McCarthy Gives Hints at Packers Offensive Line
Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy is currently hanging out at the coaches’ meeting, and those are great times to see if reporters can get answers about the upcoming season, or what a team might do in the draft. With Green Bay’s offensive line in flux, no one is certain how it’s going to look during preseason or the first game of the 2017 NFL season. That said, McCarthy gave a few clues on Tuesday.
#Packers coach Mike McCarthy doesn't want to move Bryan Bulaga to guard. Also called Jason Spriggs a tackle. Sounds like drafting RG likely.
— Ryan Wood (@ByRyanWood) March 28, 2017
First, I didn’t realize there were rumblings of Bryan Bulaga moving from right tackle to right guard. If last season wasn’t a complete turnaround, I might have that conversation given how many he got beat off the edge in 2015 season. Jason Spriggs is an interesting one because they basically took a second round pick on a tackle whose role is to come in when needed and that’s it. I do wonder if the competitive instinct gets to him, and he starts pushing for a chance to be inside. The drafting part makes sense. Forrest Lamp of Western Kentucky could be there in Round 1, but there might be too many athletes not to look there first.
Besides drafting a guard, Kyle Murphy, a six-round draft pick, will compete for the right guard position over the offseason and the preseason. I wouldn’t be surprised if Murphy is the starter for the first couple games of August then it slowly makes a shift elsewhere. Murphy is a good size kid at 6’6 304 lbs. We’ll see how he progresses through the summer.
Green Bay is in an interesting spot come draft time. It feels like they can go three routes – Defensive line (Front Seven), running back or interior lineman. Knowing Ted, he’ll draft none of those three options.
Charlie.