The Packers' New Look Offensive Line

It hasn't been a great season for the Green Bay Packers' offensive line and they could be making some changes across the line next year. But in the meantime, the o-line is getting a new lineup because of injuries. The new starting right tackle has only one regular season game under his belt and the backups don't even have that much.

McCarthy-Don't have a feel for TJ Lang's return. Not progressing the way he'd like. #packers
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) December 5, 2012

The hope was that RT T.J. Lang could bounce back from his ankle injury and return on Sunday, but that hope seems to be lost. It appears undrafted rookie RT Don Barclay will have to start this week, and he'll probably struggle as he did against the Vikings, even if he does gets some help with a chip block from the tight end.

If coaching the offensive line is a thankless job, then this has to be the low water mark. QB Aaron Rodgers has been getting sacked too often and the running game has been going nowhere. Now offensive line coach James Campen has to help Barclay get ready to start, and see if he can get a better performance from LG Evan Dietrich-Smith, who's been struggling and committing too many penalties. Even LT Marshall Newhouse, who allowed two sacks last week to DE Jared Allen last week and a lot of pressure against the Giants, could use some extra advice. Finally, he's got to get a couple rookies up to speed.

LG Greg Van Roten has been on the active roster for a few weeks, but he hasn't played on offense yet. Since he's the next man up, he'll see playing time if any of the other lineman are forced out of the game. He'd probably replace either of the guards if they were hurt, but if another tackle was injured, I wouldn't be surprised to see Van Roten play at guard and RG Josh Sitton move to tackle.

The other option might be to play rookie OL Andrew Datko at tackle. With the re-signing of OL Shea Allard to the practice squad, it's been speculated that Datko could be added to the active roster if Lang is ruled out. As for Allard, he was bad during the preseason, and he confirmed that by admitting he hadn't drawn any interest since the Packers released him at the end of preseason. Familiarity seems to be as good as any other option at this point. Since the Packers probably don't want Allard to do anything more than play on the scout team, familiarity might be all they want.

There's not much for the offensive line to do except to hold on. Their struggles have been keeping a lid on the offense this season, and it's not going to get better over the next few weeks.

Packers Down To 75 Players: Jarius Wynn Released

The Green Bay Packers announced 10 roster moves to shrink down to 75 players by today's deadline. Most of the transactions involved injured players and only one healthy player was released.

DE Jarius Wynn. This isn't the first time he's been released by the Packers, so it's not a big surprise. He was re-signed during the great injury rush of 2010, after Justin Harrell's annual season-ending injury. He's also one of the few players I've actually interviewed, so I'm disappointed to see that he's gone, but his play on the field didn't earn him a roster spot. He had a strong couple months down the stretch in 2010, and he was useful during their playoff run to the Super Bowl, but he was a non-factor last season after recording 3 sacks in their first three games. He was involved in a couple plays last week against the Bengals, but he was clearly behind other players like Philip Merling. The Packers might have to release three defensive lineman by the end of the week, so the final game will be very important for Merling, Lawrence Guy, and Mike Neal.

FB Jon Hoese was released, but he's also been out with a hamstring injury, so it's a release related to an injury. The former undrafted free agent was released last season too, and then brought back onto the practice squad late in the year, so we might see him again.

TE Andrew Quarless and LB Frank Zombo have been hurting all training camp, but they both have a chance to return after six weeks on the PUP list. I'm a little surprised OL Derek Sherrod wasn't listed here too, which may be a sign that he'll be ready to play soon.

It's too bad to see LB Desmond Bishop's season end before it began, but his hamstring injury was serious and he'll be out for the season on I.R. A few other players were also placed on I.R. (RB Du'ane Bennett, TE DeMarco Cosby, G Ray Dominguez, DE Johnny Jones, and WR Shaky Smithson) but I wouldn't have expected any of them to make the roster if they had been healthy. Rob Demovsky expects those last five players will "receive settlements and be waived."

There are a few other players that I expected to be released (OL Shea Allard, OL Greg Van Roten, and WR Diondre Borel all stood out in a bad way against the Bengals) but they still need players for the final preseason game against the Chiefs. The starters aren't likely to play, and Aaron Rodgers might not play at all. The front office might have a good idea of their final roster, but some guys will get at least one more chance to make a good impression.

The Packers 53-man Roster

The Green Bay Packers released 18 players, while placing LB Vic So'oto on I.R. (injured on Thursday night) and OL Derek Sherrod on PUP (he could return after week 6), as they trimmed their roster down to 53 players. Some of these released players are likely to return to the practice squad, and some have even been told to wait in town. I'm not really surprised by any of these moves, but there still may be a couple more coming.

The consensus release surprise is WR Tori Gurley, who had a big game against the Chiefs and made Pete Prisco's All-Cut Team. Gurley's a good, young receiver, but his speed his questionable and he only had one strong game this preseason. His biggest problem is that the Packers already have five other receivers who are clearly better than him. That was also a problem for WR Diondre Borel, though he also had a couple passes go through his hands which never wins bonus points with the coaches. I'm surprised WR Jarrett Boykin made the final roster, he looks smaller than his listed 6-2, 218 lbs., but he had a nearly flawless preseason.

Here's a little bit on the other 16 players released:

Offensive line: Shea Allard, Andrew Datko, Tommie Draheim, Sampson Genus, Greg Van Roten, and Reggie Wells. All of those players are eligible for the practice squad, except Wells, and I would expect at least two of them to return when it's announced. Datko probably would have made it on the 53-man roster if he hadn't gotten injured. It's a little surprising that they only kept 7 offensive lineman, but they only kept 8 at the start of last season. I'm not surprised to see that the one young player they did keep was Don Barclay, who's had a solid preseason.

Other offensive players: I hadn't noticed TE Brandon Bostick, though I'd read good things about him from practice. QB B.J. Coleman has got a big arm, but he needs to work on everything else and is no better than a practice squad player. WR Curenski Gilleylen never impressed me, while WR Dale Moss did, but the Packers didn't need a 7th wide receiver in either case. I felt bad for RB Marc Tyler, he usually ran behind an offensive line that had trouble run blocking, but he doesn't seem to be exceptionally skilled either. FB Nic Cooper is a big guy, but after years of keeping multiple full backs on the roster, this is the second consecutive year that only John Kuhn on the roster.

Defensive line: I don't really know what they ever saw in DE Lawrence Guy. The release of DT Daniel Muir was a surprise. He was better than expected this preseason, and the recent injuries to DE Ryan Pickett and DE B.J. Raji appeared to improve his chances. But he didn't bring anything to the field except size and he showed little as a pass rusher. I guess they liked the versatility DE Phillip Merling better, though his roster spot might be short lived once Mike Neal returns from his suspension.

Linebacker: I thought the Packers would have a tough time cutting down from this group, and to use a football term, they decided to punt and keep all 10. After Erik Walden returns from his one game suspension, we might see one of them released.

Secondary: I've been a fan of S Anthony Levine, he played a good centerfield, but he was the weakest of the safeties when it came time to fight off blocks and playing run support. CB Otis Merrill was fast and he could be a weapon on special teams, but he looked like a liability on defense. He's been rumored for the practice squad, so maybe the Packers want to coach him up for a year and see what happens.

While I liked some of the players they released, the reality is that it's unlikely that any of them would have become a starter in the future. Some of the players were a surprise, but the overall construction of the roster is what I expected from the Packers.

Final Preseason Game (Brief) Recap: Packers Defeat Chiefs, 24-3

While it was good to see Graham Harrell establish himself as a legitimate backup quarterback, I didn't really gain a lot of insight as to who will be the final players to make the roster. When a team wins by 21 points, there are usually a lot of players making good plays and only a few making bad ones. Some players struggled such as LB Terrell Manning, S Anthony Levine, CB Brandian Ross, and CB Otis Merrill. While Shea Allard didn't impress as the backup left tackle either. But I wouldn't go so far to say their performances in this game lost them their spots on the team.

Also, for whatever reason, the Chiefs have been a lousy preseason team over the past few years, so they might not be the best measure.

As for Harrell, his improved performance had as much to do with his teammates as it did with him. The lineman did a better job blocking and none of the receivers dropped any passes. Plus, he got an early boost when the coaches left TE Jermichael Finley in with the second team offense, so Finley could make up some of the reps he missed out on when he didn't play against the Bengals. At least we can have some confidence that Harrell's good enough to backup Aaron Rodgers.

The only criticism might be the run defense, which let the Chiefs run all over them, but I think that bug is partly by design in Dom Capers's defense. For example, the Chiefs ran down the field on their first two drives, but eventually had to settle for two field goal attempts and one missed wide right. No opponent is going to match scores with the Packers's offense by driving for field goals, and not making big plays of their own.

The cuts are coming soon, and minor trades are certainly being explored by GM Ted Thompson's staff. There will be a lot more news later today.