1) Introduction: J.C. Tretter was expected to be the Packers’ starting center in 2014 following the departure of the former starter, Evan Dietrich-Smith. Tretter missed all of 2013 with a broken bone in his lower leg, so he entered 2014 with a huge unknown cloud over him. A strong preseason led many to believe he was the answer to the revolving door at center.
2) Profile:
J.C. Tretter
- Age: 23
- Born: 2/12/1991 in Akron, New York
- Height: 6’4″
- Weight: 307
- College: Cornell
- Rookie Year: 2013
- NFL Experience: 2 years
3) Expectations coming into the season: Tretter was named the starting center during the 2014 off season basically by default following the loss of former starter Evan Dietrich-Smith via free agency. Expectations were high for him, and he showed during the preseason that he was of starting caliber for an NFL center. However, he broke a bone in his leg for the second straight year, ending his chances of making the final 53-man roster out of training camp once again. He was placed on the designated to return injured list, and he was activated from the list at the beginning of November. During his time on the list, he lost his starting position to rookie Corey Linsley, who never looked back and is a lock to start again in 2015.
4) Player’s highlights/low-lights: After being activated from the injured list, he saw time in mop-up roles at multiple tackle and guard positions. Even though his natural position in college was tackle, his transition to NFL center made him seem out of place while playing NFL guard and tackle. He was soundly beat during the Philadelphia Eagles game and drew a personal foul and heavy fine for a leg whip. He also replaced right tackle Bryan Bulaga in the Buffalo Bills game, due to a concussion, and he yielded the game-ending sack and safety to Mario Williams in one of the worst mismatches of the day.
5) Player’s contribution to the overall team success: 2014 will be the season of what could have been. If not for his injury, he may have been just as successful as Corey Linsley. Unfortunately, we’ll never know. He was counted upon to back up multiple positions along the line, and that’s a difficult task, which showed in his game play, which was sub-par at many times.
6) Player’s contributions in the playoffs: N/A
7) Intangibles: He went to Cornell, so he’s a smart dude.
Season Report Card (Player Grades):
(Inc) Level of expectations met during the season.
(Inc) Contributions to team’s overall success.
(Inc) Contributions to team during the playoffs.
Overall Grade: Inc
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Jay Hodgson is an independent sports blogger writing for AllGreenBayPackers.com and WISports.com.
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I think your decision to give Tretter incomplete grades is fair and reasonable. 58 offensive snaps playing RG and RT, positions he did not get many reps at and did not play in college, are not enough by which to judge him.
I wouldn’t say he showed he was a starting caliber NFL center during the preseason games; I’d say his play suggested it. From his play during the preseason, I thought Bakhtiari had fixed his run blocking woes, but the regular season disabused me of that notion. Looks like Tretter will have to improve his core strength and add 10-15 Lbs. of muscle if he wants to play OG or OT effectively. I hope he can do that. He played TE in his 1st two years at Cornell, so I hope he isn’t carrying as much weight already as he can.
Seems like Tretter would be a better fit backing up the left side (usually needs more athleticism) than the right (usually needs more power.)
He is still about a year behind in development (missing preseason in his rookie year as well as the season), so he should still have some upside.
I still feel like the Packers need to sign Bulaga spend some draft picks on the O-Line. Barclay as the starting RT with Tretter as the only drafted backup doesn’t make me feel comfortable.
I don’t know who JC Tretter and is and quite frankly I don’t think the Packer Organization does either. Tretter at that weight cannot play right tackle. If Tretter can’t play left tackle as he did in college then make him an interior player.
Either way Tretter needs to put on weight and muscle because the Center position is locked for the foreseeable future. Tretter is falling into the tweener with no position category.