Bulaga hurt?

[Harlan Huckleby]

Right. My recollection is that Barbre was basically anointed the starting RT based on OTA's. His struggles in preseason were somewhat overshadowed by Rodgers' lights out

Memories are selective. I remember much Barbre love prior to the 2009 season, glowing comments from Larry McCarren are burned in my memory. I also recall that Newhouse was highly regarded during his second training camp, 2011.

When I searched jsonline for positive comments about Barbre in summer of 2009, I did not find any negative stuff. MM did call Barbre his most athletic offensive lineman, etc.

Just for purposes of mischief, I decided to see what JoeMailman said about Babre in 2009.
3rd-Year-Players-Who-Has-Break-Out-Season?
"For me it's Justin Harrell. If he can stay healthy, and he's healthy now, he has the perfect skill set for the LDE position. A close second would be Allen Barbre. Opportunity knocks."

[Harlan Huckleby]

Reading down a little farther, we see pbmax:
"I think Williams broke out last season. I think Harrell could, but you can't count on it, especially not when its a back that might crop up him. Barbre has the best chance to make a name for himself this year."

heee heee heeee
Now, these were early summer predictions, not completely relevant, but grist for my mill.

[pbmax]

Except that summer and training camp are not the same thing. All the Barbre praise is prior to camp. His struggles immediately returned in camp and preseason. Bakhtiari has already passed a significant hurdle Barbre did not. He has impressed in camp with pads, hitting and everything. Next test is live opposition.

The thread you quote from started June 20th. Camp starts in late July. Also, Barbre finished fourth in the poll behind Harrell, James Jones and Tramon Williams. Barbre was 2 votes ahead of Brandon Jackson.

[Joemailman]

Let the record show that the person bumping other people's predictions for his amusement did not offer any predictions himself.

[bobblehead]

Another take on Bakhitiari from Doug Farrar: http://nfl.si.com/2013/08/05/the-all...y-left-tackle/

Interesting quote:

That is an awesome trait in a LG or C, not so much in a LT. If he starts at LT, we have to run early and often to give him a fair chance to succeed. Anyone taking action on that happening?

[bobblehead]

Its entirely possible I posted otherwise in 2009 because I tend to root for the best athletes to outright win positions as it helps the overall talent level of the team (see Sherrod Derek, or McMillan, Jerome).

But as I recall, Barbre had trouble all camp long and in preseason too. His best practices were always in shorts.

The one that got away is Giacomini, who starts and apparently plays well for the Seahawks at RT.

Rewatched the Seattle/Atlanta game. We lost a keeper. He simply took too long to adjust. Very sad for us....especially at this moment.

[bobblehead]

Memories are selective. I remember much Barbre love prior to the 2009 season, glowing comments from Larry McCarren are burned in my memory. I also recall that Newhouse was highly regarded during his second training camp, 2011.

When I searched jsonline for positive comments about Barbre in summer of 2009, I did not find any negative stuff. MM did call Barbre his most athletic offensive lineman, etc.

Just for purposes of mischief, I decided to see what JoeMailman said about Babre in 2009.
3rd-Year-Players-Who-Has-Break-Out-Season?
"For me it's Justin Harrell. If he can stay healthy, and he's healthy now, he has the perfect skill set for the LDE position. A close second would be Allen Barbre. Opportunity knocks."

Thank God you didn't find any of my embarrassing posts to bump. I was full on the Babre bandwagon....not a proud moment. Sort of like that time in Thailand....nm, getting nightmares.

[bobblehead]

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packe...218460911.html

McGinn with an upbeat, "the sky is not falling article. That's what I like about McGinn. He tries to offer a different perspective on things. And he's often right.

"Time after time, the rookie tried to get the last shove in. That might not be important in the outcome of a play, but over time a player that seeks to establish a level of physical superiority eventually will win out."

This gives me hope. Other than Lang, we don't have a guy who does this. Maybe sitton a bit, but not like guys in SF do it. I like battlers in my OL. I haven't seen any of the young guys yet, but this gives me some hope.

[pittstang5]

Rewatched the Seattle/Atlanta game. We lost a keeper. He simply took too long to adjust. Very sad for us....especially at this moment.

Wasn't Giacomini hurt alot when he was here?

[Patler]

Except that summer and training camp are not the same thing. All the Barbre praise is prior to camp. His struggles immediately returned in camp and preseason. Bakhtiari has already passed a significant hurdle Barbre did not. He has impressed in camp with pads, hitting and everything. Next test is live opposition.

The thread you quote from started June 20th. Camp starts in late July. Also, Barbre finished fourth in the poll behind Harrell, James Jones and Tramon Williams. Barbre was 2 votes ahead of Brandon Jackson.

I think we went through that with Barbre a couple years. He is tremendously athletic for an O-lineman. In college, he was a gunner on their punt team. You have to have hope for a guy like that during the off season and during practice in shorts. As I recall, he looked bad each time as soon as the pads went on, yet the one year they stubbornly kept him as the starter hoping the light would turn on. It didn't and after a couple games, he was out of the lineup.

[Patler]

Wasn't Giacomini hurt alot when he was here?

I don't think so. Just very, very raw. The first year he was on the 53 man roster, but inactive every game. He was on the practice squad his second year. Third year he was again on the practice squad after the Packers outbid the Vikings for him at the end of TC, but a short time later Seattle signed him to their 53 man roster.

It really took the guy until his 4th season before he came around.

[Harlan Huckleby]

Except that summer and training camp are not the same thing. All the Barbre praise is prior to camp.

Ya, except Barbre wasn't a rookie, he was a third year player who had other preseasons, and even some spot duty in real games already.

You might be correct that Barbre had begun to emit a suspicious odor in the last two preseason games, I just don't remember. What I do know is that MM had high praise after two preseason games, and I remember Larry McCarren loving him at some stage of preseason.

I made the obviously true point that you can't tell how good offensive linemen are until they have to hold-up for 60 minutes in real games. Especially OT's who have to stick with speed rushers for 50 plays. When Newhouse sucked in real games, he might have actually sucked for only a handful of plays.
The high praise that Barbre and Newhouse got before they were full-time starters are good examples.

BTW, hard to believe but Newhouse is still only 24 years old. Perhaps the 2012 season can be written-off as a youthful indiscretion. I think he has good feet so will develop into a good pass blocker. I remember him real weak at run blocking, he didn't stick with the guy, that is more of a question. Maybe that can be improved.

[RashanGary]

HH,

I don't think Marshall Newhouse has ever gotten anything but disgust from media and fans alike. There are a few of us who think where he came from, and his age, there should be more of an expected learning curve, but just about everyone agrees he sucks and sucked from day 1.

He was a 21 year old rookie, coming from a school that doesn't coach OL they way they do in the NFL. He had a long way to go. He was good enough to be better than the rest of the garbage they've had, but not good enough for people to be happy with him.

It looks like he's changed his body composition this offseason. He's starting to look like an NFL OL. I have a hunch we haven't seen the best of him. This is the year I think we see the best of him. If he's not good this year, I give up, but I do think he's been getting better since his first time on the field and it hasn't stopped yet. He's a couple pass plays per game against elite players and some run game improvement away from being solid.

[pbmax]

That is an awesome trait in a LG or C, not so much in a LT. If he starts at LT, we have to run early and often to give him a fair chance to succeed. Anyone taking action on that happening?

Yes. 16th in the League in running attempts with one of the poorest run games in the League. You could argue McCarthy last year was way too fond of running the ball.

And a good majority of those carries happened early with the score close or with an early lead. If the concern with Bach is pass protecting, expect more of the same run to protect Rodgers play calls.

[Upnorth]

Crappy,

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcnorth/post/_/id/58934/bulaga-to-undergo-season-ending-surgery