It’s a good thing training camp isn’t a week old yet. If it were mid-August, then it would probably be time to panic. Panic about the guy the Green Bay Packers seem content to hand the starting center job, J.C. Tretter.
Tretter has been one of the few offensive linemen of note so far in camp. And you know our policy on offensive linemen — when you hear about them, it’s only because it’s negative.
While they’re essential to the success of the team, we should not be hearing about offensive linemen. They should be pushing, shoving, bleeding, slobbering and whatever else it is that they do in silence, unnoticed.
But J.C. Tretter is getting noticed. He’s getting noticed the same way all offensive linemen get noticed — by getting beat.
What’s even more alarming is that Tretter is getting dominated by fat ass B.J. Raji. Three or four years ago, that wouldn’t be of too much concern. But if you saw Raji and his fat ass play last year, then you know it’s a huge concern.
So now we ask two questions.
The Packers drafted a center this year — Corey Linsley. Considering Tretter missed most of last season because of a broken ankle AND that he’s never played center before, why isn’t Linsley getting a legitimate chance to compete for the starting center job?
Oh, that’s right. Because this is Green Bay. These things are predetermined before camp even opens.
And, did the Packers bone it again when they let Evan Dietrich-Smith leave via free agency?
We say again because the Packers have boned it numerous times with the center position in recent years. First, they let Scott Wells leave as a free agent without having a decent contingency plan. Then they signed Jeff Saturday to replace him. He ended up getting benched.
Then they decided to go with Dietrich-Smith, but they openly admitted that was a boner move when they let him sign with Tampa Bay this offseason for just over $3.5 million annually.
We’ll reserve judgment on Tretter for a bit, but we’ve been down this road before.
It’s not a good sign with the head coach admits you’ve looked like shit though.
“He needs every rep,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “I can’t tell you if there is someone in the locker room that’s prepared himself as much as he has, and he’ll continue to do so. It’s not going to look clean; our team isn’t clean. Let’s be honest with you, we’ve missed blocks, we’ve did some wrong things. That’s why you practice. Our fundamentals are critical, and that goes from the player to the group all the way through. But JC needs this work.”
Hey, at least he’s prepared himself to suck!