Current OL Analysis & Offseason Implications

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Originally Posted by MPBears68

Soul, thanks for that post as disheartening as it is. I LMAO'd at your commentary in red, but otherwise was shaking my head in amazement that Tice and Lovie continue in this delusion. What is the plan if Webb fails (again) or gets hurt?

Flop Carimi to LT?
Give CWill a shot there?
Omiyale? Please kill me...

Why do I have this sinking feeling that it is going to take a 1-4 start with 25 sacks allowed to go to "Plan B" this year? I really, really hope I'm very, very wrong.

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That's my concern as well. It's bad enough that Cutler has to suffer with a LT that's still working on his "learners permit" but not doing something about a backup besides Omiyale is the equivalent of having a completely unprepared Caleb Hanie have to take up the offense after Jay got hurt.

Somewhere in the draft we need to find a guy who can be coached up to play LT. Even if Webb has a jaw dropping year we're still way to thin at OT unless we do move CWill outside and I don't see that happening. If we did draft an OG in the early rounds it would probably be to compete at RG rather than left.

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Originally Posted by lklrlolnlilklsox

My alternate preference, right now a pass rusher like Nick Perry tops my "reasonable" board. Give me Zach Brown who would be an absolutely huge boost to our LB corps before you draft an OG. Mike Adams dominated even Coples at the SB, and I would not hate that pick as much as I would a couple months ago. There's a few WRs who can re-solidify there mid to late round status this week, and I think adding there makes a bigger impact to our squad than to a position where we have adequate starters. Before his double hernia surgery, I would say Barron for sure, but that drops him. No doubt he makes a potentially huge impact at an unstable position.

I'd draft Cordy Glenn at 19 before I gave up picks to move up and grab Decastro. I just don't think interior OL is something I draft in the first unless we have an absolutely fortuitous FA. Decastro is a fantastic prospect, and I wouldn't be pissed if we landed him at 19, I just see zero sense in trading up for the deepest position in the draft unless we have an entirely unrealistic FA haul to fill holes at DE, WR, LT, CB, S and LB first.

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Personally I probably take Glenn before I'd take Adams. This year we're pretty well set on the inside but this a contract year for CWill and Spencer and Garza the following. We need to look at some young talent sooner of later. If there's a pass rusher we like on the board I'd take him. If not Glenn wouldn't be a bad pick there and neither would Zach Brown. Gotta start adding LB's soon to. I guess where I'm coming from is that I don't want to see us reach. If there are better players on the board at a position that's not as critical as others I still take him if he can start and upgrade the position. But I will repeat that any WR we take won't start of upgrade year one like other positions can.

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Originally Posted by soulman

That's my concern as well. It's bad enough that Cutler has to suffer with a LT that's still working on his "learners permit" but not doing something about a backup besides Omiyale is the equivalent of having a completely unprepared Caleb Hanie have to take up the offense after Jay got hurt.

Somewhere in the draft we need to find a guy who can be coached up to play LT. Even if Webb has a jaw dropping year we're still way to thin at OT unless we do move CWill outside and I don't see that happening. If we did draft an OG in the early rounds it would probably be to compete at RG rather than left.

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Just think. We're one play away all the time from having OMG back in at LT. That in and of itself scares me. I tend to agree with Windy that signing someone like Khalif Barnes to come in and compete with Webb for the starting job at LT is a sensible solution to our dire lack of depth. At worst, it would give us an opportunity to dump OMG once and for all.

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Originally Posted by WindyCity

Agreed the trade up is too expensive/aggressive. I would not be angry if we did it and Emery thought that DeCastro was the next Hutchinson and a potential HOF.

But we have 1 All Pro and 1 HOF at the LB position so I would not draft Zach Brown by that logic instead of an OG we do not have a real need at LB besides youth. The interior OL is average on its best day and they may all be gone before Briggs and Urlacher go.

This team will go as far as Cutler takes them and our LB core does not help him enough.

The pass rusher is an interesting proposition and I would look hard at Nic Perry and a couple of others as the Giants showed you can never hit the opposing QB enough. My problem withe the DE class is that there are a ton of question marks. To me DeCastro is a superior prospect and will be a better NFL player that Ingram or Coples.

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One is 34 and the other 31 and trade bait if he keeps whining about his contract. Sooner or later we have to begin to make arrangements for the future. I'm still stuck in the pass rusher mode and if Perry is lighting it up and falls (unlikely) we take him. Glenn vs Brown is a tossup to me.

Both represent good picks at that spot. It's not all that often you see two OG's of DeCastro and Glenn's caliber in a draft. If we took Glenn we'd need to find a place to play him and I don't think you'll see Tice move CWill. This is his contract year so he should be playing his ass off in hopes of getting an extension. You could play Glenn at RT but then Carimi moves to LT and I don't see that happening. So RG is about the only place to park him not that it would be bad.

Brown may or may not start depending on what happens with Briggs which I believe will be nothing. They'll find a way to resolve the issue somehow and life goes on. We'll never get fair value for him unless it's a player swap. He could probably beat Roach out at SLB but it's not because Roach sucks. He played well last year.

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Originally Posted by soulman

Personally I probably take Glenn before I'd take Adams. This year we're pretty well set on the inside but this a contract year for CWill and Spencer and Garza the following. We need to look at some young talent sooner of later. If there's a pass rusher we like on the board I'd take him. If not Glenn wouldn't be a bad pick there and neither would Zach Brown. Gotta start adding LB's soon to. I guess where I'm coming from is that I don't want to see us reach. If there are better players on the board at a position that's not as critical as others I still take him if he can start and upgrade the position. But I will repeat that any WR we take won't start of upgrade year one like other positions can.

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Gosh, we all would love to get *all* the guys talked about. BUT (and it is a big butt) we only have one first rounder and "sure starter" pick (of course "sure starter" is sometimes hope not fact). Outside of the QB (ridiculously important position) it seems to me it does so much more good to replace a D/D- grade starter (perhaps LT; SLB/nickle-pass-rusher; WR; arguably TE) than to replace a C/C+ grade starter (our OGs). As you point out, CWill, LL, and Spenser are all FA after this year but as Tice really like EWill also (under contract) and the Bears should be able to sign 2 or 3 of their FA OGs if they want I don't see the need. As always, I hope the Bears follow the BPA-at-a-'need'-position game theory approach. of course, I've been wrong before :-(