Starting center Jeff Saturday is one of the oldest players in the NFL
There’s a reason former Packer and current Ram Scott Wells will be paid nearly twice as much as Jeff Saturday this season – he’s a better player. But after carefully watching all of Saturday’s snaps from last Thursday’s game against the Chargers, I came away feeling pretty good about Green Bay’s new old center.
In 15 snaps, Saturday held his own against some quality defensive linemen. And truth be told, that’s really all the Packers are expecting. The player who was named a second-team All-Pro in ’09 is but a memory.
That Saturday still had the athleticism and strength to physically get the better of his opponents. This Saturday relies on 14 years worth of experience to get the job done. And for one quarter of one game, he did just that.
Can Saturday continue to get the job done for the next six months? That’s the question. Few centers have ever started in the NFL at age 37. Plus, Green Bay runs more plays on offense than most teams, so he’s going to be on the field a lot more than he was a year ago when the Colts were often three and out.
Of course, the irony of worrying about Saturday’s ability to physically hold up with the Packers is that Wells hasn’t practiced all summer with St. Louis because of a lingering knee problem. That’s one of the reasons GM Ted Thompson passed on re-signing the Pro Bowler. There were 24 million other reasons as well.
There is no doubt in mind that the Packer OLinemen will benefit in terms of career development by playing alongside Jeff Saturday for a year. Lang himself, may get some insights on playing the position. The idea of a Sherrod-Newhouse-Lang-Sitton-Bulaga front wall post-Saturday is rather exciting. Saturday could be the transition player to get Sherrod healthy and up to speed so that these changes can be made.
I was not aware Wells had a chronic knee problem. That makes TT’s decision much more obvious. It’s one think to pay big bucks for an aging vet, it’s quite another to do so knowing he has a chronic physical limitation that may only get worse.
OK, Saturday is in the fold, Newhouse is back from his concussion and Lang is signed to a 4 year extension. What’s left is for Sherrod to get the nod to start practicing. Follow that up with enough development by Datko to make the 53. That would make for a great off-season/pre-season start for the OLine. If you can invest all those years in Barbre and Giacomo, surely Datko is worth a year. I recently reviewed the tape of the SD game and I thought the back-up OL actually did a pretty good job. Again, better than Barbre and Giacomo ever did. So, I’m feeling good about the OLine. The big question, as always, is whether the Pack can mount enough of a run threat to keep defenses honest and to play keep away in the 4 minute drill. Tyler was a battering ram last week. This week I guess we see Tyler again along with Cooper and Green. Next week it will be Cedric. Maybe Starkes will be playing for his roster spot in ps game #4. I like Starkes but I have to admit, he lacks consistency, is injury prone and it drives me crazy to see him stay tall into the hit and driven back 10 yards while the opponent gets several chances to strip him of the ball. To me, Starkes is a poor man’s Adrian Peterson. Among the differences between the two is that AP doesn’t get driven back like JS and he is not as prone to all the nicks.
Some nice analysis, Archie. By the way, thanks for taking the time to comment. I think the comments on this blog are second to none. I hope more people get involved in the future.
As I recall, when Starks had his post-season breakout to the SB he would always fall forward for an extra 1 or 2 yards. I haven’t seen that consistent extra yardage for a long while. It’s not that there were holes then and not since. He was dragging guys with him. How to account for that?
Starks was activated just before the playoffs in 2010, so he had fresh legs. There was also no film on him. I think those two things were a factor in his success. I think he’s a pretty good running back, but maybe what he did in the run to the Super Bowl set expectations a little too high.