Wesson44 Posted March 16, 2009 Report Share Posted March 16, 2009 Bowman moving to free safety One of those players is 2008 fifth-round pick Zackary Bowman, who is being moved from cornerback to free safety, a position he played at New Mexico Military Institute before transferring to Nebraska. The 6-1, 193-pounder possesses speed and athleticism, but has struggled to remain healthy. He suffered knee injuries in each of his final two seasons in college and then sustained a season-ending biceps injury while making his NFL debut last Oct. 19 against the Minnesota Vikings. In that game, Bowman scored a touchdown by recovering a muffed punt in the end zone and then later preserved a 48-41 victory by intercepting a Gus Frerotte pass with :40 remaining in the game. A main reason the Bears are moving Bowman is that they have far more depth at cornerback with Tillman, McBride, Corey Graham and Nate Vasher than they do at safety. “We just feel like there’s an opportunity now to see if that’s [bowman’s] best spot to compete,” Smith said. With Payne unable to practice, 2008 fourth-round pick Craig Steltz will line up at strong safety and recent free-agent acquisition Josh Bullocks will work at free safety with the No. 1 defense during minicamp. Steltz will also see action at the free safety position this week in practice. “He has great instincts playing the ball,” Smith said. “Just look at the interception that he had [last season against the Lions]. There’s not a big difference between the two. We want two guys with similar talents to be able to drop down into the box. With Steltz entering his second season, we’re still figuring out exactly where his best spot is.” Bennett in the spotlight At wide receiver, 2008 third-round pick Earl Bennett will be given every opportunity to win a starting job opposite Devin Hester. Bennett played sparingly last year as a rookie and did not catch a pass, though he did show marked improvement in practice over the final six weeks of the season. “We’re going to let Earl have a shot to see exactly what he can do,” Smith said. “He finished strong last year. He works hard. He’s a good player. Now it’s time for us to really see what type of player he is.” Omiyale will work at left guard While free-agent acquisition Frank Omiyale can play multiple positions along the offensive line, Smith said that the 6-4, 310-pounder will work exclusively at left guard in minicamp. “If a guy is versatile, you [move him around] later,” Smith said. “Initially, we want to lock all of our guys into one spot, and we’re going to start Frank off at left guard first and go from there.” While John St. Clair remains unsigned, the Bears still hope to retain the veteran offensive tackle. “John is one of our guys,” Smith said. “It’s been the same message throughout about John. We like John. He had a heck of a year this past year. Once you become one of the guys, we want you around.” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrunkBomber Posted March 16, 2009 Report Share Posted March 16, 2009 I like the Bowman move and its good to hear that Bennett is doing good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mongo3451 Posted March 16, 2009 Report Share Posted March 16, 2009 Bowman was touted as a guy with great range and instincts, so this hopefully the answer to all the Tillman to FS posts. I think it makes sense and hope it works. This also means we will probably look at corner somewhere in the draft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowlingtwig Posted March 16, 2009 Report Share Posted March 16, 2009 Bowman moving to free safety One of those players is 2008 fifth-round pick Zackary Bowman, who is being moved from cornerback to free safety, a position he played at New Mexico Military Institute before transferring to Nebraska. The 6-1, 193-pounder possesses speed and athleticism, but has struggled to remain healthy. He suffered knee injuries in each of his final two seasons in college and then sustained a season-ending biceps injury while making his NFL debut last Oct. 19 against the Minnesota Vikings. In that game, Bowman scored a touchdown by recovering a muffed punt in the end zone and then later preserved a 48-41 victory by intercepting a Gus Frerotte pass with :40 remaining in the game. A main reason the Bears are moving Bowman is that they have far more depth at cornerback with Tillman, McBride, Corey Graham and Nate Vasher than they do at safety. “We just feel like there’s an opportunity now to see if that’s [bowman’s] best spot to compete,” Smith said. With Payne unable to practice, 2008 fourth-round pick Craig Steltz will line up at strong safety and recent free-agent acquisition Josh Bullocks will work at free safety with the No. 1 defense during minicamp. Steltz will also see action at the free safety position this week in practice. “He has great instincts playing the ball,” Smith said. “Just look at the interception that he had [last season against the Lions]. There’s not a big difference between the two. We want two guys with similar talents to be able to drop down into the box. With Steltz entering his second season, we’re still figuring out exactly where his best spot is.” Bennett in the spotlight At wide receiver, 2008 third-round pick Earl Bennett will be given every opportunity to win a starting job opposite Devin Hester. Bennett played sparingly last year as a rookie and did not catch a pass, though he did show marked improvement in practice over the final six weeks of the season. “We’re going to let Earl have a shot to see exactly what he can do,” Smith said. “He finished strong last year. He works hard. He’s a good player. Now it’s time for us to really see what type of player he is.” Omiyale will work at left guard While free-agent acquisition Frank Omiyale can play multiple positions along the offensive line, Smith said that the 6-4, 310-pounder will work exclusively at left guard in minicamp. “If a guy is versatile, you [move him around] later,” Smith said. “Initially, we want to lock all of our guys into one spot, and we’re going to start Frank off at left guard first and go from there.” While John St. Clair remains unsigned, the Bears still hope to retain the veteran offensive tackle. “John is one of our guys,” Smith said. “It’s been the same message throughout about John. We like John. He had a heck of a year this past year. Once you become one of the guys, we want you around.” I really like these moves. They make complete sense. Bennett deserves a shot to win considering how much the coaching staff was praising him last year and yet he barely even played. I was really pissed about that last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stinger226 Posted March 16, 2009 Report Share Posted March 16, 2009 Bowman moving to free safety One of those players is 2008 fifth-round pick Zackary Bowman, who is being moved from cornerback to free safety, a position he played at New Mexico Military Institute before transferring to Nebraska. The 6-1, 193-pounder possesses speed and athleticism, but has struggled to remain healthy. He suffered knee injuries in each of his final two seasons in college and then sustained a season-ending biceps injury while making his NFL debut last Oct. 19 against the Minnesota Vikings. In that game, Bowman scored a touchdown by recovering a muffed punt in the end zone and then later preserved a 48-41 victory by intercepting a Gus Frerotte pass with :40 remaining in the game. A main reason the Bears are moving Bowman is that they have far more depth at cornerback with Tillman, McBride, Corey Graham and Nate Vasher than they do at safety. “We just feel like there’s an opportunity now to see if that’s [bowman’s] best spot to compete,” Smith said. With Payne unable to practice, 2008 fourth-round pick Craig Steltz will line up at strong safety and recent free-agent acquisition Josh Bullocks will work at free safety with the No. 1 defense during minicamp. Steltz will also see action at the free safety position this week in practice. “He has great instincts playing the ball,” Smith said. “Just look at the interception that he had [last season against the Lions]. There’s not a big difference between the two. We want two guys with similar talents to be able to drop down into the box. With Steltz entering his second season, we’re still figuring out exactly where his best spot is.” Bennett in the spotlight At wide receiver, 2008 third-round pick Earl Bennett will be given every opportunity to win a starting job opposite Devin Hester. Bennett played sparingly last year as a rookie and did not catch a pass, though he did show marked improvement in practice over the final six weeks of the season. “We’re going to let Earl have a shot to see exactly what he can do,” Smith said. “He finished strong last year. He works hard. He’s a good player. Now it’s time for us to really see what type of player he is.” Omiyale will work at left guard While free-agent acquisition Frank Omiyale can play multiple positions along the offensive line, Smith said that the 6-4, 310-pounder will work exclusively at left guard in minicamp. “If a guy is versatile, you [move him around] later,” Smith said. “Initially, we want to lock all of our guys into one spot, and we’re going to start Frank off at left guard first and go from there.” While John St. Clair remains unsigned, the Bears still hope to retain the veteran offensive tackle. “John is one of our guys,” Smith said. “It’s been the same message throughout about John. We like John. He had a heck of a year this past year. Once you become one of the guys, we want you around.” If Bowman can stay healthy that might be a good move. Just becuase Bennett didnt play last year doesnt mean he cant play, it means Lovie aint that sharp. Look at Graham and Beekman, didnt play two years ago and looked descent last year. The more bodies we have at positions the best chance we have at finding someone that can play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixote Posted March 16, 2009 Report Share Posted March 16, 2009 If Bowman can stay healthy that might be a good move. Just becuase Bennett didnt play last year doesnt mean he cant play, it means Lovie aint that sharp. Look at Graham and Beekman, didnt play two years ago and looked descent last year. The more bodies we have at positions the best chance we have at finding someone that can play. My understanding was that Bennett did not play last year because he was having trouble adapting to the speed of the NFL. I am not sure what that says about him. It was also said he was beginning to adapt to the speed of the NFL towards the end of the season. Hopefully he will be up to full speed this year and produce as we all expected when we drafted him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DABEARSDABOMB Posted March 16, 2009 Report Share Posted March 16, 2009 I think a lot of it also has to do with the fact that Orton wasn't able to practice that much during the 2nd half of the season due to his ankle injury so it would have been difficult for him to develop much of a rappore with Bennett as well. In general I think it is pretty typical for WR's to have problems adjusting to the NFL speed and its a position that typically has a 2-3 year development window compared to other positions where players are more likely to make immediate NFL impacts. I'm excited to see what Bennett can do, but I also want to see the Bears get a very good vet and another talented young WR so that we can finally say the Bears WR corps at least has talent, maybe it won't have production, but please give them some guys with the talent to develop into playmakers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flea Posted March 16, 2009 Report Share Posted March 16, 2009 Some additions http://blogs.suntimes.com/bears/2009/03/be...agents_for.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madlithuanian Posted March 16, 2009 Report Share Posted March 16, 2009 I remember McGarigle from that years' draft... Heck, it's sad when the big news is practice squad guys! Some additions http://blogs.suntimes.com/bears/2009/03/be...agents_for.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flea Posted March 16, 2009 Report Share Posted March 16, 2009 I'm more interested in how Earl does Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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