Full disclosure: I never played Offensive Line. I've never Coaches Offensive Line. And thus I lack the background knowledge necessary to honestly and intelligibly evaluate the position.
But Joe Bugel did (play Guard at Western Kentucky), has (Coached for over 30 years, the vast majority of that as Offensive Line Coach with stints in Detroit, Houston and, of course, Washington) and is quite possibly the most knowledgeable offensive line mind in the NFL. He's also responsible for our famous namesake "Hogs".
And per The Times he took a moment out of his day to evaluate the guys vying for our Starting Guard spot. Make sure to check out the entire article as I'm only quoting a few choice cuts:
"Moving Todd to guard is not a panic situation," Bugel said. "He took snaps at both guard positions on the scout team every other day in practice last season. At 6-8, he's going to have work on getting leverage because he's going to be playing guys shorter than him pretty much all the time, guys who weigh 325-plus. We're going to give Todd every opportunity to be the left guard. If Todd feels uncomfortable, he'll go back to tackle and we'll go to Plan B."
Mike Pucillo is Plan B (also a hormonal contraceptive. Inspiring!):
"Mike's a master of a lot of different things," Bugel said. "He can play center, both guards and tight end in our big package. Can he be a starter at guard? Probably. I have confidence in that guy."
I also like Pucillo's versatility, but "probably" isn't the kind of ringing endorsement that makes me jump-rope for Mike as our starting Guard. Bugel also mentions his thoughts on Taylor Whitley, Will Whitticker and Ross Tucker. The biggest bombshell from the article, in my opinion, is this:
With Bugel saying the Redskins won't pursue any of the available starting guards...
That might not be news to anyone but me. However this does mean that Your Washington Redskins' starting Guard in '07 is currently on the roster. I'm fine with that, though I think it deserves discussion. So... discuss.