PackerFlatLander
Cheesehead
My reference to Ted's gambling on the o-line is referring to several things. First of all, the fact that he has never once drafted a top-tier franchise center in the top three rounds, is beyond disturbing. Scott Wells was drafted in the 7th round by Sherman in 2004 and while he was okay and serviceable, he isn't anything all-world or special. During the entire time that Wells was here, Ted drafted a whole army of useless zone-blocking scheme prototype linemen, who resembled track stars, far more than bonafide NFL lineman.
Here is every Ted o-line pick since 2005 ... Coston, Whittaker, Colledge, Moll, Spitz, Barbre, Sitton, Giocomini, Lang, Meredith, Bulaga, Newhouse, Sherrod, Schlauderauff, Datko, Bakhtiari, and Tretter. I just threw up.
How many in that bunch, would you consider to be a franchise stud o-lineman so far? ONE - Sitton, and that's it. Bulaga played great in '10 but is hurt. Sherrod has been hurt, too - that happens, no indictment on Ted there. Lang has been "just a guy" and Bakhtiari has been a pleasant surprise as a rookie. BUT ... drafting all these skinny, fast on their feet for the ZBS (a horsecrap scheme, I might add) linemen is a huge gamble and not a good idea! Ask Rodgers how much he's enjoyed being the most sacked QB in the league for god knows how long now.
Gambling at center ... we let Wells go and then Ted brings in Jeff Saturday as a stop-gap solution. Gambled and lost - big time. Now there's Evan Dietrich-Smith. Good player? Serviceable? Sure, I guess. But it's still gambling. That is what I meant. Again - I like Ted and his approach very much - always have. But his drafting on the o-line overall has left much to be desired. That said, they have been playing awesome as a unit for the past 4 games straight, and that is very promising. I like what I'm seeing from this unit as of late.
