forget who's gonna win or the score, who's gonna............

[retailguy]

I wasn't trying to suggest it was good. But if you let all the kids walk away, you end up with old farts you can't replace. I think they need new ways to allow players to develop.

And here is the crux of my displeasure. I'm not against "young guys" pushing the old guys out, THAT'S THE WAY IT IS SUPPOSED TO WORK. These old guys got pushed out BEFORE the young guys had a chance to push them out. Keeping a guy or two on "potential" is the way it is supposed to work, but keeping ALL backups except one on "potential" gives you problems when someone goes down with an injury.

Case in point.

[MJZiggy]

Back to the original thread topic, I find it surprising that so many think Rodgers would go down this game, considering they're planning to play a few guys who are already injured. If Clifton plays on a tweaked sprain, you don't think he has more of a chance to wind up on a cart than a perfectly healthy Rodgers?

[pbmax]

I wasn't trying to suggest it was good. But if you let all the kids walk away, you end up with old farts you can't replace. I think they need new ways to allow players to develop.

And here is the crux of my displeasure. I'm not against "young guys" pushing the old guys out, THAT'S THE WAY IT IS SUPPOSED TO WORK. These old guys got pushed out BEFORE the young guys had a chance to push them out. Keeping a guy or two on "potential" is the way it is supposed to work, but keeping ALL backups except one on "potential" gives you problems when someone goes down with an injury.

Case in point.

But in this day and age, this argument is circular. You cannot keep a complete set of good performing vets because they cost a premium. Especially true as starters but even less of a value as backups. Forgetting for the moment the top seven draft picks, these guys are ridiculously expensive. Think of the contracts Wahle, Rivera, Hutchinson and Kendall got at Guard. No team gets to keep the vets until the kids are ready. That was football from 1950 until 1991. All you need to do is look at Sherman's roster prior to Thompson to see what happens when you keep average vets at maximum cost.

Now go look at the list of available vets from this year. Are Pork Chop Womack or Olando Pace performing better than Colledge, Spitz or Barbre? No. But even if Pace is marginally better at Left Tackle, he is twice the cost. If they are performing clear and above the starters on our line, they are making an even larger mint. What sense does it make to backup your starters with players of similar talent for twice the cost?

I think the one position for which this criticism is fair is Left Tackle. At the end of camp it was clear they had no backup here and the possible future LT was vulnerable on the Practice Squad unready to play this year.