Don’t blame coaches for thinking outside the box. Derek Sherrod was a first round pick, loads of talent rolled up into one 6-foot-5, 321-pounder from the SEC. These linemen are rare.

In theory, it makes perfect sense for coach Mike McCarthy to audition Sherrod at left guard. He has tried this before. After Friday night’s preseason game, though the experimenting should be over.

T.J. Lang wasn’t perfect himself but Sherrod hinted that he is more of a hazard at the position. Blown off the ball, he gave up two sacks. Once, at guard. Once, at tackle. Enough proof that it’s time for coaches to settle Sherrod in at one spot. Flip-flopping between the two positions throughout camp, Sherrod has not progressed enough.

Complain about the number of preseason games all you want --- the Packers need these final two games to shore up their leaky pass protection. The group has allowed nine sacks in two games. The first step must be entrenching Lang as the starter at left guard and starting over with Sherrod at tackle. Lang approached this year's training camp with the right attitude. When a rookie was slotted ahead of him day one, he (mostly) responded. Let's see what he can do for a few series in a row in Indianapolis.

Doing so will reset Sherrod in a way. As our Tom Silverstein noted after Green Bay’s win over the Arizona Cardinals, he is in a tough spot. Marshall Newhouse is the top backup behind Chad Clifton at left tackle. There’s a chance Sherrod opens the season as an inactive. As much as coaches would love for Sherrod to be versatile, to play both guard and tackle, he’s not ready.

The last thing this team needs is an injury to either Aaron Rodgers or Matt Flynn. Green Bay is better off fixing issues before it’s too late. Both Rodgers and Flynn were decked for sacks twice apiece Friday night. Calais Campbell embarrassed Sherrod for a nine-yard sack on Rodgers, while Darnell Dockett slipped between Josh Sitton and Bryan Bulaga for another sack on the Super Bowl MVP.

A 17-yard completion on third and 16 bailed Sherrod out, while the second sack eventually ended the drive on third and 2. It took another no-huddle drive to slap the first-team offense awake.

It's August. Derek Sherrod has been in the NFL all of four weeks. It's hardly time to write him off. Arguably no lineman on the team has his build. James Campen has quite a specimen to work with. Sherrod is a finesse-reliant pass blocker with a frame best suited for tackle, for tackle, for developing, for maturing.

At guard, his quickness is neutralized and his size can be a disadvantage. At tackle, Sherrod has been decent in practice. Against the likes of Erik Walden, he has held up OK there. He has an obvious comfort level on the edge.

Management heeded Rodgers' plea once already, re-signing wide receiver James Jones. It’s probably time to listen up again.

"When you're getting beat on one-on-one pass protection then you've got to look at fundamentals,” Rodgers said after the Cardinals game. “The starting point of protection is winning those one-on-one battles. We have to do that more consistently."

With Gregg Williams' blitzes looming Sept. 8, this should be priority No. 1.

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/128153463.html 

Tyler Dunne wrote:

The whole versatility with the offensive line philosophy needs to stop. Especially when they're trying to force it down the throats of players who have no experience playing the position. Sherrod has not played a down at LG all his life, and they expect him to do it during his first year as a pro? Gimme a break.

Just sit him and let him learn the game from Cliffy.

Originally Posted by: blueleopard 

Whenever I seen Bryan Bulaga he kept having guys blow by him. I don't know OL well but you don't need to know that Bulaga did not fair too well. He was worse than Daryn Colledge, but I think his upside is far greater and he was playing out of his 'natural' position.

I'm hoping he does a 180 from last year and earns the accolades he seems to be getting for what was a not so hot 2010.

Originally Posted by: Zero2Cool 

The whole versatility with the offensive line philosophy needs to stop. Especially when they're trying to force it down the throats of players who have no experience playing the position. Sherrod has not played a down at LG all his life, and they expect him to do it during his first year as a pro? Gimme a break.

Just sit him and let him learn the game from Cliffy.

Originally Posted by: blueleopard 

I am trying to remember which player was drafted by the packers as a OT and fizzled. He was moved inside and had a nice career as an OG. Wasn't it Ross Verba? Maybe Mike Wahle.

Originally Posted by: wpr