Clutts Hopes to Make Impact.......

Tyler Clutts expected to make impact on Bears’ special teams

BY SEAN JENSEN September 11, 2011 1:04AM

After a distinguished career as a defensive end at Fresno State, Tyler Clutts played pro football, just not for the NFL.
Clutts, who signed a three-year contract with the Bears on Wednesday, realized while he was with the Sacramento Mountain Lions of the United Football League that he’d have to make a change.
‘‘I realized if I was going to make it [to the NFL], I was going to have to switch positions,” he said. ‘‘I was considered a ‘motor guy’ [at defensive end].’’ But he didn’t have the height (6-2), speed and arm length to make it at that position in the NFL.

‘‘In the NFL, you’re competing with a different level of athlete,’’ Clutts said. So in the summer of 2010, during his stint in the UFL, he switched to fullback, which was somewhat familiar.

‘‘In high school, I was a fullback that could throw,’’ said Clutts, a quarterback and defensive end at Clovis High School in California. Clutts said fullback feels natural to him, and Mountain Lions coach Dennis Green helped him make the transition.

Clutts landed with the Cleveland Browns, making a strong impression. He was released on the final cutdown and added to the practice squad. ‘‘My confidence grew at fullback,’’ he said, ‘‘and I realized I belonged at this level.”

The Bears expect him to make an impact on special teams. That’s fine with Clutts — Fresno State always stressed their importance. ‘‘I think that was my link here,’’ said Clutts, noting that former Bears special teams assistant Chris Tabor is the Browns’ special teams coordinator. ‘‘So special teams is my definite emphasis.’’

Thought he did ok blocking. Wasn't that him out there on the Forte screen for a TD?

Thought I'd pay a little tribute to one of the less noticed guys in yesterdays win. I didn't see him all that much on ST mainly because Graham was there every time there was a tackle to be made or a reminder to down the kickoff. He was on fire yesterday.

What I did notice is that Clutts is a very good FB. This guy has had one week of practice with the Bears and yesterday he played like he'd been with us all preseason. He picked up his blocking responsibilites real quick and the kid knows how to block. After several years of watching McKie struggle with the role it was nice to see a guy like Clutts come in and just flat out do it. I was sad to see them cut "Tofu" but now I know why. This kid was another good upgrade at a position of need.

He does need a decent nickname though. Calling one of our guys Clutts all year is gonna suck. See what you guys can come up with, LOL.

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Originally Posted by short faced bear

Thought he did ok blocking. Wasn't that him out there on the Forte screen for a TD?

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Yeppers. He got downfield and threw a great block to spring him. He was also the second option on the TD pass to Spaeth and he drew the coverage which left Spaeth wide open. What impressed me is that I didn't see the guy make one mistake or miss one block and he's only had a week to learn his part. The Browns tried to sneak him onto their practice squad after our game with them and we nabbed him. I really think we found ourselves a real honest to God FB. Not a TE who plays FB.

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Originally Posted by soulman

Yeppers. He got downfield and threw a great block to spring him. He was also the second option on the TD pass to Spaeth and he drew the coverage which left Spaeth wide open. What impressed me is that I didn't see the guy make one mistake or miss one block and he's only had a week to learn his part. The Browns tried to sneak him onto their practice squad after our game with them and we nabbed him. I really think we found ourselves a real honest to God FB. Not a TE who plays FB.

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I thought he was called for a hold, but could be wrong. I didn't expect to see him at all in that game, but he played quite a bit. He made several nice blocks and played really well. I was seriously impressed.

a bit more on Clutts..

Every player has a different way of getting ready for a game. For new fullback Tyler Clutts, it involves blowing off some steam.

Clutts was in the workout room at the downtown hotel the team stays at the night before games Sunday morning getting a workout in at 6:30 a.m. when he encountered one of the assistant coaches. Yes, 5 1/2 hours before playing in the first NFL game of his career, the guy who has bounced around the circuit of developmental football leagues was going full bore. Must not have been able to sleep.

Then, four days after signing with the team he went out and competed on the kickoff and kickoff return teams and got about 12 snaps in on offense, including the two longest passes of the game. Clutts got a key block on Falcons safety Thomas DeCoud and then defensive end Ray Edwards to help spring Matt Forte for the 56-yard touchdown on a screen pass in the first quarter.

On Devin Hester’s 53-yard screen that ended one yard short of the goal line, Clutts was way downfield. His block on DeCoud at the 15-yard line gave Hester a clear shot at the corner of the end zone. It should be noted wide receiver Roy Williams had a nice block on cornerback Brent Grimes to Hester’s side early in the play.

“That’s just something that is in my background,” Clutts said. “You have to make downfield blocks. With the athletic ability of Devin, stuff like that happens downfield. You’ve got to be there.”

Clutts said it’s as simple as following the rules he did as a defensive end at Fresno State. He never stopped until the whistle was blown.

“You’re always in pursuit, always running never stopping,” he said. “You’re never not hitting somebody. You’ve got to have that attitude. This coaching staff does a great job of emphasizing that.”

It will be interesting to watch Clutts develop as a fullback. Twice, he was turning his head around to check with the running back before the snap, understandable for someone just getting accustomed to the playbook.

The Bears found out about him in the preseason finale. He excelled during preseason for new Cleveland Browns special teams coach Chris Tabor, who was with the Bears the previous three seasons. Tabor hoped to keep Clutts but he was among Cleveland’s final cuts and was added to the practice squad. He had one special teams tackle vs. the Bears and was difficult to block. The Bears found out about him quickly.

The more the Bears looked at Clutts after final cuts, the more they liked him. He’s bigger than the fullback he replaced Will Ta’ufo’ou and he’s faster, giving him more versatility on special teams. Plus, it seems Clutts puts the warrior in workout warrior based on his gameday routine.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports...2.story?page=2

Nice read shorty. Thanks for posting it. Plain and simple the guy is a Bears kind of player. A "Grabowski" who goes out and does his job without a whole lot of fanfare. Just the opposite of that "hotdog" RWill who seems to feel the need to signal his own first down catches. Very un-Bears like.

I think he was out there blocking for hester On his long long reception, also.

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Originally Posted by soulman

Nice read shorty. Thanks for posting it. Plain and simple the guy is a Bears kind of player. A "Grabowski" who goes out and does his job without a whole lot of fanfare. Just the opposite of that "hotdog" RWill who seems to feel the need to signal his own first down catches. Very un-Bears like.

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Yeah, that shit has to stop. I hate showboating, especially from crappy players.

we havent had a good blocking FB like that since Mark Thomas in Lovie's first few years. Since then we have been underwhelmed with the likes of Mckie and the various TEs picking up that duty. This is a refreshing change