It is official -- Bulaga and Sitton are on the left side

[Fritz]

Getting back to the original thread topic....I wonder how committed the team is to this move? What if, in a fantasy world, training camp starts and, say, either Sherrod or Datko show up and play lights-out on the left side? Do they re-think the whole thing?

I've read I think that Datko is strictly a left tackle. Anyone know if Sherrod is able to play either side?

[Joemailman]

Getting back to the original thread topic....I wonder how committed the team is to this move? What if, in a fantasy world, training camp starts and, say, either Sherrod or Datko show up and play lights-out on the left side? Do they re-think the whole thing?

I've read I think that Datko is strictly a left tackle. Anyone know if Sherrod is able to play either side?

Sherrod played LT at Miss. St. He was playing RT at the time he was hurt in 2011. I think they're committed to Bulaga at LT for this year. I think they want some consistency at that position and Bulaga will give him that.

[denverYooper]

Allow me to phrase it this way then... 'when we pass on power for the smallest OT in the draft'.

I would have loved to land a guard like Chance Warmack... he's only 6'2", but at 317 lbs he packs a lot of power. Much more powerful than TJ Lang at 6'4", 318 lbs. It's body type more than anything... and some guys just have natural, functional strength - you hear the term 'country strong', implying the guy is pretty damn strong before he ever sets foot in a weight room.

Brian Winters is a guy who is listed at 6'4", 320 lbs, same as Lang. Yet Winters is best known for being a nasty, tough, strong SOB. Lang on the other hand, in terms of physicality, is very average. It's the type of player the Packers go after that is problematic when going up against power teams.

The Persian guy and Tretter are not big players, but what worries me about them is - given the Packers perverse preference for finesse players, are these guys softies like our current OL - only smaller?? That would be disasterous... if these guys prove to be so underpowered that they can't compete against NFL caliber power players, then they're both wasted draft picks.



Well, I would be one of those "anybody else says" guys... cause I watched those games, and we were completely dominated in the trenches in both games. Most of the running we manufactured were out of spread formations, Cobb, Rodgers, or b/c the Niners only committed six to the LOS, and even then they stuffed us pretty regularly.

The stats don't lie bobble.

Game 1 in September - SF rushed for 32-186 yds (5.8 yd avg); we ran 14-45 (and Rodgers ran for 27)

Game 2 in January - SF rushed for 43-323 (take out K's 16-181, and you still have 27-142, which is a 5.25 yd avg); we rushed 16-104 (Rodgers 28 yds; Cobb 23 yds; and Harris got the rest running out of spread formations mostly)

No bobble - the 49er's righteously kicked the living hell out of us in the trenches, and I did not enjoy watching it.

Funny that you singled out Lang. He's consistently one of the Packers meanest guys on the line and the one who's shown to be most adept in your beloved power run game. He played last year with an elbow injury and a Newhouse. I suspect that if they get a consistent C/T around him this year his skills will pop. You'll start to hear things like "Look at the work TJ Lang is doing on the second level to spring Lacy for that 54 yard run".

[Patler]

I think they're committed to Bulaga at LT for this year. I think they want some consistency at that position and Bulaga will give him that.

What worries me about this is Bulaga's history of missing games with injuries.

[3irty1]

For all the tackles we've drafted we sure look a lot better at Guard. Lang and Sitton are the least of our worries IMO. Couple of young studs in the run and pass game. Saying the packers would never draft Warmack or especially Cooper is still ridiculous though. For good enough value Ted would draft anyone. You can't pretend they weren't even on the Packers draft board.

[Patler]

For all the tackles we've drafted we sure look a lot better at Guard. Lang and Sitton are the least of our worries IMO. Couple of young studs in the run and pass game. Saying the packers would never draft Warmack or especially Cooper is still ridiculous though. For good enough value Ted would draft anyone. You can't pretend they weren't even on the Packers draft board.

Ya, if I remember right, there was a story about TT being the one in Seattle who insisted on drafting Hutchinson.

People have been trying for years to pigeon hole TT. He will never do this, he will never do that. But he does.

[pbmax]

In the first game, the 49ers dominated the LoS. In the 2nd game, our D-line played like shit, and they didn't need to. Their d-line put a decent amt of pressure on Rodgers, but not really until we had abandoned the run. The 2nd game was a lot better than the first at the line. The trouble was the team lost contain on some scrambles by Kaep and also ignored him on the read-option plays when he was the keeper. I always say hammer the QB on the read-option. It's a free hit on the other teams QB. Even if Gore gets a 20 yard run, their QB gets rattled and they have to think twice about running that play again too soon.

Raji had the most trouble versus the Niners in the 2nd game. But much of his trouble was a facing a double team at DE or 3 tech that he doesn't often face. When the Niners ran read option, by ignoring the OLB when blocking, they can double team the front and backside of the play. They can, should they wish, double the wide backside of the play as well.

Raji is not Pickett in terms of anchor and holding his ground and is not going to be until he is older.

That combo put Raji on skates at times versus the Niners. He has got to react better to those double teams in the next game. And the LBs have to react faster to take advantage of the space they have to operate. They have to close gaps faster so Walden/Perry/OLB don't need to worry about the give.

[pbmax]

I am not worried about finding a RT so much as I am about the commitment to Bulaga at LT.

RT has a lot of candidates and a decent number of starts to choose from. With Bulaga's slow start, Lang filling in and Barclay' eventual promotion, if the position is consistently manned by one of Barclay, Sherrod and Newhouse, I think the average play at the position will be more productive.

Bulaga at the LT is more worrisome. First, he's going to receive a ton of reps to get his ready. Then the Packers will have to choose who gets the 2nd team reps. Newhouse, Barclay and Sherrod will need reps on the right side for the open audition. That leaves Datko and Bakhitari as the natural 2nd and 3 teamers in camp rotations at LT.

But what happens if Bulaga goes down or is ineffective? They are not going to want to go into the season with Datko as the primary backup at LT and would use Newhouse. Where he will have spent precious little time preparing.

I would prefer this lineup in camp:

Bulaga - Sitton - EDS - Lang - Barclay
Sherrod - Tretter - GVR - Barclay - Newhouse
Bakhtiari - Lang - Tretter - GVR - Sherrod

Bulaga and Sitton are left alone to master new side. Especially since as older vets they would have least trouble moving back to the right if need be. Lang has only been the starting Guard for two years on left, so he sees time there, though 3rd team reps might be OK and keep him fresher.

Bakhtiari is a LT and reps he sees elsewhere would be simply be to round out numbers or give players a break. If he can full go at camp, Sherrod has to be the camp 2nd line LT to get him reps at natural position and to make up for reps he will share on the right. Barclay gets 1st team reps at RT as he was the starter last year. Newhouse could use work at both tackles, but if someone has to give way for others to get work in, he has double digit starts. That, plus, no matter what we eventually think of Bulaga, Newhouse has been found wanting at LT. To have him rep there is a road to nowhere. The only way I rep him there is if Sherrod cannot go in camp.

GVR is great as would only be better if his first name was GJ, so he could have two fantastic set of initials in the Packers tradition. He gets to work at center and guard. Tretter is same.

UDFAs can have spots as soon as Justin Harrell goes to camp and tells us which ones look halfway decent.

[Zool]

Game 1 in September - SF rushed for 32-186 yds (5.8 yd avg); we ran 14-45 (and Rodgers ran for 27)

Game 2 in January - SF rushed for 43-323 (take out K's 16-181, and you still have 27-142, which is a 5.25 yd avg); we rushed 16-104 (Rodgers 28 yds; Cobb 23 yds; and Harris got the rest running out of spread formations mostly)

No bobble - the 49er's righteously kicked the living hell out of us in the trenches, and I did not enjoy watching it.

Superbowl against a supposedly stout Raven D

Gore 19 for 110 and a 5.8 avg
Kapernick 7 for 62 for an 8.9 avg
James 3 for 10 for a 3.3 avg

As a team 29 carries for 182 and a 6.3 average.

Apparently the 49ers kicked the living hell out of a reportedly strong and stout Raven D. I asked this same question multiple times right after the SB but never got an answer.

How will you explain away what is supposedly a stout D that the Packers should be emulating with a D coordinator who is good?

BTW Kapernick was also 16/28 for 282 through the air.

[pbmax]

I love how yardage rushing out of spread formations doesn't count. Should we separate out play action, draws and screens because that is simply the offense fooling the defense?

Big plays, as Capers has repeatedly said, are the key thing to manage.

[rbaloha1]

Because guys blew assignments. Gore did not run between the tackles for swathes of yardage....Love your ignorance, it is....well, why do I bother responding to you? I guess I'm the fool for engaging a bigger fool.

PS, of the 579, how many were through the air, or QB scrambles (which do not come because you blew guys off the ball).

Watch the line play ignoramus dreamer. Quit taking hallucinogenic drugs.

How many tackles did Clay Matthews have in the game? Have you ever played defense against a big physical o-line?

Get in reality and stop bobbling your head brother

[bobblehead]

Allow me to phrase it this way then... 'when we pass on power for the smallest OT in the draft'.

I would have loved to land a guard like Chance Warmack... he's only 6'2", but at 317 lbs he packs a lot of power. Much more powerful than TJ Lang at 6'4", 318 lbs. It's body type more than anything... and some guys just have natural, functional strength - you hear the term 'country strong', implying the guy is pretty damn strong before he ever sets foot in a weight room.

Brian Winters is a guy who is listed at 6'4", 320 lbs, same as Lang. Yet Winters is best known for being a nasty, tough, strong SOB. Lang on the other hand, in terms of physicality, is very average. It's the type of player the Packers go after that is problematic when going up against power teams.

The Persian guy and Tretter are not big players, but what worries me about them is - given the Packers perverse preference for finesse players, are these guys softies like our current OL - only smaller?? That would be disasterous... if these guys prove to be so underpowered that they can't compete against NFL caliber power players, then they're both wasted draft picks.



Well, I would be one of those "anybody else says" guys... cause I watched those games, and we were completely dominated in the trenches in both games. Most of the running we manufactured were out of spread formations, Cobb, Rodgers, or b/c the Niners only committed six to the LOS, and even then they stuffed us pretty regularly.

The stats don't lie bobble.

Game 1 in September - SF rushed for 32-186 yds (5.8 yd avg); we ran 14-45 (and Rodgers ran for 27)

Game 2 in January - SF rushed for 43-323 (take out K's 16-181, and you still have 27-142, which is a 5.25 yd avg); we rushed 16-104 (Rodgers 28 yds; Cobb 23 yds; and Harris got the rest running out of spread formations mostly)

No bobble - the 49er's righteously kicked the living hell out of us in the trenches, and I did not enjoy watching it.

First off, Lang is nasty. He got the job because College was not nasty. He is a brawler, its his forte.

Second, Harris got 4.8 ypc I dont' care what the formation was. If your asking the offense to RUN the ball into an 8 man front, that would be dumb. You are supposed to run into the nickel and pass into the heavy front, and mix it up against the base. In the first game we got mauled (because replacement refs never heard of holding on DB's). I am more concered with week 19 than week one. we were not physically dominated, we were outschemed. I watched the game then, I watched it 2 days ago.

[rbaloha1]

Lang is nasty.

[run pMc]

I am not worried about finding a RT so much as I am about the commitment to Bulaga at LT.

RT has a lot of candidates and a decent number of starts to choose from. With Bulaga's slow start, Lang filling in and Barclay' eventual promotion, if the position is consistently manned by one of Barclay, Sherrod and Newhouse, I think the average play at the position will be more productive.

Bulaga at the LT is more worrisome. First, he's going to receive a ton of reps to get his ready. Then the Packers will have to choose who gets the 2nd team reps. Newhouse, Barclay and Sherrod will need reps on the right side for the open audition. That leaves Datko and Bakhitari as the natural 2nd and 3 teamers in camp rotations at LT.

But what happens if Bulaga goes down or is ineffective? They are not going to want to go into the season with Datko as the primary backup at LT and would use Newhouse. Where he will have spent precious little time preparing.

I would prefer this lineup in camp:

Bulaga - Sitton - EDS - Lang - Barclay
Sherrod - Tretter - GVR - Barclay - Newhouse
Bakhtiari - Lang - Tretter - GVR - Sherrod

Bulaga and Sitton are left alone to master new side. Especially since as older vets they would have least trouble moving back to the right if need be. Lang has only been the starting Guard for two years on left, so he sees time there, though 3rd team reps might be OK and keep him fresher.

Bakhtiari is a LT and reps he sees elsewhere would be simply be to round out numbers or give players a break. If he can full go at camp, Sherrod has to be the camp 2nd line LT to get him reps at natural position and to make up for reps he will share on the right. Barclay gets 1st team reps at RT as he was the starter last year. Newhouse could use work at both tackles, but if someone has to give way for others to get work in, he has double digit starts. That, plus, no matter what we eventually think of Bulaga, Newhouse has been found wanting at LT. To have him rep there is a road to nowhere. The only way I rep him there is if Sherrod cannot go in camp.

GVR is great as would only be better if his first name was GJ, so he could have two fantastic set of initials in the Packers tradition. He gets to work at center and guard. Tretter is same.

UDFAs can have spots as soon as Justin Harrell goes to camp and tells us which ones look halfway decent.

+1

[wist43]

So let me see if I have this straight...

Lang is nasty; Sitton is a pro bowler; Bulaga is very good; and EDS is a major upgrade? We're only suspect in 1 spot? It was Newhouse who gave up 51 sacks and was responsible for all the negative runs?

Listening to you guys, we should have been averaging 140 yds/game on the ground, and given up no more 15-20 sacks - right? Rodgers standing tall in the pocket, reading War and Peace, ala Tom Brady??

That sound about right??