been getting in practice hasn’t hurt. If McCarthy gives the veterans with seven years of NFL experience or more off Thursday morning, as he did last Thursday following the players’ first day off of camp, then Giacomini will get more work with the No. 1 offensive line at Tauscher’s right tackle spot.
“Anytime you get a chance to work with the 1s, anytime you get a chance to get some reps in, it’s always good,” Giacomini said. “I had a healthy offseason, thank God. I feel pretty good.”
That’s also a significant development for Giacomini, who missed all of the 2009 offseason after suffering an ankle injury during a December 2008 practice. At the time of the injury – initially diagnosed as a high ankle sprain but one that ended up requiring surgery – the coaches were selling Giacomini as vastly improved because of his daily work on the scout team against two-time Pro Bowler Aaron Kampman.
Having played tight end for three years in college at Louisville before moving to tackle, those offseason reps would have been invaluable to his development, which was clearly stunted by the time off.
“Especially at (the offensive tackle) position, development is not as quick as other positions,” Packers general manager Ted Thompson said. “A case in point would be the running back position. That’s a position that normally you have God-given ability, and if you can do it and hang onto the ball, if you can do it in high school or college, then there’s a pretty good chance you can do it in the NFL.
“It’s a little different in the offensive line. There are more little strategic things that you have to learn and technique things that you have to learn, and (that requires) patience. In the old days, you’d always get them and develop them and hardly ever would they play right away.”
As he continues that development, Giacomini still has a lot to prove. He never seriously challenged Allen Barbre in training camp last year for the vacated right tackle job after an injured Tauscher wasn’t re-signed, and in his career, he has been active for just three of a possible 33 games.
Last year, he inactive for 16 of the 17 games (including playoffs) the Packers played, and the one game he did suit up for – at Cleveland on Oct. 25 – he did not see the field. As a rookie, he dressed but did not play in the opener against Minnesota, then saw action only on special teams against Detroit the next week. He was inactive for the next 14 games, including following the ankle injury.
When Campen said earlier this offseason that Giacomini was competing with Tauscher for the right to start the Sept. 12 regular-season at Philadelphia – despite Tauscher signing a two-year deal this offseason that could be worth as much as $8.7 million – it was almost laughable. But while Tauscher remains the clear-cut starter, the 24-year-old Giacomini is starting to look like a reliable backup option along with Lang, whom the coaches remain high on.
“(It’s) very competitive. (With) T.J. missing all the spring, I thought they’ve (both) been competitive so far,” offensive coordinator Joe Philbin said. “Those two guys are in a battle.”
And right now, Giacomini is fighting the good fight.
“I have no idea what it’s going to end up, I don’t think anybody does at this point,” Giacomini said. “I just go out there and just try to get better.”
Article by Jason Wilde @
http://espnmilwaukee.com
GREEN BAY – There’s an interesting story brewing on the Green Bay Packers’ offensive line, and it doesn’t involve first-round pick Bryan Bulaga, or the competition at left guard, or the two old, reliable bookend tackles.
No, what’s even more remarkable than Bulaga’s shift from left tackle, the renewed battle for the left guard job between Bulaga and incumbent Daryn Colledge and the age-defying work of Mark Tauscher and Chad Clifton is this:
Breno Giacomini is having a good camp.
“He sure has,” offensive line coach James Campen said.
After two years of essentially redshirting after the Packers chose him in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL Draft, Giacomini has shown so far in camp that he was worth the wait. He has been very good in the one-on-one pass-blocking drills and combination pass-blocking drills against the defensive linemen, and he’s been working with the No. 2 offensive line at right tackle while T.J. Lang – the presumptive heir to Tauscher at the position – has been working at right guard with the 2s and right tackle with the 3s for most of camp.
In fairness to Lang, he missed all of the organized team activity practices and the mandatory minicamp after having offseason wrist surgery in April, but to Giacomini’s credit, he’s more than taken advantage of his opportunity with Lang shaking off the rust.
“A guy like that, he sticks out in the huddle. You can see he’s a big man,” Campen said of the 6-foot-7, 318-pound Giacomini. “He plays the game with the right attitude – he’s a tough son of a gun. He’s very assignment sure – he very rarely has a mental error. He’s just got to play. He’s got to get out there and play. So this preseason is going to be big for him.
“It all looks like it’s going in the right direction for him, but now let’s get out there and play in these preseason games and see what happens. It’s very important for him.”
Giacomini will get that first opportunity on Saturday in the exhibition opener against the Cleveland Browns at Lambeau Field. While Tauscher and the rest of the starters will only play a series or two, Giacomini figures to get plenty of work. And he’ll have to fare better than he did last season, when he was beaten for a sack against the Buffalo Bills that left backup quarterback Matt Flynn with a separated shoulder that ended his preseason.
But he appears to be a better player than he was then, and the extensive work he’s been getting in practice hasn’t hurt. If McCarthy gives the veterans with seven years of NFL experience or more off Thursday morning, as he did last Thursday following the players’ first day off of camp, then Giacomini will get more work with the No. 1 offensive line at Tauscher’s right tackle spot.
“Anytime you get a chance to work with the 1s, anytime you get a chance to get some reps in, it’s always good,” Giacomini said. “I had a healthy offseason, thank God. I feel pretty good.”
That’s also a significant development for Giacomini, who missed all of the 2009 offseason after suffering an ankle injury during a December 2008 practice. At the time of the injury – initially diagnosed as a high ankle sprain but one that ended up requiring surgery – the coaches were selling Giacomini as vastly improved because of his daily work on the scout team against two-time Pro Bowler Aaron Kampman.
Having played tight end for three years in college at Louisville before moving to tackle, those offseason reps would have been invaluable to his development, which was clearly stunted by the time off.
“Especially at (the offensive tackle) position, development is not as quick as other positions,” Packers general manager Ted Thompson said. “A case in point would be the running back position. That’s a position that normally you have God-given ability, and if you can do it and hang onto the ball, if you can do it in high school or college, then there’s a pretty good chance you can do it in the NFL.
“It’s a little different in the offensive line. There are more little strategic things that you have to learn and technique things that you have to learn, and (that requires) patience. In the old days, you’d always get them and develop them and hardly ever would they play right away.”
As he continues that development, Giacomini still has a lot to prove. He never seriously challenged Allen Barbre in training camp last year for the vacated right tackle job after an injured Tauscher wasn’t re-signed, and in his career, he has been active for just three of a possible 33 games.
Last year, he inactive for 16 of the 17 games (including playoffs) the Packers played, and the one game he did suit up for – at Cleveland on Oct. 25 – he did not see the field. As a rookie, he dressed but did not play in the opener against Minnesota, then saw action only on special teams against Detroit the next week. He was inactive for the next 14 games, including following the ankle injury.
When Campen said earlier this offseason that Giacomini was competing with Tauscher for the right to start the Sept. 12 regular-season at Philadelphia – despite Tauscher signing a two-year deal this offseason that could be worth as much as $8.7 million – it was almost laughable. But while Tauscher remains the clear-cut starter, the 24-year-old Giacomini is starting to look like a reliable backup option along with Lang, whom the coaches remain high on.
“(It’s) very competitive. (With) T.J. missing all the spring, I thought they’ve (both) been competitive so far,” offensive coordinator Joe Philbin said. “Those two guys are in a battle.”
And right now, Giacomini is fighting the good fight.
“I have no idea what it’s going to end up, I don’t think anybody does at this point,” Giacomini said. “I just go out there and just try to get better.”