The Offensive Line

[CaliforniaCheez]

After reviewing tape of the play of the line her is my opinion.

Whitticker

Whitticker appears to be the starter at RG.
He made some good plays and what I like is he dosen't stand around but will move downfield after his block is complete.

He does need more coaching. At times he gets his hips turned and Buffalo ran blitzes on either side of him (Fisher and Greene picked them up well). On running plays he got downfield a little early and linebackers were tackling the RB behind him. Telling your lead blocker to slow down a bit is a nice problem to have.


Klemm
He has talent and and can move but he is not there yet. He is learning a new position, in a new system on a new team and he is rusty from being out with injuries. He is not comfortable in there yet. Talent is there but a times gets his hips turned. The biggest problem I saw was not his blocking but the choice of which guy to block when pulling and on blitzes. This will improve over time as he settles in.


Wells

Scott looked comfortable playing and after Buffalo Game would say he did better than Ruegamer at guard. Nothing flashy nothing bad. If Klemm gets injured again, Wells is not a bad option. Klemm is ahead for starting job by being more mobile.

Clifton

No worries. Safeties were blitzing/attacking between he and Klemm on occaission.

Tauscher

He had a rougher game than expected. He did not miss assignments but was not pancaking his man. Tauscher kept his man away from the play but traveled a long way outside or deep to do it. Linebackers and corners were shooting through the gap created.

Ruegamer

Did better at Center than at either guard position. He missed some blocks and was not as convincing on others. Buffalo game was a bad time to not shine. I would call him second center and #4 or 5 guard. He looked slow in execution.

Flanagan

Solid play. He opened some holes but did not get out to lead block on some runs. I hate to say it but it looked as if he has turned the corner and is on the downhill side of his career. He looked slower. Good but slower. Buffalo has a very good defense and he plays next to 2 new starters so he may look better against lesser teams.

Barry
played well enough. When he was in there I was noticing the other mistakes happening with other guys. He played well but to be fair I would have to see him with the first team. U-71 was fine.

Morely will be gone. What little he played against lesser talent only hurt his chances.

For a journalist perspective who was there and spoke with the coaches check this link.

http://www.packersnews.com/archives/new ... 5213.shtml

 

[Greg C.]

Good assessment, although I admit I was not watching the guys who are farther down your list. I was especially impressed with Whitticker. It's great to see a huge guy like that moving downfield like a bulldozer wearing a Packer uniform. I also noticed that on Green's TD and one of the third-down conversions, I think it was Davenport's, Whitticker was the first player to run downfield and congratulate the guy who made the play.

So far the offense seems to be having more success running straight ahead than running around the ends. This is where the loss of Wahle is hurting them, and as you say, Flanagan seems to be a step slower this year. Maybe we'll see more straight-ahead running this season, which is okay because Ahman Green is good at it.

 

[TOPackerFan]

Whitticker got to the second level a lot more oftern vs. the Bills than he did vs. the Chargers. He looks, to me at least to be the starter at RG. Klemm made some good plays but overran a couple of others which caused him to miss some blocks. I think it's coming together on the OL. There has been steady improvement from the Scrimmage to the Charger game and finally to Saturday's game. The OL will be fine by Sept. 11.

 

[Pack93z]

Question : Whitticker and Barry look to be the same type of player, why not start Barry in the Right Guard spot and let Whitticker fill the U-71 package until he has more game experience under his belt, real games that is?

 

[TOPackerFan]

It's because Whitticker is more athletic and is a better pass blocker than Barry. Barry is a mauler in the run game but, from what I've read, they don't seem to think he can handle the load inside in the passing game.

 

[digsthepack]

Bottom line...it seems we have nice, young depth along our line for this year and the future.

 

[PackerTraxx]

The line play should get better and better as the year goes on, barring injuries. Whittacker is young and should show progress each week. And the line should also get more cohesive as he and Klemm learn their teamates tendencies and vice versa. Good job by TT finding two good players to replace the two we lost.

 

[CaliforniaCheez]

93Z I think Whitticker gets out front and is more mobile than Barry. I thought he was a little too fast when linebackers and safeties cut in behind him and got the RB. He legitimately deserves to start.