If Smith is not ready to go week one, then we will have back up Leonard Wester to hold down the LT position. Of course, that’s going to be something that the Saints defense will look to exploit early and often in the game Sunday.
Wester is not necessarily a veteran that everyone knows about, although he has been in the league for three seasons. Playing in a total of 11 games, 8 of them in 2017, he had come in as an extra blocker numerous times and even caught a TD pass from Winston against the Lions.
So, I have faith in the agility and the strength of Wester. Donovan Smith has been away from practice for several weeks with a nasty knee sprain and it was originally believed that he could miss up to 4 weeks, however, Smith has returned to practice on Monday(9/5/17) although it was a light practice.
Dirk Koetter remains hopeful that their veteran tackle will return to football shape by the time Sunday rolls around. If he is kept out as a precautionary measure, I wouldn’t be surprised, despite the need of all of our guys to be there week one. A win week one makes week two’s chances for a win, a little greater.
Either way, I am fully confident in Wester’s ability to hold down the outside and protect our quarterback, Ryan Fitzpatrick.
