Your thoughts on the future of Derek Sherrod?

There was a lot of excitement in the value of Sherrod when we picked him up #32 in the draft last year. He was immediately needed, and thought to possess the natural ability to step in and do his job, but he looked terrible in the pre-season and he showed that he was overmatched on a regular basis in the regular season, despite the limited time he played. He didn't even seem to know who to block half the time, which concerned me.

But now it looks as though he may miss most if not all of the 2012 season, and may never be given the proper focus to be a reliable backup, much less a starter. What are your thoughts on him?

Don't give up on him.

I have no thoughts. We've seen next to nothing from him. I think you're being far too hasty in dismissing him. If Justin Harrell gets 4 years worth of opportunities, I think Sherrod has at least a couple more years left to figure things out. Patience.

It's not that I don't have faith in his ability per se, but simply the staff that is around him. With an immediate priority in protection Rodgers, will TT not look to the draft while Sherrod is being rehabbed? I dunno.

I think TT will bring in an O tackle.

Remember how lousy Mike Wahle looked at first? He turned out pretty good....

MM said that he should be ready for training camp (via the Green Bay Press Gazette twitter account). He could round into shape and be the starting LT for the Packers for the next 10 years. Sherrod has all the tools in the world to be great.

Similar to Colledge, he was drafted as a tackle and never panned out. Once he was switched to guard, he flourished.

Time and patience, you don't abandon a 1st rounder hastily IMHO, we'll just have to hope he's more Lang/Bulaga than Neal/Harrell.

Maybe you should put a dome over him...

The kid will need some time. I'm guessing this will be a year in which he gets back on his feet, and develops a comfort level with running around and playing football. That could be on the PUP at the start of the season, or the IR...who knows? I have a real hard time believing he will be on the 53 man roster at the start of the season.

But he had a real bad injury, seems to be recovering as fast as humanly possible, and I think has the tools to be a monster at LT. He will need a couple more years, I think, because of the severity of the injury...I for one will be patient with him and hope something comes of Derrick Sherrod.

Near the end of season Sherrod was taking snaps away from Newhouse. From what I remember, reports were that Sherrod was making large improvements and they were prepping him in hopes that he would take over as the starting left tackle around the end of the season/playoffs.

He was drafted in a lockout and didn't have an off season. He was flip-flopped between guard and tackle and was likely overwhelmed. I expect him to fully recover from this injury, be it this season or next. It might take him some time to fully regain trust in his leg, but afterwards, he should continue improving and become a solid tackle. At worst, he will be a great backup. At best, he'll develop into a starting left tackle. As long as he is motivated mentally and physically consistent (can avoid the injury bug), I think he can be a really good player. It's just going to take some serious time after such a gruesome injury. From my understanding, however, there shouldn't be any long term implications from this injury. Once he heals, he should be completely fine.

I agree the big fella cannot be dismissed so soon, but this injury history shows us that very rarely is the player back as good as before.

For a left tackle, or right, the legs are the foundation, and I really would bet that Derek will never be able to get to that level he might have if not for the failed blocking in Kansas City all day long by Marshall Newhouse that allowed Tamba Hali to run right around him all day long, and ultimately crash into Derek's planted leg, horrifically sadly.

Mike Flanagan, former Packers' center also sustained a similar injury and although he needed a couple of years to recover, he ended up being a very valuable member of the OL. I understand an OT needs more lateral movement than a center, but don't discount a center's need to be explosive and use leverage.

So far I'm underwhelmed but too soon to tell. That was a bad injury.

idk, he looked good after a few plays in that game against the falcons. In fact, he looked better than newhouse did all season.
Game against the chiefs, he was doing alright, then newhouse let tamba snap his leg...smh.
Clifton was meh when he came back, Bulaga was "lost" and "out of posistion" his first season and he had an actual full off-season to get ready, he looked good late in 2010 and was good throughout 2011.

I was more excited about Randall Cobb.

DoddPower is right on. Sherrod was short-changed in terms of prep. He was moved to an unfamiliar position in a shortened camp and struggled as a rookie. That's no shock....but then to stick him back in where he didn't get many of the reps and expect him to just bounce back? Unrealistic.

He got some meaningless snaps towards the end of the regular season because McCarthy and Campen wanted to get him some game reps. He wasn't taking snaps away from Newhouse. Just a good coaching decision. Of course, it was just bad luck that the dude's leg snapped.

TeamTundra was spot on with the Mike Flanagan injury. That took him a while but he was a pretty good center for many years after recovery. Show of hands....how many of you EVER thought that Clifton would come back from his broken hip? I'm not worried about the leg injury to Sherrod. In fact, I often think that the time away is helpful to young guys because they can watch more game film and mentally prepare better for their next shot. I think that Sherrod has some promise, but I agree with FrankRizzo that the legs are the foundation of a OL and we'll see if he can fully recover.

Sherrod NEEDS to come back from injury.