Hey, chalk another first-round bust up for draft genius Ted Thompson! The Green Bay Packers released tackle Derek Sherrod, a 2011 first-round pick, on Monday.
The Packers were able to cut the cord on Sherrod because they brought J.C. Tretter off injured reserve. Tretter is coming back from a leg fracture he suffered during the preseason and had been practicing for the past two weeks.
What’s interesting here is the current state of offensive line depth. Sherrod was the only backup tackle the Packers had on the roster. Tretter was the team’s starting center before he got injured.
Very few teams would go the route of replacing a tackle with a center. However, the Packers obviously think Tretter can play tackle if he must. Or at least that he can play tackle better than Sherrod.
And there’s reason to think they’re right on both counts.
Tretter is only a center because the Packers made him one. He played tackle at Cornell, so he does know how to play the position. He also doesn’t have a lofty standard to live up to. Sherrod played in two games when right tackle Bryan Bulaga was hurt this season and he was, in a word, awful.
If you look at the rest of the backup linemen, you realize just how little the Packers thought of Sherrod. Their other backups are guard Lane Taylor and center Garth Gerhart. Both guys are former undrafted free agents and Gerhart — get this — plays center.
Is there any chance the Packers will need three centers? None whatsoever, but they would rather keep three centers than any Derek Sherrods.
When Sherrod was drafted, we were all pretty happy about it. The Packers had drafted another tackle, Bryan Bulaga, in the first round a year earlier. We all said to ourselves, swell. Now the Packers have their tackles for the next 10 years.
Well, no they did not. Sherrod didn’t get any playing time on offense until late in his rookie year. In December of that campaign, he suffered a broken leg that would require two surgeries and cost him a season and a half. Whatever Sherrod may have been capable of prior to that injury, he was not capable of when he returned.
Of course, assuming that he was capable of anything prior to the injury is a stretch. Sherrod has only one career start to his credit. Here is a guy who will be most noted for not being able to unseat the human turnstile, Marshall Newhouse, for a starting spot.