Wesson44 Posted June 10, 2010 Report Share Posted June 10, 2010 I read that OL Kevin Shaffer is no longer in the mix to be the starting left guard, and the fight will be between OG Johan Asiata and OG Lance Louis will compete for the job. So where does this leave Beekman as a back up? Is Shaffer that bad at OG and will be a back up OL? Does Tice think that Asiata and Louis are doing so well that one of them will be the starter this year? What are your thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madlithuanian Posted June 10, 2010 Report Share Posted June 10, 2010 Honestly, I think it's too early to really tell what's going on. Much of Beekman's situation rests on the health of Kreutz. I read that OL Kevin Shaffer is no longer in the mix to be the starting left guard, and the fight will be between OG Johan Asiata and OG Lance Louis will compete for the job. So where does this leave Beekman as a back up? Is Shaffer that bad at OG and will be a back up OL? Does Tice think that Asiata and Louis are doing so well that one of them will be the starter this year? What are your thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nfoligno Posted June 10, 2010 Report Share Posted June 10, 2010 Hard to read "too much" into anything at this time of year, but what I think: - Beekman is currently out of the picture as he has to play center w/ Kreutz still hurt. He will be again in the mix, but I think the team looks at him more as a backup plan. I don't think they like his size for an OG, and view him as the future center. He has played OG okay, but the only reason he was ever there in the first place was due to other options being so bad. - I am glad to hear Shaffer is out of the mix at OG. It could be he looked that bad, but I don't think that is the case. I think it is more a matter of the younger players looking good enough that the coaches felt we could keep the competition between the youth. To me, this is a good sign. I read that OL Kevin Shaffer is no longer in the mix to be the starting left guard, and the fight will be between OG Johan Asiata and OG Lance Louis will compete for the job. So where does this leave Beekman as a back up? Is Shaffer that bad at OG and will be a back up OL? Does Tice think that Asiata and Louis are doing so well that one of them will be the starter this year? What are your thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZ54 Posted June 11, 2010 Report Share Posted June 11, 2010 Seeing as it happened at this early stage I tend to agree with Nfol, this is a good sign. In fact I think it's a very good sign. They didn't have to come out this early and make a statement that Shaffer was out of the OG competition so why do that? Doesn't it make more sense for the team to leave him in the mix at least until training camp starts? You have one of two scenarios: Shaffer is absolutely horrible at OG. IMO they couldn't really make that determination seeing as there is no contact yet. The only other reason that makes sense is that Tice has confidence in both of the young guys being better options than Shaffer in any case. This being the Bears I'm remain totally unconvinced that we have a good solution at LG but I think this is a step in the right direction toward finding that guy. Just a step. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradjock Posted June 11, 2010 Report Share Posted June 11, 2010 There's another option we haven't mentioned: It could be that Frank Omiyale's looking awful at RT and now he's in a legitimate competition with Shaffer. We rarely are able to develop our own offensive linemen. Does anyone really believe that Asiata and Louis are that good? A 7th rounder and an UDFA? Maybe it's all about coaching, but I'm skeptical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nfoligno Posted June 11, 2010 Report Share Posted June 11, 2010 I thought about that, but one thing I noted was the absence of much talk about Shaffer really being part of the competition at RT. If he is out of the mix at OG, it is obvious he will be moved back to RT, but at the same time, I really didn't read much about his being a legit part of a competition for RT. The way it read to me was more than he is a backup OT, and simply no longer in the running for OG. Trust me when I say I am not sold. Our history of drafting OL talent is not so great. At the same time, I do believe coaching is a HUGE part of it. Teams all over seem capable of developing later round picks along the OL. We have not been able to, and most assumed it was due to Angelo not adding talent. That may be part of it, but I have always felt the lack of coaching was a huge key as well. Harry was simply bad. Tice, by reputation, is considered good. It may actually be that coaching was the key thing we lacked. Time will tell. There have been years when our OL looked pretty decent in practice, but later it was found to be more a matter of having a weak DL than the OL playing well. There's another option we haven't mentioned: It could be that Frank Omiyale's looking awful at RT and now he's in a legitimate competition with Shaffer. We rarely are able to develop our own offensive linemen. Does anyone really believe that Asiata and Louis are that good? A 7th rounder and an UDFA? Maybe it's all about coaching, but I'm skeptical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradjock Posted June 13, 2010 Report Share Posted June 13, 2010 I thought about that, but one thing I noted was the absence of much talk about Shaffer really being part of the competition at RT. If he is out of the mix at OG, it is obvious he will be moved back to RT, but at the same time, I really didn't read much about his being a legit part of a competition for RT. The way it read to me was more than he is a backup OT, and simply no longer in the running for OG. I think keeping Shaffer at tackle has to do with how thin we are at the position. We have no clue what to expect from Omiyale at tackle and Chris Williams is still relatively unproven at the LT spot. Your back-ups are 7th round draft pick J'Marcus Webb and James Merton. As important as the tackle spot is in Martz's system, it's critical we have depth. Shaffer provides that. I'd thought Shaffer would be better at guard then any of the other guys, not because he's great, but because they are lacking. Trust me when I say I am not sold. Our history of drafting OL talent is not so great. At the same time, I do believe coaching is a HUGE part of it. Teams all over seem capable of developing later round picks along the OL. We have not been able to, and most assumed it was due to Angelo not adding talent. That may be part of it, but I have always felt the lack of coaching was a huge key as well. I like to think Tice & Martz know what the hell they are doing . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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