Quote:You're probably right and that seems like the right thing to do. I would just hope that the team would not keep a fourth OT that is clearly inferior as a player than one of the six interior guys just for the sake of having the correct numbers. If the backup OT's are PS type talents and the interior guys are clearly better then wouldn't you keep the six better interior guys? Sam Young can be the swing tackle on Sundays and if the worse happens (losing two OT's during one game) you bump out Linder or Bow, who to my knowledge both had some experience at OT in college, to finish off the game and sign one of the PS OT's during the week.

Remember how awful Sam Young was at RT last year? I wouldn't want him to be the only backup option. If all of your backup tackles are practice squad-caliber, you need to invest in some new backup tackles.

 

Something else to keep in mind: Linder and Bowanko (and Beadles, for that matter) have experience at tackle in college, but haven't so much as sniffed the position in the pros. If you flip, say, Linder outside to right tackle, you're hurting two positions: right guard, where Linder had been playing at a high level and is now replaced by a lower-tier player, and right tackle, where Linder hasn't taken a live snap since college. Some position flips can work. Parnell has NFL game experience at both tackle spots, and if Joeckel went down, I believe he could slide over to the left side and play at a high level with a backup tackle taking over on the less-important right side, but generally speaking, having your backup plan be a shuffle of the offensive line does more harm than good. Swing guys are great to have, but you generally want those guys to be your backups, not your starters.

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