Don Barclay is looks like he’s sewn up the Green Bay Packers starting right tackle job.
Barclay has been battling for the job with Marshall Newhouse, who was moved from left tackle, for the past couple weeks. Barclay started in the Packers win over the Rams on Saturday and then alternated series with Newhouse. On Monday, Barclay took all the snaps with the No. 1 offensive line.
Coach Mike McCarthy was sure to point out that no one has won the starting job yet, but that sounds an awful lot like blowing smoke to us.
“No jobs have been won. The offensive line as a whole played better this week. Time will answer that question.
“It’s time for individuals to step up and claim some responsibility and job descriptions. That’s what I’m looking for. You want to see this thing start to define itself.”
Early on in camp, the right tackle job looked like it was Newhouse’s to lose. The Packers were shuffling Barclay around at center and guard and didn’t really give him a chance to compete. Instead, they were looking at rookie David Bakhtiari as a potential solution on the right.
Bryan Bulaga’s season-ending injury changed that. Bakhtiari went to left tackle and the Packers gave Barclay a shot to compete with Newhouse and so far — and probably not surprisingly — he’s outperformed Newhouse.
Although McCarthy says the competition isn’t over, we’re betting it is. The Packers are always preaching about continuity on the offensive line and right about know is when you need to establish that.
So, we’re calling it — Don Barclay, starting right tackle.