AZ54

I'm on the side of second chances as well. What we don't know is if there are other transgressions Rodriguez has made regarding his behavior on the team, locker room etc. We just don't know what our new coaches and front office think of him at this point and so I think it's a real possibility he gets cut or at least someone else is brought in for a serious competition at that position.

Why is he still out on the market? Has he been recovering from an injury? Or is he just part of the unwanted veteran FA group?

It's clear now that nobody wants Tebow as a QB in this league. The market for competition for backup QBs is always strong, at least strong enough for a player with some capability to be allowed into camp to compete for a job as a backup. Not for Tebow anymore! I'd say the circus that comes to town with him hurst his chances too because between his ego and the media's demand for him to play he won't accept a true backup role. Now if he were to change his mind and decide he prefers to stay in the league even if it means changing to a new position would there be interest? I'm going this way because I've felt that Tebow can be a productive H-back in this league, maybe a true TE albeit one who is less inline blocker. Lots of if's here but I just want to see which way the wind is blowing. IF Tebow were to come out and be willing to play H-back, and if we decide to move on from Rodriguez, would anyone be interested in signing Tebow? I'm interested myself however I find it difficult to commit to the guy so IMO we'd have to sign two players and let them compete. Tebow and the rest of the world would have to know he's fighting for a job so the media and his circus would tone down the hype. No guarantees for him. I can't see that he'd accept that right now.

I could be wrong but I believe one of them has a job in the NFL. Now I'm going over to the Rodriguez thread and request thoughts on signing Tebow as our new H-back.

Realizing the error of his ways, but it could be too late. http://espn.go.com/chicago/nfl/story/_/id/...izes-dui-arrest

Technically they got schooled by trading back too far to get the talent they wanted and ended up reaching for the last guy (talking Oline here) left on their board with a 2nd Rd grade. Classic Jerry Angelo move. This board makes no sense if, as stated, they only included players they were interested in, then why were there 3 QBs listed in Rd 2? Were they really going to take a QB in Rd 2 after paying Romo all that cash?

We have seen ERod in the position he was drafted for. He was a TE in college and was drafted by the Bears to play H-back, which he did. At the moment it appears he going to continue to play that role. I'm not against giving ERod a shot at the TE position because I agree he could give the added versatility we need. I doubt he'll be worse as an inline blocker than Onobun. Regarding Onobun...I think everyone is on board with hoping he can fill a role this year but many of us (including me) need to see it in a real game, or at least let's see what he does in the preseason. For now he'll continue to be the next Frank Murphy for me. It's nice to hear we have a young player with some potential. His reality, on his 5th NFL roster in 3 years, is that he is equally close to being out of the league in Sep and he is making the roster. This is not the kind of football resume that gets me too excited.

I've seen all the quotes from Steve Young, Gannon, and others about how great a role Trestman played in their development. Those were all good to hear in terms of QB development. But this quote from Jim Harbaugh really gives me a good feeling we have the right coach. http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/bears/post...t-me-everything ----------------------------------------- San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh said Friday that new Chicago Bears coach Marc Trestman "taught me everything" when they were on the Oakland Raiders coaching staff, and he still uses many of Trestman's techniques. "Everything wouldn't be an overstatement," Harbaugh said Friday on "The Waddle & Silvy Show" on ESPN Chicago 1000. "We use his system still of calling plays and the way he taught us those concepts and techniques. I've used (those) since I coached with the Raiders, the University of San Diego, Stanford and the 49ers. ----------------------------------------- Those who've been here on the board for years might recall that I was very high on Jim Harbaugh early in his career at Stanford. I actually wanted him as our next coach when Lovie was fired (we waited too long). I saw a coach who managed to take a bad team with less talent and athletic ability and get them competitive in the Pac 12 very quickly. From there it just got better. Looking at how much success he has had turning around the 49ers and keeping them at the top last year just backs it up. To hear Harbaugh give that much credit on his coaching ability to Trestman, and that to this day most of what he does is based off what learned from him gives me reason to be very optimistic that our offense will finally turn the corner. As far as the defense, I like what I hear from Mel Tucker so far, but I think we'll always need a defensive guru as our DC. Hopefully Trestman got this hire right the first time. How many OCs did Lovie hire/fire?.

Jason, did you read any of the blog posts on Bentley's site? I read some of his posts and his thoughts on blocking techniques, effective weight lifting for oline, etc. and found it interesting considering Carimi's biggest weakness was that he couldn't hold his ground against the bull rush. While I have no idea if Bentley's coaching/training works he is right on topic for what Carimi needs IMO.

At this point the guy is just trying to make the roster let alone deserving of the #2 TE role. It's May and nobody is getting hit so I'll take this as a positive note that we have some good raw talent that might be worth keeping around. This puts a lot of pressure on Kyle Adams IMO. Now from a front office perspective I'd say the team did well finding this prospect when others (myself included) were thinking it would be worthwhile to sign Jared Cook as a FA for millions/yr. Cook can run and catch but he can't block. That's exactly what Fendi can do, or at least he can do it without the pads on, and if he makes the roster he'll be doing it for a lot less money. At the end we have Bennett and Onobun for less than Cook. Looking forward to seeing him in preseason games.

He'll be back but he won't be lifting weights between now and then. At least not for the next month. That's going to hurt his ability to keep his weight up, and strength. He bulked up for the combine but never played that heavy. That's not how he wants to enter what figures to be the longest football season he's ever endured.

I looked up Bentley's website and read some of his blog posts. Here's the link in case anyone else is interested (or bored). Some of his comments are a bit odd but he does share thoughts on o-line technique. http://www.o-lineworld.com/profiles/blog/list

I didn't read it that way although for sure Bentley has an investment in seeing Carimi succeed. I didn't see any quote on Carimi saying he wanted to be a starter but I agree that should be his goal. Bentley stated clearly that Carimi must return to the Bears as a better player than he's ever been and it's all on him to put the work in to get there. He also said Carimi may not be with the Bears this season. Carimi recognized that himself and he's working to improve. I would prefer it be at the OTAs but it seems he knew he needed some different training to get his technique in order. I have said I think the organization is moving away from Carimi and I still believe that is true. I have also said I'd love to see Carimi earn a starting role. I still feel that way too because if he does come back and do that then our Oline just got better.

He focused on him too much. I still remember him throwing over a wide-open at the 10 yard line to force a pass to Marshall who was in triple coverage. Would Rodriguez have scored? No, but he could have had the first down.

Next I'd like to see Melton sign a long term deal. I wouldn't mind adding a DT to the mix but we'll have to see what is available in a couple weeks.

Again, and you said this in one of your other posts, have they even seen a healthy Carimi practice? According to Carimi the answer is no.

I want ot add that it is not my preference that Carimi gets cut or traded. I said a few weeks ago that I hoped he earned a starting role. I'm just trying to read the tea leaves from all the quotes and facts about what happens in practice, who or what position we drafted, etc. I had one more point that helped me come to my conclusion that the team is done with Carimi... -------------------- I can't find the quote right now but recently Kromer (I'm pretty sure it was him) said that he really liked Slauson because he was strong and had the ability to quickly anchor and set the pocket. He continued with how important that was in pass protection especially up the middle. --------------------- Consider that with what Carimi struggle with the most last year as player after player walked him backwards into Cutler. Further it seems that Job #1 with this offense is the short passing game. Which means the above is what coaches want first out of their Oline. I did find an interview of Kromer's after rookie mini-camp where he stated that he couldn't care less if a guy was drafted in Rd 1, round 7, was an undrafted FA, or had been cut by 8 teams, he just wanted the best combination of 5 linemen to start. He is not bothered at all if we cut a former 1st Rd pick. That comment also was different as most coaches say they want the best 5 players out there. He wanted the best combination of players who could work together to consistently block from the inside out. He also (like any coach) wants versatility in players in case of injuries. Again, if they don't see Carimi as OG/backup OT as I expected he could be then I'd say a guy like Mills who they've already stated can play both OG/OT has the upper hand in getting a roster spot.

We have to give some credit to Emery (and in the past JA) because we don't get these deals done by being cheap. Cliff does a great job of assessing the market and we pay a little above average. I know the slots are all bracketed but there is still some wiggle room and there are quite a few teams the try to squeeze all they can out of that.

After thinking about this some more I'm in agreement...he's gone. The real clue for me is the recent talk of the coaches about how high they are on Mills and (more key) that he can also play OG. I think the club is looking at (look the other way Jason): OTs as Webb, Scott, Bushrod...with Webb or Scott being the backup OT. OGs as Slauson, Long, Mills. Garza is our C and EWilliams backs him up that's the 8 in the box. Competing for backup roles at OG (with some flexibility to play OT) are Brown, Carimi. Toss in Lonergan the UDFA who I believe will give EWilliams serious competition for the backup OC role. Toss in the fact that Kyle Long is being put at RG and Slauson is clearly LG. Carimi flipped back and forth in practices before the draft but look who he rotated with .... http://www.chicagobears.com/news/chalk-tal...d5-70b4159de8fa "Gabe Carimi has been working with the second team at both guard positions, flip-flopping with Derek Dennis" "The No. 1 offensive line Tuesday was comprised of Slauson and James Brown flip-flopping between the two guard positions" The writing was on the wall before the draft. Now add Kyle Long and Mills to that OG mix and you see where Carimi is in the eyes of this coaching staff. If all Carimi is going to be is a bottom of the depth chart Oline player then I'd say we should go after a trade. That assumes we like the long term upside of Jordan Mills more than Carimi, which appears to be the case after Emery's comments http://www.chicagobears.com/news/article-1...07-a034439135c2 "...and Jordan Mills from Louisiana Tech who we like a bunch both as a guard and a tackle." Thus Mill's make the roster because I don't think he would make it to the practice squad before getting picked up by another team. Carimi's best decision is to not risk any injury in practice at all to maximize his trade value and Emery's best decision is to talk him up.

Yes, your statement is correct with respect to Carimi's perspective. But when you consider the team's perspective there is no way this is the ideal situation for Carimi. If his knee were 100% he'd be at camp learning the new offense because that would be what is best for him when he knows he has to compete to earn a roster spot. If what is best for him at this point in the offseason is to rehab the knee then that is not a good sign, but you are correct it may well be what is best for him personally because in his perspective his career is longer than just this upcoming season. Right now with the Bears his career might be no longer than 3 months even if he were at minicamp.

The stat you want to see is average time to QB pressure. The new coaches are focused on making sure we don't give up early pressure on the QB. That should help him get set, read the defense, and find the target.

Or to nobody being able to catch a pass. Cutler does hold onto the ball too long at times but he also had to take his eyes off the WR too early due to pass rush. We can't know now (without watching all the game tape) if he'd have thrown the ball at the 2sec point but had to pull it down and move around the pocket and then pick a secondary target or force it to Marshall as he did far too often. Again, lots of factors and simplifying down to just one or two data points won't tell the whole story.

I would say that is a possibility however, if you are the Bears and are trying to trade why publicize that he is still rehabbing a knee injury from two seasons ago? That makes no sense so I think the whole rehab story is legit and I think Carimi does feel his best chance to get the knee right is here in Arizona (for whatever reason). In other words at this point Carimi is more concerned with the health of his knee than he is with learning the Bears new offense likely because he feels his future is going to be with another team. Not sure if the team feels that way as well but they certainly went out of their way to put new talent at every position on the line except OC.

At the moment he has not been handed a starting job and I like that as I prefer all rookies earn it including Kyle Long. Quotes from the last couple days indicate Bostic is going to compete for a starting job but there's no reason he can't start learning some special teams as well. Charles Tillman plays a lot of special teams for us. Julius Peppers plays a little bit too. I'm certain if Bostic earns a starting role his special teams duties will get reduced.

Carimi deciding to stay in Arizona (a nice play to stay IMO) and keep rehabbing his knee is a bad sign that the knee is not ever going to be right. This guy has been working on his knee since the end of the season so it seems there is more to this injury than we ever expected. I know we have new coaches and they aren't always wed to the former players but now that we can view the majority of the offseason as a whole it's obvious they moved away from Carimi very quickly. I'd say they were willing to give him a chance that the knee would be ok they most certainly weren't going to rely on that hope. Labeling him as the next Marc Columbo may well be appropriate now.