Kevin Payne traded to the St. Louis Rams

[Daventry]

Every team has drama. We are no exception there.

 

Every team, and at most positions, has question marks. In discussing these units, for me it is more an issue of, do we have reason to believe?

 

Some disagree, but I will point to WR as an example. Is WR is set unit, or known strength? No. Only Martz and Drake will try to make that argument. But is there reason to believe these two units will be a solid or strong position this year. I would make that argument, yes.

 

At DL, I just don't see the reason for the expectations some have levied.

 

Anderson was a breakout stud as a rookie playing a situational role, but that was back in '06. Since then? Even if you move past what happened when he was thrown into the starting role, last year there were all sorts of hype due to Marinelli taking him under his wing. The result was a flash here and a flash there, but not a hole lot to get excited about. Hell, some fans didn't even think he would be back with the team.

 

Idonije is a player the team really wants us to believe can be a legit DE, but actions speak louder than words, and the actions of this staff has been to move Idonije all around. He is a nice backup/depth guy who can start in a pinch, but just not a guy you want to enter the season w/ as your starter. He is a plan B guy, not plan A.

 

Melton showed nothing even prior to the injury, and was raw to begin with. Now we have another rookie in the mix. Where is the reason for expections here?

 

And is it different at DT?

 

Harris was once talked about as an elite pass rushing DT, but that was some years ago as well. He was on fire the first half of 2007, but disappeared that year, and has been inconsistent "at best" since. Late last year he showed some flashes, but like Anderson, they were few and far between.

 

Harrison - This guy just pisses me off. He was all but given the starting job last year, and he basically failed to show up. If he cared, he would not have shown up in the shape he did. And even when his conditioning was right, he still failed to show off the talent he was supposed to have. This guy is a big reason why I am skeptical a bit about our rookie DE. I question anytime I hear about a player who had 1st round talent but fell for whatever reason in the draft. Rarely do those players exhibit the 1st round talent fans talk about.

 

Adams is a nice player, and I like him far more than our staff, but he is simply not a full time player in this system, and offers little pass rush ability.

 

Gilbert showed he can leap out of a pool, which was cool to see, but has yet to show he can play in the NFL.

 

I just have not seen much of a glimmer from these guys to even provide a reason for hope. Does that mean there is no hope? No. It just means I am skeptical. Even at OL, I see more reason for hope than at DL.

 

Indeed, drama is inevitable given the passion many feel for the Bears and NFL football in general, I personally enjoy the consideration of strategy and personnel one of the best parts of following the Bears. I just wish I could sit in with coaches meetings and practices and find out "the rest of the story," as Paul Harvey used to say...

 

I chuckled when I saw Martz commenting that WR's are the strength of the team. He has certainly been sure to be PC so far this year.

 

That being said, I do think we have less reason to be concerned about WR than DLine. I agree with your analysis, at the end of the day we have one superstar, who has a bit of a rep for taking plays off, a couple of solid guys, a couple of unproven rookies, and a guy who showed flashes of greatness a few years ago but not much at all since. I am hoping that all of the questionable players will perform to their best potential, but if they do not and continue to show what they have in the past, we are in for a long year.

 

That being said, I don't think I would say I feel better about the Oline than the Dline. We have no superstar there and no real solid performers. It might turn out ok, but then again....it could look like last year.

 

Come on football season!

 

[nfoligno]

That being said, I don't think I would say I feel better about the Oline than the Dline. We have no superstar there and no real solid performers. It might turn out ok, but then again....it could look like last year.

 

Just to clarify, it isn't that I feel good about the OL, or really that I "feel better" about the OL than the DL. It is more simply that based on things witnessed, I see more "reason for hope."

 

LT - Williams was a top 15 pick, and when inserted at LT, looked like one IMHO. He was solid, and I think there is ample reason to believe that continues. Further, consider who he is replacing. Williams could be average, and would still be a massive upgrade over Pace.

 

LG - Beekman. Not saying Beekman is great, but he is at least decent, which again, is leaps and bounds better than what we got last year from Omiyale.

 

C - Kreutz - Opinions vary. Most, at minimum, believe he is on the decline. He played through injury last year which zapped his strength, and there is reason to believe his play improves. Still, of all the OL, expecting improved play from Kreutz may be the biggest stretch as there is more reason (evidence based on past play) to believe the opposite.

 

RG - Garza is an average RG, but there is no reason to expect less than what we have seen. Further, if the play at RT improves, there is reason to expect a slight improvement in Garza's play as well.

 

RT - As well as Williams played on the left side, he was freaking awful on the right. IMHO, if it were not for the horrible play of Pace and Omiyale on the left, far more attention would have been drawn to just how bad Williams was at RT. I do not know if Omiyale or Schaffer will play RT, but the way I look at it is like this. Schaffer showed he can play RT at least on an average level, which is a big upgrade from Williams. If Omiyale starts, that means he beat out Schaffer. Thus, whoever starts at RT, there is reason to expect (a) at least average play and ( a huge upgrade to who we started last year.

 

Make no mistake. I am not saying our OL is set, much less strong. My only point is, based on what we saw last year after positions changed, there is reason to believe we will have an improved OL. At DL, other than Peppers, I just do not see the past evidence to support similar beliefs. If may very well be our DL is lights out better than our OL, but I am simply talking about basing beliefs today on what we have seen of late.

 

 

[Daventry]

That being said, I don't think I would say I feel better about the Oline than the Dline. We have no superstar there and no real solid performers. It might turn out ok, but then again....it could look like last year.

 

Just to clarify, it isn't that I feel good about the OL, or really that I "feel better" about the OL than the DL. It is more simply that based on things witnessed, I see more "reason for hope."

 

LT - Williams was a top 15 pick, and when inserted at LT, looked like one IMHO. He was solid, and I think there is ample reason to believe that continues. Further, consider who he is replacing. Williams could be average, and would still be a massive upgrade over Pace.

 

LG - Beekman. Not saying Beekman is great, but he is at least decent, which again, is leaps and bounds better than what we got last year from Omiyale.

 

C - Kreutz - Opinions vary. Most, at minimum, believe he is on the decline. He played through injury last year which zapped his strength, and there is reason to believe his play improves. Still, of all the OL, expecting improved play from Kreutz may be the biggest stretch as there is more reason (evidence based on past play) to believe the opposite.

 

RG - Garza is an average RG, but there is no reason to expect less than what we have seen. Further, if the play at RT improves, there is reason to expect a slight improvement in Garza's play as well.

 

 

Hmmm, " more reason for hope" and "feel better" seem like basically the same thing to me...but there you go.

 

Good points, I was mainly basing my opinion on the terrible performance over most of last year on the Oline. In terms of specifics...

 

LT-Williams looked pretty good at the end of the year, he is the only guy that I have hope will be exceptional at best, solid at worst.

 

LG-Beekman, not sold on him to the degree I am certain that he is decent.

 

C-Kreutz-IMO clearly well past it and a liability.

 

RG-Garza-Only marginally better than Kreutz.

 

RT - As well as Williams played on the left side, he was freaking awful on the right. IMHO, if it were not for the horrible play of Pace and Omiyale on the left, far more attention would have been drawn to just how bad Williams was at RT. I do not know if Omiyale or Schaffer will play RT, but the way I look at it is like this. Schaffer showed he can play RT at least on an average level, which is a big upgrade from Williams. If Omiyale starts, that means he beat out Schaffer. Thus, whoever starts at RT, there is reason to expect (a) at least average play and ( a huge upgrade to who we started last year.

 

Make no mistake. I am not saying our OL is set, much less strong. My only point is, based on what we saw last year after positions changed, there is reason to believe we will have an improved OL. At DL, other than Peppers, I just do not see the past evidence to support similar beliefs. If may very well be our DL is lights out better than our OL, but I am simply talking about basing beliefs today on what we have seen of late.

 

[AZ54]

Tice says he likes our guys and does not want a veteran on the Oline to compete. Then today it comes out that he says the LG spot is wide open and anybody can win it ("you, me, anybody"). I appreciate his honesty about the position being open but if it's that wide open you'd think he'd be interested in bringing in someone else to compete.

 

He makes no hesitation at all about putting Omiyale at OT versus OG. Just another in a long line of bad decisions by our previous Oline coach/OC/HC/GM/somebody.