The sky isn't falling

[CrackerDog]

Dudes, I see a hell of a lot of "cut this guy" and "trade Forte" stuff here. And that's fine. There's always room for various opinions and cleaning house is always an option. Moving older players along is something this organization needs to learn to do so I get it.

 

But let's not get our panties in too big a ruffle here.

 

Most of us believed, going into this season, the Bears were on the right track and with a few key acquisitions to shore up the defense, they'd be a playoff team. What a difference a season makes, to be sure, but this team still has an awful lot of talent on offense. There are clearly some key needs to fill everywhere on this team but we're going to find out, I suspect, just how terrible this coaching staff was. I've got to believe better schemes, particularly from whoever replaces Tucker, will improve things significantly.

 

So, sure, there's a lot to be worried about. We still have a McCaskey involved in picking the new leadership of this team. And we've got enough history with that family to be concerned. But you've got to admit it does seem as if it's being handled more professionally this time around. For example, they aren't letting an accountant make all the football decisions! So, let's give this a little time to play out before we cut Marshall and Cutler, trade Forte, tear down the columns at Soldier Field, etc.

 

Peace.

[DABEARSDABOMB]

We need our offensive line fixed and a lot of help on the defensive side of the ball. I'd also go as far as saying if a QB slides to our 2nd round pick (or to be frank if one of the top 2 guys is there at 7 and we like him), we have to think very hard about taking them given the current situation. I don't envision us picking this high again next year. Do I envision the playoffs, way too early to say that, but I certainly am not going to peg us to win 5 games again and be picking at 7. I think we are better than that. I won't be picking us for a superbowl either though.

[jason]

We need our offensive line fixed and a lot of help on the defensive side of the ball. I'd also go as far as saying if a QB slides to our 2nd round pick (or to be frank if one of the top 2 guys is there at 7 and we like him), we have to think very hard about taking them given the current situation. I don't envision us picking this high again next year. Do I envision the playoffs, way too early to say that, but I certainly am not going to peg us to win 5 games again and be picking at 7. I think we are better than that. I won't be picking us for a superbowl either though.

 

My signature line remains true, even now. The Bears will never move to a really good offense until the OL problems are shored up long-term.

 

Cutler will always get fidgety, show poor mechanics, ignore his progressions, and throw off his back foot when he's worried about getting demolished. And without the QB, the rest doesn't work as well in the passing game. The long-developing routes don't even need to get called, because there isn't time. So you are stuck with dink-and-dunk, maybe some slants and quick-throw fades. The same OL issues affect the running game.

[DABEARSDABOMB]

My signature line remains true, even now. The Bears will never move to a really good offense until the OL problems are shored up long-term.

 

Cutler will always get fidgety, show poor mechanics, ignore his progressions, and throw off his back foot when he's worried about getting demolished. And without the QB, the rest doesn't work as well in the passing game. The long-developing routes don't even need to get called, because there isn't time. So you are stuck with dink-and-dunk, maybe some slants and quick-throw fades. The same OL issues affect the running game.

Thankfully I don't think we are as far off from fixing the line as we were in previous years, but I don't believe you can consistently win without strong lines. And regardless of who are QB is and what direction we are headed, we need a strong line so the way I see it, if that is what grades out the highest at 7, that is who we should take. You add an LT who turns into an above average player (hopefully he is better than that but at least above average) and than put that with Kyle Long and move Bushrod to the other side and you than have 3 guys who should grade out above average at their respective position, with Long hopefully down the path of being elite (i.e, one of the 2 or 3 best at his position). If you surround those guys with average players, the overall line is above average. I think what you need are some anchors on the line and if you have that, largely speaking, the rest of your line will be good.

 

Than you see if Mills can work out on the inside and coach him, Garza kind of works (although it would be nice to find a new center in the latter rounds) and even Ola at times showed some potential but hard to really stand out when you were constantly switching positions, etc, and working with different pieces. I think if we can hit on a LT, it would work wonders for the long-term and really give us two long-term anchors on our oline.

[jason]

Thankfully I don't think we are as far off from fixing the line as we were in previous years, but I don't believe you can consistently win without strong lines. And regardless of who are QB is and what direction we are headed, we need a strong line so the way I see it, if that is what grades out the highest at 7, that is who we should take. You add an LT who turns into an above average player (hopefully he is better than that but at least above average) and than put that with Kyle Long and move Bushrod to the other side and you than have 3 guys who should grade out above average at their respective position, with Long hopefully down the path of being elite (i.e, one of the 2 or 3 best at his position). If you surround those guys with average players, the overall line is above average. I think what you need are some anchors on the line and if you have that, largely speaking, the rest of your line will be good.

 

Than you see if Mills can work out on the inside and coach him, Garza kind of works (although it would be nice to find a new center in the latter rounds) and even Ola at times showed some potential but hard to really stand out when you were constantly switching positions, etc, and working with different pieces. I think if we can hit on a LT, it would work wonders for the long-term and really give us two long-term anchors on our oline.

 

Pretty much...but if those guys fit in the right spots, then I dont' have a problem with multiple OL picks. I just can't stand seeing Rodgers, Brady, Manning, Romo, etc., sitting in a pocket for days, surveying the field, and then throwing to someone wide open, while there are people simultaneously ripping Cutler for poor decisions when he's under duress every other throw. Just look at Romo this year as a great example. Their offensive line is crazy (3 first rounders, 1 fourth rounder, and 1 UDFA graded as a third rounder), and he had probably his best year. Career year in completion%, TD%, Y/A, QBR, and TD to INT margin. And let's not even get into Demarco Murray coming from nowhere to dominate.

 

Fix the OL and people will fall in love with Cutler again.

[DABEARSDABOMB]

Pretty much...but if those guys fit in the right spots, then I dont' have a problem with multiple OL picks. I just can't stand seeing Rodgers, Brady, Manning, Romo, etc., sitting in a pocket for days, surveying the field, and then throwing to someone wide open, while there are people simultaneously ripping Cutler for poor decisions when he's under duress every other throw. Just look at Romo this year as a great example. Their offensive line is crazy (3 first rounders, 1 fourth rounder, and 1 UDFA graded as a third rounder), and he had probably his best year. Career year in completion%, TD%, Y/A, QBR, and TD to INT margin. And let's not even get into Demarco Murray coming from nowhere to dominate.

 

Fix the OL and people will fall in love with Cutler again.

Well in Rodgers and Romo's case they have generally had bad lines. Romo finally got a good line this year and the team focused more on the running game and welp, they finally win a playoff game. Rodgers is just insane. I couldn't even imagine how good he'd be with a real line. Dude is unbelievable.

 

Manning & Brady though, well we saw what Brady was able to do prior to the Pats stabilizing their line around the mid-season point. I won't go as far as saying people will fall in love with Jay, but we certainly can win with him, especially with an improved line and a concerted effort of running the football, establishing play action, moving the pocket, etc. But I think it is very clear that if you put Cutler in Green Bay, they wouldn't be near the team they are today. Jay, while he is the closest thing to Rodgers from a football tools perspective, doesn't have near the football IQ that Rodgers has nor the leadership. I think if you put Cutler on the Packers, to be frank, they are a 7 win team. Basically, the Packers aren't that differently constructed as the Bears, from the perspective that they have a lot of flaws on that roster (defense is slightly better...our skill positions are slightly better...and olines are pretty similar).

 

Whatever we do, we can't try to build a team and rely on offense with Jay. If we are going to win with Jay, we will need a strong defense and just an overall good team with Jay being good enough to win and really be able to play off those other strength's (and that isn't a bad thing...its worked for Flacco and to an extent Manning). Jay is fully capable of getting hot, just as those guys did. And I don't consider either of those guys elite by any stretch of the imagination.