Its all about the concepts, if Butler were to move from Guard to tackle he would understand who he does not have becuz he had that guy or zone as the guard. And these veterans have been in the system so it is not that difficult. Levitre and Wood will be the ones to worry about understanding the scheme of the offense. But as for switching from LG or RG… not a big deal. And for the switch from guard to center and in Levitre’s case T to G; these are move footwork based due to the fact that guards pull/trap and run block and have zone steps compared to tackles that normally post block on the back side or just go straight up on the DE.

Hope this sheads some light on ur question

I can understand the concern, but these guys are paid professionals. Well, they’re going to be, anyway. Would you invest millions of dollars and spend a high draft pick on someone if you had concerns about mental errors happening in game day situations calling for a guard to move to center? You have to believe OBD has done their due dilligence here.

Besides, isn’t the nature of line play that you know what the guy next to you is supposed to be doing? The C calls the blocks at the line; he knows what all five guys are supposed to be doing. If a player were called on to move to a different position, they’d still know exactly what their assignment was, both because of the line call and the knowledge of what they’d expect someone else to do at that position.

I just find it hard to believe a position switch could be the cause of mental errors at the professional level.

You are absolutely right, it is much better being great at one thing than simply good at many. Like the old saying good at many master at none.. you are right.

Where you are wrong is that they chose Hangartner to play center because that was his position with the Panthers (albeith in a backup role) but more importantly they felt having the veteran of the trio calling the plays would be better than a rooky. They don’t intend on switching them around from what I can see, they firmly intend on having Levitre at LG and Wood at RG unless one of them really does not perform up to the expected results. Once they get acclamated to their new roles they should become quite proficient at them. Getting guys that have played multiple spots provides you long term options like for example Butler, who is like Brian says our best overall lineman (and I agree) who played RT in college and has played RG for us but now we need to switch him to RT and we know we can because he is versatile. Once he is in his new role, he won’t be flip flopping. Really versatility is good in the long term over their career not necessarily in the short term game to game.

Each position on line requires its own set of physical abilities. A center must get the ball back, his hands up and feet set as soon as possible. He needs to get position on the man across from him immediately. If he doesn’t, he’ll cut block or take out the NT at the knees. Tackles need to be quick and have good arm strength to fend off the outside rush. Guards need good leverage to deal with the big guys in the middle, and agility to pull and move off blocks up to the second level (linebackers).

In terms of mental play, from my own personal experience, the best line acts as if it has one brain. I’ve played on lines where the guard and tackle bicker like a married couple. That usually resulted in problems for our backs. Communication and agreement is key. In order to know your own responsibilities and carry them out, you need to know what the man on each side of you plans to do. Like others in this thread have mentioned, its all in the system. Every player, to some extent, knows what everybody else on the line will be trying to accomplish on each play. Throw in line calls and pre-snap communication, and you have a set plan on how to block the current play. It then falls on the defense to blow it all to hell. All players should be able to MENTALLY play each position on the line. In my opinion, if they can also play numerous positions, that’s a huge benefit to the team.

It’s not like it’s in four days of practice. They have all of OTAs, minicamp, training camp, 5 preseason games. They will have plenty of time in their new role to be ready to roll.