O. Lineman Duke Preston Signed

So the Packers have signed 6-foot-5, 326-pound guard/center Duke Preston. He's played in 59 games with 20 starts. News reports say he was shaky vs. guys like Shaun Rogers, Kris Jenkins, and Vince Wilfork. Why else would would the Bills have let him go? But that's the name of the game in today's free agency. Can this guy get better? Is "shaky against elite competition" better than what is on the current roster?

Given the injuries and the shaky performances against non-elite competition of the current O-line, it can't be a bad signing and with Tightwad Ted, we can be pretty sure that the price was right. If there is a fault with Ted Thompson, it's that too many of his draft picks are under-achieving, not failing to sign free agents.

My frustrated blog entry for last year's week 3 game at Dallas focused on the Packers undersized interior O-line getting folded as Rodgers struggled to get the ball out fast enough. In pass protection, they gave ground and fought to keep their guy in front of them. Rodgers threw from an uncomfortably narrow pocket. They gave up five sacks for 40 yards. It was a mugging unworthy of the Lombardi Legacy.

The Packers ground game was no better. Ryan Grant ran 13 times for 54 yards. The tone was set early when he fumbled on the second play. Only Donald Driver showed athleticism competitive with the Cowboys. Maybe Duke Preston can bang some guys around. Let's give him time to learn what he's doing. It would be wise to resign Tauscher to show him what he needs to do.

With Josh Sitton and Preston the Packers have two guards with size. This could take tons of pressure off Scott Wells or compliment Spitz at center if he takes over for Wells at some point. Regardless, some outside experience from a cold climate team could really help the cause.

It will likely take some time for Preston to learn the offense and their ZBS. Who knows who will emerge at RT or the two guard positions? Can Preston, Barbe, or Sitton displace any of the usual suspects like Tony Moll, Spitz at guard? Darryl Colledge seems entrenched at LG. Some times I wonder why, but he does seem to "get" the ZBS better than anyone or at least he gets some chances to make some blocks that key break-a-way runs and he pulls some of them off.

I think the ZBS allows more exposure to injury than Mike Sherman's power-gap scheme. The Packer O-line can no longer be considered young developing players. Neither can Ryan Grant and Brandon Jackson. They have got to do the job this year or it's a coffin nail for the Thompson / McCarthy team. With some healthy veteran bulk added there is a little more hope for improvement.