Gilbert Brown says . . Packer fans - BE PATIENT.

[TOP HAT]

PERFORMANCE OF ROOKIES

ON THE POSITIVE SIDE, THE MAJOR ROOKIES ARE MAKING AN IMPACT
AND SIMPLY WILL GET BETTER.

THE OL?? WE WILL KNOW BY OPENING DAY HOW THE YEAR WILL GO
IN CHICAGO.

[Joemailman]

and thats why fans still love gilbert

there has to be a spot with the team somewhere for him. he'd make a great coach, or PR guy or motivator

as for hawks blown coverage, lets be realistic before we give up all hope on hawk being able to cover. it was antonio gates, no one could stop him last year

In pre-season games, coaches will create certain matchups just to see how the player handles it. I highly doubt that if this were a regular season game, you would see Hawk trying to cover Antonio Gates by himself 10-15 yards downfield.

[woodbuck27]

Bump.

[PTPaQ]

You win and lose football games in the trenches, and the trenches, on both sides of the ball, are probably the weakest part of this team.

Not a good thing.

[jack's smirking revenge]

You win and lose football games in the trenches, and the trenches, on both sides of the ball, are probably the weakest part of this team.

Not a good thing.

Totally agree with you PTP. And nice post Patler. I was bummed to see Wahle go, but sometimes great players price themselves out of our market. Wahle was a great case of that. We couldn't lock down Sharper, Wahle and Rivera all in the same offseason.

As for the importance of the position, I think there are arguments for and against. It takes a team to build a great RB. Alexander couldn't do it alone. But there was more than just Hutch on that Oline in Seattle. Sure, he was a major contributor, but he didn't blow all the holes by himself. And ask the Browns how they're doing now? Bentley eats up a ton of cap and is now sitting on the bench for the year.

I agree that NFL battles are won and loss in the trenches, but you also can't break your bank on too many players in that position. (which brings me to a very fun idea for a thread...)

tyler

[run pMc]

Totally agree with Patler. We didn't have the cap space for Wahle OR Rivera. The offers they got were crazy - esp. Rivera's. I seem to recall a lot of rumors swirling that Wahle didn't want to stay in GB, and he'd have gone elsewhere if the $ was the same. That was last off-season; obsessing about it now is pointless and overdone. I'm kinda sick & bored with that topic...Wahle's gone...deal with it.

I also seem to recall lots of people calling for drafting a boatload of OL guys...which TT did. You can't hang the guy for not bringing anyone in. (The proof: Whitticker's not starting.) It's unrealistic to plug a rookie OL -- or two -- into the starting lineup and expect the 1st preseason game to be flawless.

There's not a lot out there for starter-quality veteran OL's. If there was, they'd be in camp. Give the line more time to gel and we'll see where we are. The coaches (and fans) want improvement each week, so cross your fingers. I'd love for the line to be in sync for Week 1, but I'm guessing it will be about week 5 before they really find a groove.