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The Bears Offseason Acquisitions Half Way Grades
These grades are based on where I feel each player is at this point in the season and where I would say they are going in the future.
Free Agency
Roy Williams [D]
Williams has started to flash what he was brought here to do so he is not a total bust, but the brutal drops far out weight the catches that he has made.
Gone in 2012
Marion Barber [A]
He has done exactly what we needed him to do, he has been good spelling Forte and he has been excellent in short yardage situations.
Key Backup in 2012
Sam Hurd [B+]
I have seen him make a couple of plays on special teams, including the huge fumble recovery, and he has made a few catches, which is all he was expected and needed to do.
Special Teams Contributor
Amobi Okoye [B+]
Okoye has been solid in a rotation and has made some very nice sacks and rushes when we have needed pressure. I still am not a fan of him against the run.
Rotational Player/Extended
Brandon Merriweather [D]
Benched for a struggling player in Major Wright and I am not convinced he does not get flagged for personal fouls on the bench. He never fit the disciplined Cover 2 system.
Gone in 2012
Chris Spencer [A]
I was included in not thinking he was an upgrade and a starter, but Spencer has forced me to eat some humble pie as he has looked great starting and has done it all with a broken hand.
Long Term Starter
Tyler Clutts [A+]
Clutts has looked dominant run blocking and has even caught a couple of passes out of the backfield.
Long Term Starter
Matt Spaeth [B-]
He has been an okay blocker and caught the few passes thrown to him, but he has not had a huge impact on the field. I still think Kellen davis is our best blocking TE.
Back Up in 2012
Adam Podlesh [A]
He has a great leg and has been making some exceptional punts. The fumbled punt against the Eagles was a thing of beauty.
Long Term Starter
Draft
Gabe Carimi [B+]
Looked good, but has missed a ton of time with injuries so the full evaluation will have to wait.
Long Term Starter
Stephen Paea [A]
He looked like an Angelo special, an injured bust, and has turned in solid performance after solid performance and he shows a great burst and strength. I have been impressed with how he disrupts the pocket.
Long Term Starter
Chris Conte [A]
He may be playing at 18 yards, but no one gets behind him. Conte has looked disciplined and technically sound and has made no glaring errors. Watch the Tampa game and you will see real speed.
Long Term Starter
Nathan Enderle [D]
Professional clip board jockey.
Long Term Back Up
JT Thomas [F]
I know that he is raw, but he showed nothing and then was put on IR to get his roster spot. I think LB depth will be picked heavily next season so he is in trouble.
Fringe Player
Last edited by WindyCity; 11-10-2011 at 12:07 PM.
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Originally Posted by
soulman 
Good grades Windy. I might move Hurd up a notch since he and Graham are two of the reasons we lead the league in punt coverage and I just don't rate the guys like Enderle or Thomas since they're not contributing at all. Other than that I think you're spot on.
The scary part of this assessment is that it looks like a pretty good offseason for Jerry Angelo as some of his dumpster pick ups have really stepped up and become solid starters.
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Originally Posted by
WindyCity The scary part of this assessment is that it looks like a pretty good offseason for Jerry Angelo as some of his dumpster pick ups have really stepped up and become solid starters.
The only thing that's saving his ass is the way this Oline has come around and I'll give the credit for that to Tice not Angelo. It's just a matter of time before teams start running some different blitz's and stunts against them and we'll see how well they adapt to that before I declare the line fixed.
Going after former 1st round picks and formerly productive players like Barber had to assure him some measure of success. It was kind of a numbers game and when you toss enough spaghetti at the wall some of it's gonna stick.
We got lucky with the Okoye pickup. There's a kid with talent who was just playing in the wrong system. He's not a 3-4 NT or DE, he's a pure 3T DT and once you put him there he shows he can play. The Broncos would have loved to have him so I don't know why they were asleep at the switch when Texas released him.
Barber has always been a good power back but injuries sucked up a lot of that power for two years. As long as we limit his carries and he stays healthy he is exactly what we needed in a power back. That one was a lay down pick up as far as I'm concerned and all it did was counterbalance his stupididty signing Taylor to that big contract in 2010. Now that Forte is up for an extension that's coming back to haunt him just like we knew it would.
Hurd and Podlesh were good ST pickups as was re-signing Graham but keeping the ST's stocked has never been his problem. It's always been drafting front line players who only had ST level talent. Jerry Angelo is still one of the 5 worst GM's in the NFL IMO.
I'm getting to that age where a lifetime warranty just doesn't mean as much to me anymore as an afternoon nap. 
Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.
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Originally Posted by
blinddeafmute Missed Sanz as a FA.
That I did but if he doesn't stop dropping passes that Cutler puts right in his hands then Cutler is gonna start to miss throwing to him too. The guy caught everything he could get his mitts on during the preseason and so far this year he leads the team in drops and is one of the top three in the NFL in drops.
If he'd caught that pass Cutler threw to him just before Forte's first fumble we get a 1st down and maybe that next play never happens. We rode RWill's ass for a key drop or two right before picks in an earlier game and I'm gonna call Sanz out of this one. I love the guy and I can't figure out wtf is up with his bad hands lately.
I'm getting to that age where a lifetime warranty just doesn't mean as much to me anymore as an afternoon nap. Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.
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High Fives / Like - 1 BEAR DOWN!, 0 Dislikes
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The only thing that I can figure about Sanzenbacher's hands is the fact that right now, he's like a deer in the headlights. The NFL is a totally different animal than college football and he probably feels like things are moving a little bit too fast for him at the moment.
Also, I disagree with the assessment on Okoye. He's doing okay against the run. I think the thing people forget, Windy, is that he is so damn good at rushing the quarterback that his capabilities of stopping the run are often overlooked. This is partly why I am calling for Lovie Smith and Rod Marinelli to assign both Paea and him to defensive line as starters in order to offset any potential weaknesses with strengths.
Last edited by Dagan81; 11-10-2011 at 01:15 PM.
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Carimi should be graded "INCOMPLETE" since he missed so much time.
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Clutts needs at least ONE rushing attempt. I'd like to see what he has down by the GL as a change up to Barber.
Arguing on the internet is like winning the special olympics, even if you win your still messed up.
Restore the roar!
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Originally Posted by
soulman That I did but if he doesn't stop dropping passes that Cutler puts right in his hands then Cutler is gonna start to miss throwing to him too. The guy caught everything he could get his mitts on during the preseason and so far this year he leads the team in drops and is one of the top three in the NFL in drops.
If he'd caught that pass Cutler threw to him just before Forte's first fumble we get a 1st down and maybe that next play never happens. We rode RWill's ass for a key drop or two right before picks in an earlier game and I'm gonna call Sanz out of this one. I love the guy and I can't figure out wtf is up with his bad hands lately.
Yeah, I kinda agree with Dags on this. I know he's dropped a lot, but has also been targeted a lot and was an undrafted FA. There was a lot of weight on his shoulders. I think he will eventually pan out and become a really good slot guy, or even an #2. He started strong and it seems that nerves and the speed of the game are just taking him some time to get used to.
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