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Chicago Bears 2012 Offseason Thread (3 Viewers)
- Thread starter benson_will_lead_the_way
- Start date
DoubleG
Footballguy
I think those pining for more O-line help are forgetting a few things.
First off, most of the o-line is still relatively young (i.e. they are not only getting used to playing alongside each other, but simply getting used to playing the position in the NFL) - but have/are showing signs of improvement.
Secondly dropping the Martz offense for Tice's offense cannot be overstated. While on the surface, everyone acknowledges that doing so will help somewhat, I don't think the depth at which it will do so is fully being grasped.
Here's why:
The "Martz offense" is predicated on about 5 things that actually run the risk of making the offene look bad:
1) Deep QB drops - obviously this is tough on o-lineman, as it take the QB longer to get back into his drop and read the play
2) Deep routes (similar to point 1)
3) (and this one goes overlooked) maximum receivers in the route. That is 5 guys out in the pattern - none to stay in and help. The Bears finally adjusted this slightly, later in the year. Only having 3-4 options instead of 5 will do numerous things to help the offensive line. First, it will allow extra blockers and second will allow Jay to make the reads quicker (fewer progressions).
4) No audibles/no roll-outs. Congrats to Martz for taking away one of Cutler's best weapons - his legs. The inability for the QB to audible out of pass play (or a "bad match" pass play) when the defense is clearly showing blitz does one of two things: A) Forces the offense to run a play that is almost certain to fail or B) Waste a timeout.
5) Stubborn "system offense" not taking into account strengths/weaknesses of players implementing the system. The Bears skill position players (specifically at WR) were NOT at all a good match for Martz offense. Outside of Roy Williams who was old, slow and terrible, the rest of the Bears WRs are all mediocre (at best) route runners who were undersized. As such, they often weren't where they were supposed to be, couldn't get open and had a smaller catch radius than was ideal when the ball did arrive.
Scrapping the Martz offense will likely turn what was a decent/mediocre offensive line into a good to very good one.
I would MUCH prefer Phil go out and sign a DE to lineup opposite Peppers then go out and add o-line help - especially given what is out there for o-line help.
First off, most of the o-line is still relatively young (i.e. they are not only getting used to playing alongside each other, but simply getting used to playing the position in the NFL) - but have/are showing signs of improvement.
Secondly dropping the Martz offense for Tice's offense cannot be overstated. While on the surface, everyone acknowledges that doing so will help somewhat, I don't think the depth at which it will do so is fully being grasped.
Here's why:
The "Martz offense" is predicated on about 5 things that actually run the risk of making the offene look bad:
1) Deep QB drops - obviously this is tough on o-lineman, as it take the QB longer to get back into his drop and read the play
2) Deep routes (similar to point 1)
3) (and this one goes overlooked) maximum receivers in the route. That is 5 guys out in the pattern - none to stay in and help. The Bears finally adjusted this slightly, later in the year. Only having 3-4 options instead of 5 will do numerous things to help the offensive line. First, it will allow extra blockers and second will allow Jay to make the reads quicker (fewer progressions).
4) No audibles/no roll-outs. Congrats to Martz for taking away one of Cutler's best weapons - his legs. The inability for the QB to audible out of pass play (or a "bad match" pass play) when the defense is clearly showing blitz does one of two things: A) Forces the offense to run a play that is almost certain to fail or B) Waste a timeout.
5) Stubborn "system offense" not taking into account strengths/weaknesses of players implementing the system. The Bears skill position players (specifically at WR) were NOT at all a good match for Martz offense. Outside of Roy Williams who was old, slow and terrible, the rest of the Bears WRs are all mediocre (at best) route runners who were undersized. As such, they often weren't where they were supposed to be, couldn't get open and had a smaller catch radius than was ideal when the ball did arrive.
Scrapping the Martz offense will likely turn what was a decent/mediocre offensive line into a good to very good one.
I would MUCH prefer Phil go out and sign a DE to lineup opposite Peppers then go out and add o-line help - especially given what is out there for o-line help.
mlball77
Footballguy
Yeah, mediocre would be an improvement for the o-line (I'd gladly take mediocre vs. what we've seen the last couple years). The return of Williams (if he stays at G) and Carimi should really help the line. And no doubt moving away from the Martz system will take some of the burden off of the pass protection. However, adding 1-2 solid lineman through FA and the draft is necessary, imo. It will be interesting to see if any bargains shake out for the Bears in the coming weeks. I know "we like our guys," but I'm still hoping that this is just coach speak and an o-lineman or two are added.
mlball77
Footballguy
Ugh. I don't know what the answer is here. Is Webb out as the LT... are we certain of this? I'm not a fan of his at all, but I was thinking he'd hold the job unless we drafted or signed a LT.Moving Carimi to LT scares me a bit. He showed some promise on the other side, and I'd be hesitant to mess with that. Williams seemed decent at guard, but had a rough go at tackle... so I don't know if we can trust him.I guess, if forced to choose, I'd say give Williams another shot at LT. :nervousgulp:
DoubleG
Footballguy
...and therin lies the other problem. Even if we all agree (which we don't) that the offensive line is awful and needs massive improvements, there simply aren't that many better options available either in FA or in the draft. The last thing I want the Bears to do is draft another decent/mediocre/project OT at 19, only to have yet just another "guy" there. Let's keep in mind that they have spent two early 1st rounders on OT in the last few years (Williams and Carimi). I'd rather they not just do so to say "There, we drafted o-linemen".
RBM
Footballguy
Not easy to find a LT. If we dont grab one of the top say 4 tackles in the draft, we might be better off grabbing a talented kid that can play G or RT and moving one of our first round tackles to the all important left side. It cant be worse than Webb. I am all for bringing in talent.
DoubleG
Footballguy
Chris Williams can be (and is) worse than Webb at LT - we've all seen it already - that's why they moved Webb out there and Williams inside in the first place.
RBM
Footballguy
Williams was not as bad as Webb. Only reason they tried Webb was because he looked competent at RT and they didnt want to disrupt Williams at LG. But now we saw how horrible Webb is on the left, we are desperate.
flapgreen
Footballguy
If you thinking scraping Martz alone will make the offensive line "good to very good" without any changes in personnel, there's no hope for you. You should've gotten in on the Lotto thread in the ffa. You would've had a better chance at winning the Mega Millions than the Bears having a "very good" offensive line. You pay too much attention to Lovie and Tice. They've done absolutely nothing to show there's much of a chance of that ever happening.
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DoubleG
Footballguy
If you thinking scraping Martz alone will make the offensive line "good to very good" without any changes in personnel, there's no hope for you. You should've gotten in on the Lotto thread in the ffa. You would've had a better chance at winning the Mega Millions than the Bears having a "very good" offensive line. You pay too much attention to Lovie and Tice. They've done absolutely nothing to show there's much of a chance of that ever happening.
I think Tice is a better coach than you apparently give him cradit for. Tice said Garza would make a good center - he moved inside and he did a nice job. Tice thought L. Lewis would be a solid RT in Carimi's absence - he was right again. Tice thought Edwin Williams could fill in for Chris at LG well enough - and he did. Is Webb a question mark at LT? You bet. He has had some games where he looked absolutely clueless - and other games where he was solid. It's not Lovie I trust in terms of the offensive line - it's Tice. Is that trust misplaced? You might think so - I think we will know more after Tice gets to work with "normal" offense being called and how his o-line has to do their jobs with 3 step drops and plays where the OC doesn't send everyone except the front 5 out in pass routes.
whitem0nkey
Footballguy
I think Tice does a great job with the players he has, and you saw when he got more control the past 2 seasons our line got better. he now runs the show and does not need to negotiate his way of doing things with martz. I even heard cutler say how this offence if more offensive line friendly.If you thinking scraping Martz alone will make the offensive line "good to very good" without any changes in personnel, there's no hope for you. You should've gotten in on the Lotto thread in the ffa. You would've had a better chance at winning the Mega Millions than the Bears having a "very good" offensive line. You pay too much attention to Lovie and Tice. They've done absolutely nothing to show there's much of a chance of that ever happening.
flapgreen
Footballguy
I've went in circles arguing about the OL since last offseason when I was begging for Gaither and Waters when they were still cheap free agents. Meanwhile, Lovie and Tice were still holding to their "We like our players" line. You see how that ended. Now, they're doing the same nonsense all over again. Yet this time, there's a different reason why the OL will be better with the same players. We fired our offensive coordinator and promoted our OL coach. It's going to take more than that to make the offensive line good. Will it improve the offensive line some? Probably, but better than horrible is still not good. Notice how the top teams are always signing OL, be it starters or backups. You don't see many teams sitting around waiting for their seventh round picks or practice squad players to develop for years while their franchise qb gets killed. Lovie doesn't constantly questioned about the OL for no reason. Enough with hypotheticals when the results aren't there.
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flapgreen
Footballguy
Which is it? The coaches or the players?'whitem0nkey said:I think Tice does a great job with the players he has, and you saw when he got more control the past 2 seasons our line got better. he now runs the show and does not need to negotiate his way of doing things with martz. I even heard cutler say how this offence if more offensive line friendly.'DoubleG said:'flapgreen said:If you thinking scraping Martz alone will make the offensive line "good to very good" without any changes in personnel, there's no hope for you. You should've gotten in on the Lotto thread in the ffa. You would've had a better chance at winning the Mega Millions than the Bears having a "very good" offensive line. You pay too much attention to Lovie and Tice. They've done absolutely nothing to show there's much of a chance of that ever happening.
twistd
Footballguy
I always find it interesting that so many people think Tice did a good job. The last two years the Bears O-line was near the bottom in production. Individual rankings of the Bears offensive linemen, by Pro Football Focus. Players who took any number of snaps. TacklesCarimi ranked 56 out of 140Omiyale ranked at 114J'Marcus Webb ranked at 131Lance Louis ranked at 137So, according to PFF there were only three tackles in the entire league that were worse than Louis. So the two starters that took the most snaps during the season, for the Bears, were amongst the bottom ten out of 140 players who took snaps at tackle. If you look at players who took 50% of the snaps Webb ranks 51 out of 60 and Louis ranks 57 out of 60. That is awful.GuardsEdwin Williams ranked 42 out of 132Omiyale ranked 52 Lance Louis ranked 74Chris Williams ranked 110Chris Spencer at 118So while the tackles are awful, the guards are just really bad. I hear discussion about how the line will benefit from getting Chris Williams back. Williams had 109 players at guard who they evaluated as better than him. CenterGarza was ranked 64 out of 65So only one guy in the entire league was weaker than Garza.So we hear that Tice is such a good coach, but the best ranked player the Bears had on the line was Edwin Williams, a back up, who only managed to rank 42 out of 132. Don't you think that the coach should take some of the responsibility for how awful his unit was? I think some of the comments about the changes away from Martz's minimal protections and seven step drops should help the line, but this is a group of players who aren't very good. Carimi should improve as he learns, but the rest of these players are just not very good, and probably won't get much better. So to imagine that things will be okay with this relatively pitiful group of players is a plan for a disaster IMO. At a minimum the Bears need more bodies and more competition on the offensive line.'DoubleG said:'flapgreen said:If you thinking scraping Martz alone will make the offensive line "good to very good" without any changes in personnel, there's no hope for you. You should've gotten in on the Lotto thread in the ffa. You would've had a better chance at winning the Mega Millions than the Bears having a "very good" offensive line. You pay too much attention to Lovie and Tice. They've done absolutely nothing to show there's much of a chance of that ever happening.
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Have no idea why they keep ignoring the OL. Big fan of everything else they have done, but this OL is real bad.
flapgreen
Footballguy
Remember how Tice set the starters on OL at the beginning of training camp last season? That was brilliant! When you have a great group of Pro-Bowlers on the line together like we do, it's always good to eliminate competition before it ever begins. No need to stir the pot. More of the same this year if they hold true to what they're saying now.If no one is drafted for OL, we start the season with. 2 7th round picks, 1 undrafted free agent, one 33 y/o guard playing out of position at center, a center possibly playing our of position at guard, a first round bust coming off a major injury and playing LG when he was drafted to play LT a few years ago, and basically a rookie RT coming off a serious knee injury. Did I forget anything? :X How that can be seen as anything other than a horrible idea is beyond me. We like our players. :lovie:I always find it interesting that so many people think Tice did a good job. The last two years the Bears O-line was near the bottom in production. Individual rankings of the Bears offensive linemen, by Pro Football Focus. Players who took any number of snaps. TacklesCarimi ranked 56 out of 140Omiyale ranked at 114J'Marcus Webb ranked at 131Lance Louis ranked at 137So, according to PFF there were only three tackles in the entire league that were worse than Louis. So the two starters that took the most snaps during the season, for the Bears, were amongst the bottom ten out of 140 players who took snaps at tackle. If you look at players who took 50% of the snaps Webb ranks 51 out of 60 and Louis ranks 57 out of 60. That is awful.GuardsEdwin Williams ranked 42 out of 132Omiyale ranked 52 Lance Louis ranked 74Chris Williams ranked 110Chris Spencer at 118So while the tackles are awful, the guards are just really bad. I hear discussion about how the line will benefit from getting Chris Williams back. Williams had 109 players at guard who they evaluated as better than him. CenterGarza was ranked 34 out of 35So only one guy in the entire league was weaker than Garza.So we hear that Tice is such a good coach, but the best ranked player the Bears had on the line was Edwin Williams, a back up, who only managed to rank 42 out of 132. Don't you think that the coach should take some of the responsibility for how awful his unit was? I think some of the comments about the changes away from Martz's minimal protections and seven step drops should help the line, but this is a group of players who aren't very good. Carimi should improve as he learns, but the rest of these players are just not very good, and probably won't get much better. So to imagine that things will be okay with this relatively pitiful group of players is a plan for a disaster IMO. At a minimum the Bears need more bodies and more competition on the offensive line.'DoubleG said:'flapgreen said:If you thinking scraping Martz alone will make the offensive line "good to very good" without any changes in personnel, there's no hope for you. You should've gotten in on the Lotto thread in the ffa. You would've had a better chance at winning the Mega Millions than the Bears having a "very good" offensive line. You pay too much attention to Lovie and Tice. They've done absolutely nothing to show there's much of a chance of that ever happening.
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benson_will_lead_the_way
Footballguy
Really? When did he fail miserably and lead the NFL in sacks given up?Williams shut down Jared Allen in his second season.
I think injuries had more to do with it.
benson_will_lead_the_way
Footballguy
I told you I do good things
DoubleG
Footballguy
This thread is like politics.
1) The Bears do/say something.
2) Flapgreen rips them for it/complains about it, with his cup of haterade in hand.
3) Benson_will_lead_way praises them for it, with his rose-colored, Bear-goggles on.
4) Everyone else tries to talk one or both of them into the middle.
5) Rinse, repeat.
1) The Bears do/say something.
2) Flapgreen rips them for it/complains about it, with his cup of haterade in hand.
3) Benson_will_lead_way praises them for it, with his rose-colored, Bear-goggles on.
4) Everyone else tries to talk one or both of them into the middle.
5) Rinse, repeat.
Forrtunately there will be no injuries this season. If the starters dont scare you the depth ought to.Personally ill take talent over scheming and coaching up any day. its good to remember that the bears pass blocking cam improve hugely with the new schemes... and still not be very good. They have been that bad the last two season. Plus the new philosophy is not a total panacea, you spread the offense you lose blockers- how much of what little succes Tice had can he attributed to holding in tight ends to cover up how bad your tackles are? It could be the new schemes expose the oline in different ways- if just getting the ball out in 3 seconds solved all your problems every other team in the league would be well rated at oline,we arent innovating some killer new offense here, just catching up with the rest of the league using inferior talent. Thats not a recipe for success.
benson_will_lead_the_way
Footballguy
I'd rather reserve my judgement than rush to it...you know the rational side...just don't tell Flap that.This thread is like politics.1) The Bears do/say something.2) Flapgreen rips them for it/complains about it, with his cup of haterade in hand.3) Benson_will_lead_way praises them for it, with his rose-colored, Bear-goggles on.4) Everyone else tries to talk one or both of them into the middle.5) Rinse, repeat.
flapgreen
Footballguy
If rushing means making a judgement over a 3 year period, then you're right. Three years of abuse to our franchise qb seems plenty to me. Not many will see this group of players as a talented bunch.I'd rather reserve my judgement than rush to it...you know the rational side...just don't tell Flap that.This thread is like politics.1) The Bears do/say something.2) Flapgreen rips them for it/complains about it, with his cup of haterade in hand.3) Benson_will_lead_way praises them for it, with his rose-colored, Bear-goggles on.4) Everyone else tries to talk one or both of them into the middle.5) Rinse, repeat.
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benson_will_lead_the_way
Footballguy
You've never waited 3 years to make a huge emotional post on here, but nice try.If rushing means making a judgement over a 3 year period, then you're right. Three years of abuse to our franchise qb seems plenty to me. Not many will see this group of players as a talented bunch.I'd rather reserve my judgement than rush to it...you know the rational side...just don't tell Flap that.This thread is like politics.1) The Bears do/say something.2) Flapgreen rips them for it/complains about it, with his cup of haterade in hand.3) Benson_will_lead_way praises them for it, with his rose-colored, Bear-goggles on.4) Everyone else tries to talk one or both of them into the middle.5) Rinse, repeat.
twistd
Footballguy
I think Devin Thomas was primarily picked up to play special teams. He probably will play some wide receiver, but I imagine his role as a special teams player will be much more significant than his role as a wide receiver.
mlball77
Footballguy
I don't see him as being roster worthy in dynasty leagues (or any leagues) at this point, as I think he probably starts fairly low on the WR totem pole in CHI. However, I think he very well could earn a greater role as the season progresses. The Bears don't have a ton of talent at WR, and aside from Marshall, the group is generally small in stature. Thomas has some good size and since Cutler was openly asking for a bigger WR to throw to earlier this offseason, I think Thomas could work himself into a decent role eventually.ETA: If the Bears draft a Rd 1 or 2 WR this year, it will be much more difficult for Thomas to carve out a significant role this year.
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steelcitysledgehammers
Footballguy
Flap,I accept your challenge. I'll cite a reason the Bears offensive line will be better next year. You reply with a reason they won't. Let's see which side can tally up more points.You left one out:
6)DG complains about Flap complaining and gives up trying to convince him of anything.
It is going in circles, though.
Benson.
Reason #1 why the Bears offensive line will be better
Carimi should be available for more than just 3 games this year.
I don't get the argument that the Bears haven't "invested" enough in the OL recently. Our last two 1st round picks that weren't traded for Cutler have been spent on OLineman. That's the definition of investment. I think most Bears fans still hold out a lot of hope for this guy and feel he was a good pick, but we got very little value from him last season due to the injury. This season we'll start to see a return on that investment. I think we'd all agree the RT position should be improved this year over last.
Now convince me the Bears offensive line is going to suck next season.
Go Bears!
J
twistd
Footballguy
Carimi should get better, and he should improve play at one of line positions. And I do believe that many of the reasons that have been cited about the change in the offensive scheme will help. The problem is that everyone else on the line is terrible. According to the ratings I posted from Pro Football Focus, the Bears could have the worst group of offensive linemen in the league. I don't believe Garza couldn't start for any of the other teams in the league at center. I am certain that Lance Louis or J'Marcus Webb couldn't start for any other team. Obviously Carimi will replace one of them. I don't know if Chris Williams, Edwin Williams or Chris Spencer could start for anyone else. You can't expect the line play to improve if the guys you are relying on are so bad they couldn't start for anyone else in the NFL. I would feel much better if the Bears could draft or sign a tackle, and either a center or guard. I would like to see Carimi joined by two other new starters. Then let the remaining linemen battle for the other two spots. Let's hope Carimi can develop in to a stalwart at tackle. It would be nice if they had a stud on the line to build around.Flap,I accept your challenge. I'll cite a reason the Bears offensive line will be better next year. You reply with a reason they won't. Let's see which side can tally up more points.You left one out:
6)DG complains about Flap complaining and gives up trying to convince him of anything.
It is going in circles, though.
Benson.
Reason #1 why the Bears offensive line will be better
Carimi should be available for more than just 3 games this year.
I don't get the argument that the Bears haven't "invested" enough in the OL recently. Our last two 1st round picks that weren't traded for Cutler have been spent on OLineman. That's the definition of investment. I think most Bears fans still hold out a lot of hope for this guy and feel he was a good pick, but we got very little value from him last season due to the injury. This season we'll start to see a return on that investment. I think we'd all agree the RT position should be improved this year over last.
Now convince me the Bears offensive line is going to suck next season.
Go Bears!
J
steelcitysledgehammers
Footballguy
I don't want to spoil all my reasons before Flap gets a chance to argue his case, but if I could offer a suggestion I wouldn't recommend disparaging Garza. The guy was a Pro Bowl alternate last year at Center. He was also ranked as one of the best Guards in the game by some other football site back in 2008 (I point this out only to illustrate how arbitrary rankings are - I didn't think Garza warranted that ranking at the time and I don't think he deserves the derision now). If someone was willing to sign Kreutz last year after the way he played for us the season before someone would definitely pursue Garza after the season he had last year. Garza is not a liability to our offensive line. He's the worst guy to target if you're trying to sell me on the offensive line sucking. He's likely our most reliable asset.I'm not sculpting a bust for the guy, but he earns his money.
Go Bears!
J
twistd
Footballguy
To be truthful, I didn't think that Garza was horrible. I do think that he is a better guard than a center. I was surprised he was rated so poorly. I think he played the best of the linemen last year. And he would probably be the last I would replace, although if they could draft a center I'd prefer to see Garza playing guard. But the biggest problem I see lies at the tackle spot. Carimi can fill one side but I don't see anyone to fill the other side currently on the roster. I don't think moving Chris Williams to tackle will work on either side. I think Webb is a failure. Lance Louis and Omiyale are back ups, nothing more. I'd just love to see a major upgrade at that position.
KCitons
Footballguy
Omiyale was cut by the Bears. (but I believe he is going to be just a backup. In Seattle)
It will be interesting to see what Lovie and Phil do with the OL from here on out. Lovie has to know, this could be his final season as the coach of the Bears based on record. If it's the OL that ultimately costs him his job, it would be fitting. Live by the sword, die by the sword.
It will be interesting to see what Lovie and Phil do with the OL from here on out. Lovie has to know, this could be his final season as the coach of the Bears based on record. If it's the OL that ultimately costs him his job, it would be fitting. Live by the sword, die by the sword.
DoubleG
Footballguy
I agree. But, I do like the signing quite a bit. Thomas, to this point in his career has been a bit of a bust (he was an early 2nd rounder in 2008). He is still only 25, he ran a 4.35 forty at the combine and he his 6' 2" and 220 lbs. While I am not saying he will turn into a good WR, he can certainly contribute.I still find it interesting that the Bears continue to sign WR/special team types. I am not sure what it says about their plans for Hester, but it seems to say something.
RBM
Footballguy
Ive said it a million times in here....Ill say it again Williams needs to go to LT. I would rather see him there with a talented guard than Webb at LT and Williams at guard. Who knows what the plan for the draft is, but I doubt we will taking a LT at 19. After the first round, it will be alot easier to grab a talented guard than a legit LT. This happens to be a draft deep at guard. The way things are shaping up, this looks like the only way to improve the personnel on the line. Have Louis, Spencer and the rookie compete for the two guard slots.
Tried and failed. If nothing else he's been riddled with injuries his whole career- there's a reason he's playing guard, they're trying to keep him on the field.Link
Depth, depth, depth. Let's be realistic, Bears will pick their 5 best guys and figure if they play to the very best of their ability and the scheme works just right they could be ok. That is a recipe for disaster, particularly when the two of those guys (first round picks) have injury histories that go back to college and basically everybody is playing out of position. You can't claim that you can't predict injury when you CAN predict injury. Its an open question if this team has a legit tackle, let alone two. Webb cannot be allowed to play tackle for your football team if you expect to have any success, and as things stand it is very, very predictable that he will be your starter, if not game one than sometime in the season. Aside from Garza and possibly Carimi you have a squad of guys that should BE your depth.
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RBM
Footballguy
Few things about this. First of all that video is absolutely pathetic....but if that is not evidence that he should not be playing inside, going against 320lb d tackles, I dont know what is. His whole deal was supposed to be outside, dealing with speedy d ends. He was drafted knowing he is not a power blocker.And I am not ok with saying we tried with him out there. How many games did he get at LT? I dont have the exact number but just from memory it was not enough for someone picked that high. Not sure what you even mean by the playing guard to keep him on the field thing. The way you said that right after discussing injury history makes me think you are saying he will avoid injury playing guard. Confused.
Statcruncher
Footballguy
It would give me the warm fuzzies if Chicago would spend early in the draft to upgrade their o-line, but I'm willing to trust management on this one. Some progress appeared to be made last year (at least in the sack department) and this year they have the advantages of no lockout, an offensive coordinator who knows the o-line's strengths/weaknesses, an improved offensive attack (Marshall), and Emery who (I'm guessing) is smart enough to identify and eliminate personnel problems.
* The o-line has another year of experience behind them and full schedule of OTA's ahead of them this year, the players can get better
* Tice running the offense will be an advantage, he intimately knows the line and should be able to mask deficiencies and play to strengths with the playcalling
* Implenting Cutler roll-outs is a simple way to keep defensive schemes off-balance
* Adding a lethal target like Marshall completely changes the way defenses can attack the Bears
No, I don't trust Lovie, but with Emery in house I finally have the feeling needs will be identified, ranked, and filled. Maybe this year he is listening to Lovie and Tice and will ignore the o-line because they say it's good enough, resulting in Cutler on IR again and another lost season. If so I wouldn't expect him to ever make that mistake again. Emery hasn't been a Bear for long but IMO he's already make some high quality moves. I'm willing to give him a year or two before I go Flapgreen on him. And for the record I think WR is the route he should go in the first round.
* The o-line has another year of experience behind them and full schedule of OTA's ahead of them this year, the players can get better
* Tice running the offense will be an advantage, he intimately knows the line and should be able to mask deficiencies and play to strengths with the playcalling
* Implenting Cutler roll-outs is a simple way to keep defensive schemes off-balance
* Adding a lethal target like Marshall completely changes the way defenses can attack the Bears
No, I don't trust Lovie, but with Emery in house I finally have the feeling needs will be identified, ranked, and filled. Maybe this year he is listening to Lovie and Tice and will ignore the o-line because they say it's good enough, resulting in Cutler on IR again and another lost season. If so I wouldn't expect him to ever make that mistake again. Emery hasn't been a Bear for long but IMO he's already make some high quality moves. I'm willing to give him a year or two before I go Flapgreen on him. And for the record I think WR is the route he should go in the first round.
mlball77
Footballguy
For any takers:
1. How would you grade the play of the Bears o-line in 2011 (A to F scale)?
2. If the Bears don't sign or draft a big-ticket o-lineman, what is the best the current group can perform in 2012 (A to F scale)?
3. If the Bears don't sign or draft a big-ticket o-lineman, what is the most likely performance level we'll see out of the current group in 2012 (A to F scale)?
1. How would you grade the play of the Bears o-line in 2011 (A to F scale)?
2. If the Bears don't sign or draft a big-ticket o-lineman, what is the best the current group can perform in 2012 (A to F scale)?
3. If the Bears don't sign or draft a big-ticket o-lineman, what is the most likely performance level we'll see out of the current group in 2012 (A to F scale)?
flapgreen
Footballguy
Michael C. Wright @mikecwrightOver the last 2 years, Bears have allowed a sack every 10.5 dropbacks; highest rate in the NFL over that span, acc 2 ESPN Stats & Info.
They're going to be great.
mlball77
Footballguy
RBM
Footballguy
Look at how teams handle their o line business. Eagles lose their all pro LT, so they immediately go sign an adequate replacement. Saints lose their stud guard to FA, they immediately go get the next best FA guard.What a bunch of morons we've got running the show.
