Spencer Starting, Right Guard Undecided

Mike Holmgren named Chris Spencer as the starting left guard for the game against Dallas. When Robbie Tobeck leaves the game, Spencer will slide to his right and Rob Sims will come in at left guard. This is not much of surprise and is exactly what I said yesterday.

The lack of depth on the interior line is starting to show itself. Holmgren will not want to give too much work to Chris Gray or Tobeck during the preseason to preserve the aging veterans for when the games count. With Womack sidelined, that leaves Chris Spencer and Rob Sims as the two most reliable options on the interior. The right guard spot is open for someone to step in. That is when things get a little complicated. Ashworth is expected to play left tackle because Holmgren will also want to preserve Walter Jones. Ray Willis will come in for Sean Locklear at right tackle.

The team is currently focusing on Saturday. The starters will not play very long, but will look like this:
Jones-Spencer-Tobeck-Gray-Locklear

The second string will play the majority of the game and will look like this:
Ashworth-Sims-Spencer-OPEN-Willis

Holmgren & Co. are still figuring out what to do at right guard, but for the time being, that role will probably be filled by someone that is not likely to make the team. They have experimented with Henry-Sims-Spencer-Ashworth-Willis in practice, but that is probably not a game-scenario line with Ashworth at guard and Henry at tackle. It would make more sense to put them at their natural positions, which would look like this:
Ashworth-Sims-Spencer-Henry-Willis

The team was not using that combination in practice last week, but they did use the same combination with either Pat Ross or Jeff Bolton in place of Henry. It is unclear if either Ross or Bolton (both undrafted rookie free agents) are ready to protect the quarterbacks in preseason action. William Henry is the most likely candidate to get the bulk of the action at right guard in the game against Dallas.