I'm in the "leave him be" camp, with the best arguments already mentioned, so I'll just embellish a bit. The links to the statistics that follow my recap are worth examining closely:
- Technique: Moving from one side of the line to the other forces all movements to flip to the mirror image. You run the risk of swapping instinctual play for mechanical play, never a good thing. McCarthy has noted this several times in the past, and his preference for his linemen to be dedicated to either the left side or the right side. If this switch was going to happen, it needed to begin with the first workout of the off season.
- Opponents: Some teams, though not most, move their top dog pass rusher around on the line. Peppers was noted already. JPP is another. This is not an overriding factor, but a mitigating factor in favor of leaving Bulaga where he's at.
- Rodgers' Mobility: Rollouts as a staple of this offense has been noted. And while Rodgers does not have eyes in the back of his head, he does have an excellent sense of backside pressure and the ability to slip and slide through and out of the pocket.
The one thing I don't think has been given enough credit is how well Bulaga played last year at RT. Check out these pass blocking stats from Pro Football Focus:
http://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2012/02/20/2011-pass-blocking-efficiency-offensive-tackles/
While I'm not keen on their formula which gives a "hurry" 75% of the value of a sack (I would give it maybe 40%), it gives you an idea of how well he played. Not noted here is the fact Bulaga gave up only 1.5 sacks and 2.5 knockdowns in those 409 pass snaps...those are the drive killers, fumble generators and injury producers.
Lets look at Pro Football Outsiders run blocking rankings, where they use an interesting Adjusted Line Yardage calculation (described at the top of the following link) that attributes % of run yardage to the line:
http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ol
Green Bay ranked 11th. in the league running off RT at 4.61, against a league average of 4.26. This is particularly impressive when thinking about our less than impressive stable of running backs who also missed time with injuries.
Adding it all up, I would not conclude Bulaga is BECOMING one of the top RTs in the league...he's ALREADY THERE. If you're not keen on these stats, then use the "ear test"...it's often said you know a good O-lineman when you don't hear his name called. Check.
So we're looking at Stewart, Vollmer (who played LT when Solder struggled, if memory serves, and may end up there again), Clabo...and Bulaga at RT. Dahl only played half the season and looks like he may be playing RG this year. And Bulaga is only 23 years old. I suppose you could throw in Peters if you want to make it "front side" instead "right side"...remember Vick is a lefty...but with him blowing up his Achilles his best days are likely behind him.
I think it would be imprudent to mess with a very good thing. You run a high risk of net-net making two positions weaker.
. The big wigs have stated that they will not move Bulaga because they believe he has all the tools to be the best RT in the game. Switching sides isn't as easy as it sounds and besides, Bulaga has really short arms and isn't quite strong enough to play on the left (so I've heard, which makes no sense to me because usually the RT faces the stronger rusher). Quite frankly they feel more comfortable moving Lang back to LT than switching Bulaga.
