Seven OL on the 53?

[Guiness]

I'm a little shocked at there being only 7 OL on the PS. I couldn't remember anyone carrying that few, so I checked rosters around the league. Nine is most common, with 16 teams carrying that many, 10 teams have eight, but there are 5 other teams carrying 7! Other than us, there's Jax, KC, Minn, SD and St-L.

Is this a new trend I haven't noticed? We have 3 OL on our practice squad, so the idea must be to call one up in case of an injury.

Noticed two other things when looking at the league's OLs - Giacomini is now the starting RT in Seattle, J. Meredith is made TB's 53.

[Lurker64]

The logic, as I understand it, is as follows: they only will have 7 active OL on game days anyway (that's how many they've dressed in previous years), Sherrod will come back around week 6-9 which will put us at 8 (the same number we had last year) and if somebody will miss a game between now and week 6 the PS is 3/8ths OL.

[Joemailman]

I think they felt they were okay at Guard and guys like Wells and Allard weren't worth keeping as Tackles. TT doesn't reach in the draft to fill a need, and he tries not to keep below average football players just to fill a need either.

[rbaloha1]

IMO it does not stay 7. TT was unhappy with numbers 8-10 of Packers o-linemen.

Expect a move for additional active o-linemen soon.

[mission]

They have 10 OL including PS players... only 7 on gameday so I think they're pretty much set numbers wise. Might swap out a bottom of the order type of guy but wont add another.

[Lurker64]

IMO it does not stay 7. TT was unhappy with numbers 8-10 of Packers o-linemen.

Expect a move for additional active o-linemen soon.

Well, they dress 7 on game-day anyway, the 8th (and 9th) OL just hangs out on the bench, while the 6th and 7th guys are fill-ins. EDS is fine backing up all 3 interior positions, so if you want to replace someone in the top 7 it's Barclay. I personally think Barclay is the sort of guy who can get you out of a game at every position except left tackle, and the backup left tackle for now (until Sherrod comes back) is T.J. Lang.

So if they made a move it would be to find a backup OT of some kind, but I'm not sure they're honestly going to do a lot better than Sherrod (who they can have again after week 6), Barclay (who is on the team), and Datko (who is on the PS).

If somebody gets hurt and will miss at least one game, you promote someone from the PS (or you give Reggie Wells or Herb Taylor a call.) If nobody gets hurt bad enough to miss games in the first six weeks, you get Sherrod back.

So I'm not sure a move is necessary. There aren't a lot of great backup OTs available anywhere.

[Guiness]

Well, they dress 7 on game-day anyway, the 8th (and 9th) OL just hangs out on the bench, while the 6th and 7th guys are fill-ins. EDS is fine backing up all 3 interior positions, so if you want to replace someone in the top 7 it's Barclay. I personally think Barclay is the sort of guy who can get you out of a game at every position except left tackle, and the backup left tackle for now (until Sherrod comes back) is T.J. Lang.

So if they made a move it would be to find a backup OT of some kind, but I'm not sure they're honestly going to do a lot better than Sherrod (who they can have again after week 6), Barclay (who is on the team), and Datko (who is on the PS).

If somebody gets hurt and will miss at least one game, you promote someone from the PS (or you give Reggie Wells or Herb Taylor a call.) If nobody gets hurt bad enough to miss games in the first six weeks, you get Sherrod back.

So I'm not sure a move is necessary. There aren't a lot of great backup OTs available anywhere.

I understand the reasoning - only 7 are generally dressed, not useful on STs. It used to be said that the third most important position on a team was the backup LT. Most teams choose to keep that guy on the 53. I'd think you'd want him making good money (that has to help development) and you'd be worried about your backup LT being plucked off your PS.

Interesting, we'll see how it works out.

btw Would Lang slide over to LT if Newhouse went down, or would Bulaga move there? I don't want to find out, but I don't think either choice is a given. Bulaga seems to project better at LT.

[Lurker64]

btw Would Lang slide over to LT if Newhouse went down, or would Bulaga move there? I don't want to find out, but I don't think either choice is a given. Bulaga seems to project better at LT.

I think the substitutions would be as follows:

Saturday unavailable: EDS plays center
Sitton unavailable: EDS plays RG
Lang unavailable: EDS plays LG
Newhouse unavailable: Lang slides to LT, EDS plays LG

What you do if Bulaga is unavailable, I'm not sure. You could just sub Barclay in for him, or you could do the same Lang/EDS switch.

[pbmax]

As expected, Thompson found a tackle prospect for the eighth spot on the PS.

Green Bay -- The Packers announced their eight-player practice squad prior to Monday's practice. New to the group is G/T Chris Scott, a 2010 fifth-round pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers out of Tennessee. He played in two games the 2011 season, also spending time on the Steelers' practice squad.

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/168376236.html

The only fear? The Steelers have been trying to solidify their tackle positions for years and this year two guys expected to play got hurt. So we have to hope a desperate Steelers team missed something.

[Harlan Huckleby]

I wonder if Clifton would be an option in a pinch.

I guess TT cut down to 7 because the players he cut are not better than the mooks on the practice squad, who can easily be promoted. Makes sense. You got to play the ball where it lies.

[Patler]

The o-lineman that is inactive on game day is no more help to you than one on your practice squad. Since they usually have only 7 active, it doesn't matter that they have only 7 on the 53. However, it does show that their options for the 8th spot, until Sherrod is available, are lacking in experience (the PS guys) or in ability such that the packers are willing to risk they won't be available (Wells, etc.)

If a lineman were to go down for multiple weeks early in the season, Wells might be the guy they sign, not one from the practice squad.

Could be they don't want to guarantee Wells' salary for the entire season, so cut him to avoid that, but hope to resign him next week, though I doubt it.

[Joemailman]

I think the substitutions would be as follows:

Saturday unavailable: EDS plays center
Sitton unavailable: EDS plays RG
Lang unavailable: EDS plays LG
Newhouse unavailable: Lang slides to LT, EDS plays LG

What you do if Bulaga is unavailable, I'm not sure. You could just sub Barclay in for him, or you could do the same Lang/EDS switch.

Last year against the Bears with both Bulaga and Sherrod out, Lang started at RT with EDS at LG.

[Guiness]

The o-lineman that is inactive on game day is no more help to you than one on your practice squad. Since they usually have only 7 active, it doesn't matter that they have only 7 on the 53. However, it does show that their options for the 8th spot, until Sherrod is available, are lacking in experience (the PS guys) or in ability such that the packers are willing to risk they won't be available (Wells, etc.)

If a lineman were to go down for multiple weeks early in the season, Wells might be the guy they sign, not one from the practice squad.

Could be they don't want to guarantee Wells' salary for the entire season, so cut him to avoid that, but hope to resign him next week, though I doubt it.

Did Wells play any tackle? I thought he was just a guard. It's pretty much impossible to know anything about OL camp bodies. If he's not a tackled, I can't see them bringing him back, since they seemingly have two backup guards on the roster. Maybe if Wells is a better option than Barclay is right now, they could bring him back after week 1 and try to get Barclay to the PS. I agree though, not unless there's an injury.

You have to think Boykin's sitting in an OL's roster spot. He must've shown enough in camp to make them afraid to try and get him on the PS, because I doubt he's going to be on the game day roster.

[Guiness]

I wonder how Barclay will progress? Obviously, he'll be gameday active, unlike other OL prospects (say, McDonald) that we've held on to. Pretty low opinion on him at Total Packers list of UDFA's the pack brought in!

http://www.totalpackers.com/2012/04/29/packers-2012-undrafted-free-agents/

Don Barclay, tackle/guard, West Virginia (6-4, 305) — A two-year starter at left tackle for the Mountaineers, Barclay was named first-team All-Big East by the coaches in 2011. He’ll probably play guard at the pro level because of his size. Unfortunately, that’s about all we know about him. It doesn’t seem like he was scouted heavily and that probably means it’s unlikely he’ll make an NFL roster.

Boykin's not on that list! Was he brought in after the first round of signings?

[Lurker64]

Last year against the Bears with both Bulaga and Sherrod out, Lang started at RT with EDS at LG.

Then yeah, in every case EDS is the first man off the bench, and Lang will slide to either tackle spot if needed.