Mike McCarthy Shuffles The Offensive Line

There's been a lot written this offseason about LT Marshall Newhouse's future at left tackle and now Mike McCarthy has confirmed a move that had been discussed for a couple years; Bryan Bulaga to left tackle.

New from JS: Packers offensive line undergoes a makeover bit.ly/18xBN5s
— tom silverstein (@TomSilverstein) May 3, 2013

The main argument for keeping Bulaga at right tackle is that the team needs a good right tackle too. Bulaga was great on the right side in 2011 so why mess with success? It was a little surprising how secretive Mike McCarthy was about it. Tom Silverstein wrote:

Initially, multiple sources detailed the move, and later after an interview request, coach Mike McCarthy confirmed it and agreed to discuss it.

Or maybe he wasn't trying to keep a secret but he didn't want to talk about it. He might not want to give away any changes in his play calling tendencies. He did say "There was a lot of information that went into this decision" and "you put your athletic guy on the left and the more powerful guy [T.J. Lang] on the right."

Right now, it looks like an equal, three-way race between Newhouse, Don Barclay, and Derek Sherrod (health permitting) for right tackle job. Maybe rookies David Bakhtiari and J.C. Tretter will join in the competition, but the coaches want to see them in person first.

I don't see a downside to moving Bulaga and Sitton to the left side, but it's not obvious that this will make them any better. They might still line up with the same five players if Newhouse is named as the starting right tackle. Moving their offensive line problems from the left to the right side won't help. Still, it's great to see the coaches address the offensive line and look for ways to make the unit better.