Sitton is at peace from last season

[Deleted member 6794]

Any improvement from Bakhtiari and the incumbent TEs in run blocking will be marginal at best. They are who they are.

What I would hope to see out of Bakhtiari is a reduction in holding penalties.

Any improvement in the run blocking will have to come from Ripkowski, to whatever extent he happens to play. The other I'm looking for is whether they can get those pulling plays working in regular season as well as they looked at times in preseason last year.

In any event, the O-Line is good enough to win a championship if nobody gets injured.

I hope that at least Richard Rodgers is capable of improving his run blocking. I don't expect Ripkowski to get enough playing time to make significant contributions.

 

[HardRightEdge]

I hope that at least Richard Rodgers is capable of improving his run blocking. I don't expect Ripkowski to get enough playing time to make significant contributions.

Rodgers saves it for his routes.

Ripkowski first has to earn a spot blocking on special teams to get on the 45 man game day roster. After that, he could get some work blocking in-line or out of the backfield in short yardage. Kuhn's value is in his versatility and knowledge of the offense...run some, run block some, pass block some, catch some. But I think we can agree he's merely serviceable as a lead blocker, and neither of the TEs are more than chip-a-guy types.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Rodgers saves it for his routes.

Ripkowski first has to earn a spot blocking on special teams to get on the 45 man game day roster. After that, he could get some work blocking in-line or out of the backfield in short yardage. Kuhn's value is in his versatility and knowledge of the offense...run some, run block some, pass block some, catch some. But I think we can agree he's merely serviceable as a lead blocker, and neither of the TEs are more than chip-a-guy types.

I agree the Packers don't have a tight end on the roster capable of lead blocking. Kuhn is a better than average blocker and with his knowledge of the offense I have a hard time believing Ripkowski will get any meaningful snaps this season. If he shows some promise during practice I see him as Kuhn's successor starting next season.

 

[El Guapo]

I dispute that Bakhtiari was fine in pass coverage, but it's just opinions and I don't care to argue the point any further.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

I dispute that Bakhtiari was fine in pass coverage, but it's just opinions and I don't care to argue the point any further.

According to PFF Bakhtiari allowed a total of 29 pressures (6 sacks) on a total of 585 passing plays for an efficiency rate of 96.0, which ranks in the top third of all tackles.

The pass protection was excellent last season, that doesn't work with a LT having troubles in pass protection.

 

[Mondio]

I think Bakhtiari is ok, I think he gets a bit more credit than he's earned so far. At least from some. When I compare him to someone like Clifton, he's not there yet and that's my benchmark for a good LT. He's certainly not terrible. The Packers could do a lot worse than Bakhtiari. He's young, he's getting better, and he seems like a great kid so i'm ok playing him out there. I don't think GB has anybody on their roster to play the position any better and I certainly don't want to see any injuries just to find out either.

 

[HardRightEdge]

According to PFF Bakhtiari allowed a total of 29 pressures (6 sacks) on a total of 585 passing plays for an efficiency rate of 96.0, which ranks in the top third of all tackles.

The pass protection was excellent last season, that doesn't work with a LT having troubles in pass protection.

I have a couple of issues with judging pass pro as a ratio of pressures to pass snaps.

First, that approach gives equal value to sacks, hits and hurries, when in fact there is a sharply lower value in a hurry vs. a sack, with hits somewhere in the middle.

Second, it does not account for penalties, which have a lower value than sacks, but a higher value than hits on balance. 10 and 15 yard penalties are typically drive killers.

Bakhtiari had 11 penalties of 10 or 15 yards in 2013, 3 of which were declined or offsetting. He had 8 such penalties in 2014, which is an improvement but still a questionable number.

For comparison, here are the 10 and 15 yard penalty counts, including declined and offsetting, from 2014 for the rest of the Packer offensive linemen:

Sitton: 2
Linsley: 3
Lang: 3
Bulaga: 2

If Bakhtiari wasn't quite so grabby, the sack count might be 10 or more, which is quite a lot.

I would not regard Bakhtiari as a top 1/3 pass blocker among starting LTs. Perhaps average or somewhat below, while also not being a particularly strong run blocker as you have observed.

In light of those who came before him (Newhouse, the human turnstile; Sherrod who never learned to finish blocks even when he was able to play), Bakhtiari is a godsend.

I certainly wouldn't call for his replacement, and he's good enough to win a championship given the strengths at the other O-Line positions.

But being thankful for his presence in light of the recent alternatives should not grant him a higher objective value than is warranted.

 

[TJV]

There was a significant improvement in pass protection last season after the bye week as measured by sacks. According to NFL stats, Rodgers was sacked 28 times in the last regular season. 20 of those sacks came in the first 8 games for an average of 2.5/game. In the last 8 games Rodgers was sacked: 0-1-1-3(vs. the Patriots)-1-1-1-0. In the playoffs he was sacked twice vs. Dallas and once at Seattle. Considering his calf injury early in the 15th game against the Bucs and the resulting limited mobility, those end of season sack totals are impressive. Of course sacks are just one aspect of evaluation pass protection but those numbers correlated with the eye test IMO: I could hardly believe how much time he had on some plays after the injury. My impression was Bakhtiari’s pass protection improved right along with the rest of OL after the bye and particularly after Rodgers’ injury. So while I agree we shouldn’t go overboard in praising or evaluating him, if we look at how he was performing toward the end of last season, rather than at the beginning – or even the entire season – his evaluation goes up. And there’s reason to believe a young player like him can sustain and even improve on that performance.

 

[GreenBaySlacker]

the two guys who wil help our o-line look great is adams and janis... they will spread the field, and our rbs will continue to keep them honest. there wont be anyone left to rush because they will have nelson, cobb, lacy to deal with and adams, janis cutting off big chunks.