jason

I also wish they'd just throw Enderle to the wolves and see what he has. Putting in a stop-gap only makes sense if the gap gets stopped and there isn't enough water pouring through to make it worthwhile. Unfortunately for the Bears, the water is gushing through, there is no chance to stop the leak, and McCown won't lead the team to a miraculous wildcard.

I got to thinking about the draft today, and what the team needs. I figured, the starters have to be determined, don't they? Obvious starters at their current positions are Cutler and Forte. After that, is there one?! The mere fact the question is feasible is serious cause for concern. FWIW, this is how I hope it plays out: LT - Gabe Carimi (comes back from injury and proves he is a stud) LG - Carl Nicks (a massive FA addition for the Bears) C - Roberto Garza (has to do it for one more year) RG - Lance Louis (gets rewarded for effort, moved back to where he is better suited and showed more promise) RT - Chris Williams (finally stays healthy - remember that he was doing well before having to cover for Pace's ass on the left side) WR1 - Vincent Jackson (JA is allegedly going to spend, right?) WR2 - 2nd round draft choice (plenty available - whoever is most ready) WR3 - Bennett (surest hands on the team) WR4 - Knox (assuming he recovers) TE - Davis (could have a breakout year with this supporting cast) FB - Clutts (I like the kid) Backup QB - Kyle Orton (seriously) Backup RB - Barber (just for the short distances and GL carries) That offense leads the Bears to the Super Bowl. Period. The OL would give Jay a ton of time to throw, open holes for Forte (particularly on the left), and the WR combo would be very good.

If that's the case, then I hope it's Tyson Clabo at RT and/or Nicks at LG.

But we had one serious injury when it most mattered. Either way it ends the season.

RD1 - That would pose a great dilemma, but the Bears staff would probably get Coples. Which would piss off 99% of the fans. RD2 - Yuck. Let's hope it plays out better than that. RD3a - Zeitler RD3b - McNutt

Yes, I think that's an even bigger reason to go OL earlier. Hell, guys like McNutt and Toon will be there in the 2nd round. That WR talent is better than the 2nd round OL talent that will be available. But I could understand if Floyd or Jeffery is there (Blackmon will not be) and the Bears wanted to jump on it.

100% Disagree. Just look at the one play Hanie had loads of time this past week: Intermediate TD to Bell. Even a subpar, potentially shouldn't be in the NFL QB like Hanie can throw a TD in the NFL if you give him enough time. And that was to a backup RB improvising. Give someone like Cutler that time and he's be surgical. My preference, in order, for the first three rounds: OT, WR, OG, FS.

Yet somehow many other teams are turning nobodies and lesser knowns into viable offensive weapons. Why is that? Some of the time it's because the QB is just ridiculous. Some of the times it's because the surrounding talent is too deep to fail. And some of the times, it's just a matter of giving a decent QB all day to throw behind a stud OL. Regardless of FA, I think the Bears absolutely have to go LT/WR or WR/LT in the first two rounds. Depending on how the draft goes, I could see Floyd available when the Bears pick...and maybe Jeffery. No way Blackmon is there. On the other hand, I could also see Riley Reiff (OT, Iowa) slipping to the Bears. If it's between Reiff or Floyd/Jeffery, I wouldn't be really upset either way, but it would make more sense to go LT/WR than WR/LT because there just isn't a lot of 2nd round LT talent available. My ideal draft goes: 1 - Riley Reiff, LT, Iowa 2 - Nick Toon, WR, Wisconsin - or - Marvin McNutt, WR, Iowa 3a - BPA FS 3b - Kevin Zeitler, G, Wisconsin - or - Senio Kelemete, G, Washington

WTF - Why do the football gods hate the Bears so much? Other teams have injuries as well, but I'm sick of seeing the people who do well have injuries. Notice that none of the really bad players seem to be injured. I would gladly put Omiyale on IR in place of anyone else.

That sounds a lot like a JA problem and not a "drafting OL"-problem. Nonetheless, I hope even a blind squirrel finds a nut this year, and the when the others come back healthy it's a potential juggernaut OL.

Agreed. I've already started looking at mock drafts. There appears to be a ton of options for the Bears at OG, OT, and WR. It's just too bad there aren't a ton of FS standouts.

If Hanie takes a three step drop and there is pressure in his face, it's not difficult to objectively evaluate the OL. No matter who is back there it's not difficult to objectively evaluate the OL. It's two very simple questions to start things off: Did the OL open holes for the running game? Did the OL protect the QB to the extent of his drop for that play? The former is much easier to judge, but the latter is not impossible. Arguing whether the play should have been called is something entirely different. Did the OL, or did they not, give the QB enough time to drop back, set his back foot, make a quick read, and throw the ball? And, BTW, the OL definitely had many other moments in which they sucked...it wasn't just the end. To truly recognize and evaluate this you'd have to actually chart plays.

The play-by-play breakdown says otherwise. The reason I did this was so I could avoid the post-game analysis and overall perception problem we all suffer from as fans. We think, "Hell, Hanie didn't get hit in the first half!" and chalk that up as a good half. The problem is, that's horribly incomplete and doesn't tell the entire story. It's entirely possible that on each and every play - not saying that's true this game - one of the members of the OL got blown up. For instance, imagine Webb gets destroyed on a play (not difficult to imagine) but there is a RB screen his way. The play could be a huge success, but that doesn't mean Webb did well, and by extension that makes the overall OL performance grade out poorly. What's more, it could be simply the reality of what happened in this game: The OL did much better pass blocking in the first half, but sucked at run blocking; yet, in the second half they sort of reversed roles. What stands out, however, is the pass blocking...which is where a lot of the false impressions originate. Like I said in the original thread, I would love for someone else to do this and see what they come up with. I'd be willing to compare notes on a play by play basis. I think the end result will be surprising. I couldn't believe how many times I wrote, "Defensive player in the backfield;" it happened so often I started abbreviating it as DPIB. And this happened on more than one positive play (i.e. quick pass or RB juke in the backfield). Until real analysis is attempted, all we have is hindsight and very poor, in terms of play-by-play analysis, memory.

So, if the Bears are well under the salary cap this year, why wouldn't/couldn't they just do the following: -Sign Forte, and make a large chunk of the contract go towards this year's cap -Have multiple years of a cheaper Forte Seems like this, if permissable, would kill two birds with one stone.

I say you cut him before he's officially a FA, just to send a message to the rest of the league about how bad he sucks.

Heh, heh, heh...welcome aboard!

Revisiting this idea, I would love a draft that was entirely OL, WR, and FS. I think the other positions are much more solid. Well, it would be nice to attempt to get a competent backup QB as well. I know it will never happen, but I think it would actually be a good idea. Get 2 or 3 OLinemen who have talent and potential, get one explosive WR, and get one FS who understands how to read, react, and take appropriate angles towards the ball.

Agreed. FU Green Bay.

I immediately scrolled to your OL ranking because of my play-by-play analysis in another thread (check it out!). Pleasantly surprised to see a D. Although, I could see someone argue for a C-. Good job Noots.

Because of a previous discussion on this board, I thought about analyzing only the OL during an entire game. It took a second to train my eyes to only watch the OL, and even then it was difficult a few times, but the focus was there 99.9% of the time. I realize everything is subjective in this regard (i.e. scheme, blitzes, pickup responsibilities, etc.) but I tried to focus on what the jobs of the OLinemen were. For instance, in the 17th offensive play in the first half Bell had a great rush pickup; the fact that the defensive player got in without being sniffed is a negative on the OL. I realize this is not always accurate because in some alignments the OL is not responsible for the blitz pickup, but whenever possible I tried to determine that based upon OLinemen who double-teamed a DT instead of getting the free rusher or OLinemen who simply had nobody to block. Furthermore, for passing downs I determined that the number of steps the QB dropped determined the OL grade, and if the QB planted his foot for that specific down and there was pressure, it was judged negatively. I realize this could be in the "Bears shouldn't be calling 7-step drop plays"-territory, but we can only assume the OL knows the drop and should act/protect accordingly. The measurements: Run/Direction, Pass/#-step Drop. Overall OL performance was judged, not individual players. So if 4 guys kick ass on one play, and Webb gets bulldozed, then that's a negative OL grade. From there it was either a Good play, OK play, Bad play, or NA. Since only three measurements were available, 3 was given to each Good, 2 for OK, 1 for Bad. That means 2 would roughly be an average performance. 1st HALF: OVERALL: Bad 18, OK 4, Good 13, NA 2 for a total score of 1.86. RUNS: Bad 12, OK 2, Good 4 for a total score of 1.47. PASSES: Bad 6, OK 2, Good 9, NA 2 for a total score of 2.31. 2nd HALF: OVERALL: Bad 11, OK 10, Good 5 for a total score of 1.77. RUNS: Bad 2, OK 5, Good 2 for a total score of 2.00. PASSES: Bad 9, OK 5, Good 3 for a total score of 1.75. TOTAL GAME: OVERALL: Bad 29, OK 14, Good 18, NA 2 for a total score of 1.76. RUNS: Bad 14, OK 7, Good 6 for a total score of 1.64. PASSES: Bad 15, OK 7, Good 12, NA 2 for a total score of 1.94. ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION 1 - The OL performed better on passing downs than running downs. This was a slight surprise. 2 - Hanie had several inconsistent drops that indicate a lack of cohesion with the WRs as well as a possible misunderstanding of the offense. This could be causing some of the problems. 3 - The OL performed significantly worse on five-step drops (10 Bad/3 OK/7 Good; 1.85), than they did on seven-step drops (1/0/5; 2.67). This was a major surprise. 4 - Apparently the Bears just suck at running right, or at the very least someone almost always screws up when the run to the right is called. Run Middle (2/1/2; 2.00), Run Right (8/1/1; 1.30), Run Left (4/5/3; 1.92) I welcome anyone else to try this and objectively judge the plays/players. I was surprised they did as well as they did, even though it was pretty clear they were below average overall, run blocking, and pass blocking. It would be just a little more tolerable, however, if there were a lot more OK plays, instead of the Hot/Cold nature of their performance.

This announcer is a complete moron. That INT had nothing to do with Roy Williams, as much as I dislike him, stumbling. It looked like he stumbled because he was shocked at how poorly (high and behind) the pass was thrown. Hanie sucks. It's McCown time. EDIT: It's apparent, within two passes, that McCown makes bad decisions, but has a better arm than Hanie.

You ever notice how the announcers never talk about the great halftime adjustments made by the Bears coaching staff?

Three straight jail-break pass rush situations for the Seahawks. There's the OL I have been talking about! And the announcer is a dumb ass. "Slow developing play"? It was a 3/4 step drop, he patted the ball once, and there was a defender grabbing him. I'm sorry, if the QB doesn't have time to plan a back foot and at least take a peak at the second read, then it's bad OL play.

Awesome Briggs play there...way to get caught inside on what was clearly the LB responsibility. Easy TD for the Seahawks on play-action pass.

Comedy of errors again. Nobody on the OL or TE blocks and there is a defender in the backfield, Hanie turns to see that guy in his face, and Hanie makes the absolute worst possible decision he could have made.