Bretsky
12-14-2007, 11:02 PM
Packers get Spitz to fit in as needed on shifting line
By TOM SILVERSTEIN
tsilverstein@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Dec. 13, 2007
Green Bay - Every day when he reports to work in the morning, Green Bay Packers offensive lineman Jason Spitz doesn't know if he'll be playing in the same spot he was the day before.
Jason Spitz doesn't care where he lines up, as long as he's playing and helping to protect Brett Favre.
So he grabs his helmet after meetings, heads to the Don Hutson Center and waits for offensive line coach James Campen to tell him where to line up.
Wednesday it was at left guard. Thursday it was at right guard. Today, who knows?
"My understanding of it is, we're so fortunate to have a job," Spitz said Thursday after another practice in which he prepared to play three positions. "As long as I'm playing, I'm happy. Where they put me makes no difference. Where I can help the team out is where I need to be."
Coach Mike McCarthy understands that if Spitz were able to stick in one spot, he'd probably be a better player, but the reality is he has one guard who can't stay healthy (Junius Coston), another guard who is playing at a backup level (Daryn Colledge) and no one else to back up starting center Scott Wells.
So the 6-foot-3, 300-pound Spitz, who has started five games at right guard, one game at left guard and three games at center, serves as the swing man, filling whatever position needs to be filled. On Sunday, he'll start at left guard if Coston's ankle cooperates, or at right guard if it doesn't.
Versatility has helped Spitz's cause, but so has his improved all-around play. Almost a full two seasons into it, Spitz, a third-round pick, has emerged as the best of the three linemen general manager Ted Thompson selected in the 2006 draft.
Colledge, a second-round selection and the highest pick of the three, has been up and down as a starter and finally flamed out against Dallas two weeks ago. Tony Moll, a fifth-round pick and the third of the three selections, hasn't shown much, and started three games only because Coston and Wells were both out and the coaches needed someone to play right guard.
Spitz has endured some of the same bumps in the road Colledge, Moll and Coston have, but each time, he has picked himself up off the ground and worked his way back into favor. Of late, he has looked more like the tough, hard-nosed run blocker he was at Louisville, where he started his final 38 games.
"He's had some good vertical push and stayed on blocks," offensive coordinator Joe Philbin said. "I think sustaining and finishing a block, it's like when you tell a receiver or a runner to finish a play. You want to see a lineman finish a block. I just think he's doing a better job of that."
A year ago, Spitz started 13 games, 11 at right guard and two at left guard. He was adequate as a pass-blocker, giving up three sacks, but his run blocking was unacceptable. Impressively strong in the upper body, he lacked power and flexibility in his legs.
When he had to drive a defensive tackle or linebacker out of the way, he often couldn't do it. He wound up spending more time on the ground than the defenders he was supposed to be putting there, and spent a good part of the off-season working on his core muscles.
"In the old days you wanted to see them (linemen) with dirt and mud all over them, but today unless you're cutting them, you want guys who can stay on their feet and sustain blocks," Philbin said. "They shouldn't be on the ground because they're blocking up. You want them on top of the defender.
"That's the one thing I've noticed with him. I watched the St. Louis film from last year and he's practicing better now and doing a nice job."
Spitz, who many scouts thought would have to play center because his arms aren't long and his 40-yard dash time isn't very good, admitted that the game was sometimes too fast for him as a rookie. He was used to locking on to guys in college and not having to worry about them coming free.
But now, he's being asked to read defensive fronts, understand how his blocking assignment might change and go from double-teaming one guy to picking off a linebacker all in the same play. And none of that has to do with pass blocking, which in the Packers' offense is a high priority.
"Overall, I think my game has improved," said Spitz, who has been responsible for just a half-sack this year, but who leads the team in holding penalties, with four. "I think the game has slowed down here the past year. Last year, I was swimming a little bit trying to get my job done, seeing who's where and this and that.
"But the game slowed down and I'm little more locked in on who I'm blocking, so am I satisfied with the improvement this far. But I can continue to get better."
The big question is whether he'll be allowed to do it at one position. Being able to line up at the same position every day would help in his development, but until Coston gets over his ankle injury Spitz is going to have to be a jack of all trades.
"Moving people around is not desired," McCarthy said. "But that's where we are and really why we spend so much extra time as we can playing multiple positions. To play with the same group every rep, day in and day out, that's a benefit, no question about that. But we've also been rolling those guys for some time, so it's second nature."
By TOM SILVERSTEIN
tsilverstein@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Dec. 13, 2007
Green Bay - Every day when he reports to work in the morning, Green Bay Packers offensive lineman Jason Spitz doesn't know if he'll be playing in the same spot he was the day before.
Jason Spitz doesn't care where he lines up, as long as he's playing and helping to protect Brett Favre.
So he grabs his helmet after meetings, heads to the Don Hutson Center and waits for offensive line coach James Campen to tell him where to line up.
Wednesday it was at left guard. Thursday it was at right guard. Today, who knows?
"My understanding of it is, we're so fortunate to have a job," Spitz said Thursday after another practice in which he prepared to play three positions. "As long as I'm playing, I'm happy. Where they put me makes no difference. Where I can help the team out is where I need to be."
Coach Mike McCarthy understands that if Spitz were able to stick in one spot, he'd probably be a better player, but the reality is he has one guard who can't stay healthy (Junius Coston), another guard who is playing at a backup level (Daryn Colledge) and no one else to back up starting center Scott Wells.
So the 6-foot-3, 300-pound Spitz, who has started five games at right guard, one game at left guard and three games at center, serves as the swing man, filling whatever position needs to be filled. On Sunday, he'll start at left guard if Coston's ankle cooperates, or at right guard if it doesn't.
Versatility has helped Spitz's cause, but so has his improved all-around play. Almost a full two seasons into it, Spitz, a third-round pick, has emerged as the best of the three linemen general manager Ted Thompson selected in the 2006 draft.
Colledge, a second-round selection and the highest pick of the three, has been up and down as a starter and finally flamed out against Dallas two weeks ago. Tony Moll, a fifth-round pick and the third of the three selections, hasn't shown much, and started three games only because Coston and Wells were both out and the coaches needed someone to play right guard.
Spitz has endured some of the same bumps in the road Colledge, Moll and Coston have, but each time, he has picked himself up off the ground and worked his way back into favor. Of late, he has looked more like the tough, hard-nosed run blocker he was at Louisville, where he started his final 38 games.
"He's had some good vertical push and stayed on blocks," offensive coordinator Joe Philbin said. "I think sustaining and finishing a block, it's like when you tell a receiver or a runner to finish a play. You want to see a lineman finish a block. I just think he's doing a better job of that."
A year ago, Spitz started 13 games, 11 at right guard and two at left guard. He was adequate as a pass-blocker, giving up three sacks, but his run blocking was unacceptable. Impressively strong in the upper body, he lacked power and flexibility in his legs.
When he had to drive a defensive tackle or linebacker out of the way, he often couldn't do it. He wound up spending more time on the ground than the defenders he was supposed to be putting there, and spent a good part of the off-season working on his core muscles.
"In the old days you wanted to see them (linemen) with dirt and mud all over them, but today unless you're cutting them, you want guys who can stay on their feet and sustain blocks," Philbin said. "They shouldn't be on the ground because they're blocking up. You want them on top of the defender.
"That's the one thing I've noticed with him. I watched the St. Louis film from last year and he's practicing better now and doing a nice job."
Spitz, who many scouts thought would have to play center because his arms aren't long and his 40-yard dash time isn't very good, admitted that the game was sometimes too fast for him as a rookie. He was used to locking on to guys in college and not having to worry about them coming free.
But now, he's being asked to read defensive fronts, understand how his blocking assignment might change and go from double-teaming one guy to picking off a linebacker all in the same play. And none of that has to do with pass blocking, which in the Packers' offense is a high priority.
"Overall, I think my game has improved," said Spitz, who has been responsible for just a half-sack this year, but who leads the team in holding penalties, with four. "I think the game has slowed down here the past year. Last year, I was swimming a little bit trying to get my job done, seeing who's where and this and that.
"But the game slowed down and I'm little more locked in on who I'm blocking, so am I satisfied with the improvement this far. But I can continue to get better."
The big question is whether he'll be allowed to do it at one position. Being able to line up at the same position every day would help in his development, but until Coston gets over his ankle injury Spitz is going to have to be a jack of all trades.
"Moving people around is not desired," McCarthy said. "But that's where we are and really why we spend so much extra time as we can playing multiple positions. To play with the same group every rep, day in and day out, that's a benefit, no question about that. But we've also been rolling those guys for some time, so it's second nature."