This does NOT give me a warm and fuzzy feeling on several levels. First, isn't the HC supposed to be watching the WHOLE team? We've already seen what former DCs turned HCs do. If Saleh can't pull back from focusing on just the "D" he can't be an effective HC. Second, why is "fairness" part of the discussion? Becton is supposed to be a starting tackle, and they need to find out if he can be that. If "hurting the feelings" of some guys is the price paid, too bad. Third, Saleh "thinks" Becton is okay with playing RT??? Isn't it a bit late to be having that clarified? Shouldn't he and Douglas gotten a commitment from Becton one way or the other so they could go out and get another player if need be? The OL Problem is still unresolved and that's unacceptable.
yeah I know which is why I can’t take Sabo’s take, “relax, we will evaluate when they go against live defense” seriously. At this rate they aren’t going to do that until the real thing starts
I sincerely hope that at some point this season we'll all be able to look back and laugh about the OL hysteria this offseason. Time will tell...
First point doesn't really bother me. He's already shown he can lead men, I don't really care that he focused today on the defensive side of the field. The training facility is absolutely massive and the fields are spread apart. Doesn't shock me if the majority of his time is on one side or the other. Your 2nd and 3rd points are absolutely head scratchers to me. How does Becton prove he can play a full game when he's only playing 30 snaps in a preseason game? He went from 7 -> 30 in a weeks time. There's no shot you are going to keep a starting tackle in for 65+ plays in a preseason game if he's the starter. I'm not panicking about the OL yet. Our OL was fine last year before AVT went down. Adding Tippman, AVT, + veteran in Rodgers will make the OL better than last year.
But what Sabo's saying is true. It's really difficult to effectively judge the OL during these drills and sessions when no one (especially the QB) is really getting hit. It's really easy for the beat to sit on the sideline and say, "ohh, that's a sack" when we have no idea if it really would've been or not. That's not to say that we can't take anything away from these practices (it's obviously not ideal that most of our backups are getting beat when going against other team's 1's) but I tend to put more stock into the reps when they're real, actual game reps and so far, the OL has been fine without 2 of it's best players playing a single snap in PS.
This Is a huge failure, especially for a guy (JD) who has preached how important the trenches are for any football team. It's absolutely ridiculous that this Is even remotely an issue, especially after trading for A Rodgers. If I think about It, the OL last year clearly wasn't all that great and truly fell apart after a couple injuries along that OL. JD did jack all this past off season. I think the only real addition was at center with Joe Tippmann. Who Isn't even a lock at center this season. AVT Is hurt again and the line crumbles. AGAIN. This has to be an eye opener at this point for them. A true eye opener. Hopefully It will inspire them to find the help needed to fortify this OL for the season. It's wild It's taking them this long to truly do anything about It. It also pisses me off that they have this moral high road view with Becton. Saleh saying until he proves he can play a full game, it's not fair to the others. Fuck fair. Put your best players out there already. Ridiculous stance with Becton. He was willing to play a full game last preseason, he wanted to play more, but Saleh was the one that pulled him. Now he's being punished for that? Makes zero fuckin sense to me.
I disagree with most of your post. We haven't seen the OL look fine ever this offseason. We have only seen the backup OL look fine against backup DLs. In the only two practices where live action with starters occurred almost all beat reporters agree the OL has looked anything but fine. they may disagree on how terrible they looked, Sabo may say: "lets wait and see," but nobody thinks they've looked fine
You think the staff might still be a little miffed at Becton for publicly shitting on them this offseason, demanding he play LT, and/or pulling himself out of a game?
Everything I've seen it looks like Becton and Saleh have a great relationship though so it's really interesting. The high-fives, handshakes, pep talks, etc at camp/practice. Becton going to bat on Twitter for Saleh all the time when the Sean Payton stuff came up. Just such a weird situation to me. Before camp started Becton even said he would be okay with playing RT so why would it be an issue now? Pulling himself out of the game b/c the turf was bad on his knee and it was sore is okay with me. He is clearly one of the better OL we have when healthy (yes, a big if), but it's true. The HOF game was two weeks ago and just last game he played 4x more snaps. Maybe this week he gets up to 40? I don't know, but we need a healthy Becton to be one of those top best 5. Billy Turner and Max Mitchel fucking suck.
Every year we're told not to overreact to the OL getting lit up in training camp, and every year they end up getting lit up in the first half of the regular season.
I am talking about the Newsday exclusive interview where Becton shit on the "staff" and blamed them for his injury and said, among other things ""It made no sense to put me at right tackle" ... and "I got forced to play a position I don't play"
This irritates me. Becton is most likely the best LT on the team but we are going to move him to RT. Fucking Brown better get his ass on the field soon.
Yeah I'm aware of what you are talking about. Becton got a surgery that was supposed to rush him back, maybe the staff and medical team pushed that on him instead of the longer recovery surgery that he should have gotten? I don't know. They can be pissed all they want, but what are we children? Going to just hold grudges against talented players? Should he have handled it differently, most definitely, but it is what it is. He already came out and said he would be willing to play RT so what are we waiting for?
I think all of what Saleh says regarding Becton is a motivational tool to get him ready. I don't agree with it though. I like Saleh but I think he's fucking it up when it comes to Becton.
yeah I dont disagree with you. At this point anyone in the 2nd unit should be getting first team looks with as bad as that first team OL has looked I'm just trying to understand why the staff is holding their line here with Becton.
It would be pretty foolish to punish one of your best offensive lineman, especially with the state it's currently in. I hope they aren't that stupid.
At this point I agree that Becton is the best LT, Tomlinson is the best LG, and AVT is both the best RG and best RT, but imo there's no way that McGovern is either the best C or best RG. McGovern was an awful OG. The Broncos drafted him to play RG and he was so bad for 2 straight seasons that they moved him to C, and he was much better there, but obviously not good enough for them to keep. McGovern himself said that he is a much better C than OG. His starting and playing at OG should not be an option except in a dire emergency. I'd trust Tristan Colon, Turner, or one of the rookies Lainge or Glaser at RG before I would McGovern. I was glad to see the video of Saleh getting all over the OL and holding them accountable. It's about time! He also needs to get over his bias towards both Mitchell and Brown. Becton is the best LT we have. IMO Brown should be told that Becton has won the starting LT job anda that he will be the backup LT and that if he wishes to start, his best option is RT. Until Brown comes back, imo AVT should be the starting RT and Schweitzer the starting RG. When Brown begins practicing, he can work at both LT and RT. If he proves that he can handle RT without any problems, then AVT can move back to RG, and Brown will become the starting RT.
This times 1000. Not sure on the relationship between Becton and Saleh though. But at the end of the day the best players should play and Becton is definitely one of the best offensive lineman.
