AZ54 Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 This was done with the Bears, at times, inept offense over the last few seasons. From the Bears website: http://www.chicagobears.com/news/ChalkTalk...p?story_id=7716 I keep hearing that Greg Olsen is no longer a threat in the passing game. But didn’t he lead the Bears in receiving touchdowns again in 2010? Roger W. Iowa Yes, Greg Olsen tied Johnny Knox for the Bears lead with five touchdown receptions in 2010. Olsen also topped the Bears with five TD catches in 2008 and eight in 2009. Olsen’s 20 career TD receptions are the second most by a Bears tight end, trailing Hall of Famer Mike Ditka’s 34. Olsen’s 18 touchdown receptions the past three seasons rank sixth among NFL tight ends, trailing Antonio Gates (26), Vernon Davis (22), Tony Gonzalez (22), Visanthe Shiancoe (20) and Dallas Clark (19). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madlithuanian Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 Interesting... I think they need to find a way to keep him around. This was done with the Bears, at times, inept offense over the last few seasons. From the Bears website: http://www.chicagobears.com/news/ChalkTalk...p?story_id=7716 I keep hearing that Greg Olsen is no longer a threat in the passing game. But didn’t he lead the Bears in receiving touchdowns again in 2010? Roger W. Iowa Yes, Greg Olsen tied Johnny Knox for the Bears lead with five touchdown receptions in 2010. Olsen also topped the Bears with five TD catches in 2008 and eight in 2009. Olsen’s 20 career TD receptions are the second most by a Bears tight end, trailing Hall of Famer Mike Ditka’s 34. Olsen’s 18 touchdown receptions the past three seasons rank sixth among NFL tight ends, trailing Antonio Gates (26), Vernon Davis (22), Tony Gonzalez (22), Visanthe Shiancoe (20) and Dallas Clark (19). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Hochuli 3:16 Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of Olsen. I think there are times when he shows no effort, and his blocking (while it improved a touch this past year) leaves a lot to be desired. I understand he and Cutler are good friends, but this is a business. If he could bring back a 2nd this year, why not make that trade? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madlithuanian Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 Nor am I. I've used the moniker "Lady Thor" for him many a time... But, I honestly don't think we could get much for him considering that his upside could still be quite good. I'm not sure Davis can step in and make the big impact. I like having both. I honestly think our (lack of) ability to draft well makes me want to keep the player more than hope Angelo doesn't screw yet another one up... I'm not a huge fan of Olsen. But, I do think we should keep him around. Sadly, he may be our best receiver... Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of Olsen. I think there are times when he shows no effort, and his blocking (while it improved a touch this past year) leaves a lot to be desired. I understand he and Cutler are good friends, but this is a business. If he could bring back a 2nd this year, why not make that trade? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balta1701-A Posted April 7, 2011 Report Share Posted April 7, 2011 Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of Olsen. I think there are times when he shows no effort, and his blocking (while it improved a touch this past year) leaves a lot to be desired. I understand he and Cutler are good friends, but this is a business. If he could bring back a 2nd this year, why not make that trade? Well, first of all because teams can't trade players for picks right now, until a CBA is agreed to, and that's not happening before the draft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Hochuli 3:16 Posted April 7, 2011 Report Share Posted April 7, 2011 Well, first of all because teams can't trade players for picks right now, until a CBA is agreed to, and that's not happening before the draft. I'm aware of the circumstances. I think everyone knows when trades are talked about on here, they are implying they would like to see the trade happen when it is actually able to happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemonej Posted April 8, 2011 Report Share Posted April 8, 2011 Being realistic it makes more sense for teams to hold on to players that are familiar with their system this year the longer this impasse goes because there will be limited time for teams to teach their schemes to new players so the teams that are retaining most of their rosters in-tack will have a leg up on teams that will be installing new schemes on both sides of the ball. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
defiantgiant Posted April 10, 2011 Report Share Posted April 10, 2011 Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of Olsen. I think there are times when he shows no effort, and his blocking (while it improved a touch this past year) leaves a lot to be desired. I understand he and Cutler are good friends, but this is a business. If he could bring back a 2nd this year, why not make that trade? I'm not the biggest Olsen fan, either: he drops too many passes to be a safety-valve TE, and for a 6'5" guy with a 36" vertical, he doesn't win as many jump balls as he should. That said, there aren't many TEs with his speed and athleticism, and he's never been used to his full potential in his pro career, which makes me think he could still have that breakout year we've been waiting on. If that's going to happen, though, he needs to do one of two things: 1) Catch the damn ball. True, Olsen saw fewer passes go his way in 2010, but he only caught 59% of the ones he did get (41 out of 69.) He's sitting at 59.7% for his career, and if he wants to be in that Dallas Clark/Jason Witten/Antonio Gates echelon, he needs to start catching 70-75% of his passes like those guys do. He could still be very productive, even in a TE-unfriendly offense, if he were a more reliable target. Sure, there are plenty of TEs who put up gaudy numbers despite a catch rate around 60%, but most of those guys are getting 100 passes or more per season. Which brings me to the next option... 2) Buy Mike Martz a Rolls-Royce or something. Martz needs route-runners, and one of Olsen's best attributes is his ability to run routes like a big WR. His hands might be unreliable for a TE, but by WR standards they're fine: plenty of good receivers catch around 60% of their passes. And everybody's been saying for years that the best place for Olsen is lined up in the slot. Well, it just so happens that Martz's offenses LOVE throwing to the slot receiver. Mike Furrey was his slot WR in 2006, and he got 146 passes thrown his way. Olsen's faster than Furrey, and he'd be a tougher matchup for nickel corners or linebackers. If Olsen played that role in our offense, he'd have caught 87 passes this year, or even more if he could fix the drops a little. He'd have a legit shot at a 1000-yard season with that kind of workload. So if Olsen (or somebody) could just convince Martz that what he is is a slot receiver in a TE's body, Olsen could be highly productive in this offense, even if he's still just a 60% catcher. He'd be the go-to receiver on the inside, with Knox/Hester/Bennett on the perimeter. It could work, if Martz were willing to try it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balta1701-A Posted April 10, 2011 Report Share Posted April 10, 2011 2) Buy Mike Martz a Rolls-Royce or something. Martz needs route-runners, and one of Olsen's best attributes is his ability to run routes like a big WR. His hands might be unreliable for a TE, but by WR standards they're fine: plenty of good receivers catch around 60% of their passes. And everybody's been saying for years that the best place for Olsen is lined up in the slot. Well, it just so happens that Martz's offenses LOVE throwing to the slot receiver. Mike Furrey was his slot WR in 2006, and he got 146 passes thrown his way. Olsen's faster than Furrey, and he'd be a tougher matchup for nickel corners or linebackers. If Olsen played that role in our offense, he'd have caught 87 passes this year, or even more if he could fix the drops a little. He'd have a legit shot at a 1000-yard season with that kind of workload. So if Olsen (or somebody) could just convince Martz that what he is is a slot receiver in a TE's body, Olsen could be highly productive in this offense, even if he's still just a 60% catcher. He'd be the go-to receiver on the inside, with Knox/Hester/Bennett on the perimeter. It could work, if Martz were willing to try it. The problem last year is that if Martz had wanted to send Olsen out over and over, he wouldn't get passes thrown to him because Cutler would have been on the ground. Martz HAD to hold Olsen in to block last year. That was one of the changes they started making after the bye week/slaughter by the Giants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
defiantgiant Posted April 11, 2011 Report Share Posted April 11, 2011 The problem last year is that if Martz had wanted to send Olsen out over and over, he wouldn't get passes thrown to him because Cutler would have been on the ground. Martz HAD to hold Olsen in to block last year. That was one of the changes they started making after the bye week/slaughter by the Giants. Yeah, true. When he was hired, we heard all about how Martz likes to send 5 receivers out on every play, but during the bye week he clearly realized that he was going to need 1-2 extra blockers on any given play, just to keep Cutler alive. I'll be interested to see if he gives Olsen more pass patterns once the o-line is shored up, or whether that just means Olsen spends more time on the bench. I hope it's the former. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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