Bears OK with neglecting offensive line in draft

Bears NFL draft: Chicago Bears OK with neglecting offensive line in NFL draft - chicagotribune.com

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GM Emery believes playmaking abilities of players picked outweigh other needs

The Bears have spent much of the offseason telling you how much they believe in their offensive line.

They completed the NFL draft Saturday showing just how much faith they have in new coordinator Mike Tice's ability to upgrade the unit with an offseason of coaching and a playbook that has been overhauled since the departure of former play-caller Mike Martz.

With fans clamoring for help on the offensive line since free agency opened, the Bears didn't add a single lineman in the draft. The only moves with veterans have been the release of Frank Omiyale and the addition of veteran guard Chilo Rachal, a depth signing that might not affect the starting five.

General manager Phil Emery completed his first draft in selecting Temple tight end Evan Rodriguez in the fourth round and adding a pair of cornerbacks — Nevada's Isaiah Frey in the sixth round and TCU's Greg McCoy in the seventh. The entire draft developed in such a way that the Bears didn't see value in linemen, especially when they had a chance to go for a playmaker in Round 2.

"What leads you to not draft a specific position — and you have to look at all the positions — is what players are on the board who can get us there the quickest?" Emery said. "I will say (wide receiver Alshon Jeffery in the second round), was a shining light up there. He was the highest-rated player on our board and the highest player available to make plays that determine winning games.

"When you do that, some positions are going to go by the wayside, whether it's O-line, whatever. You take the best player who's going to make the most plays for you, who gives you the best chance of winning."

Coach Lovie Smith talked about adding talent to the line with former first-round picks Gabe Carimi and Chris Williams returning from injuries. But he wouldn't say if Williams will be back at left guard where he started nine games last season.

"We've added a couple of guys and there are still a few options out there," Smith said. "Believe me, we want to do everything we can to open up holes for our running backs and protect Jay Cutler. We felt like we'll be able to do that."

Ultimately, Emery said his job came down to building the team around Cutler. The Bears have signed 15 players, including some of their own free agents, and have drafted six others. Four of them, including Jeffery, were wide receivers with Brandon Marshall the biggest addition.

"We now have the weapons," he said. "When I came in here our first press conference we talked a little bit about what are your thoughts, philosophies? That's what I saw about our roster, that we needed to develop weapons for Jay. And we feel good about where we're at in that progress."

Rodriguez is part of that group. The Bears like his ability to be a pass-catching tight end and contribute as an H-back with the ability to help block on the edge. He's undersized at just under 6 feet 2, 239 pounds, but he runs well and is athletic. He could push fullback Tyler Clutts for a roster spot.

Rodriguez compared himself to Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez. He will have to be a major statistical contributor to pull that off. It is clear Emery is looking for those players, though.

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Why would you want to push Tyler Clutts off the roster? The guy is a cheap answer to a position that, for the most part, was largely ignored by Mike Martz during the two years he was the Bears' offensive coordinator.

Per Kevin Seifert:

The Chicago Bears' decision not to draft a lineman would appear an endorsement of their returning starters. So it's worth noting that coach Lovie Smith refused to say where offensive lineman Chris Williams will play in 2012, calling into question the short- and long-term future of the Bears' No. 1 draft choice in 2008.

First, here's what Smith said when asked if Williams would resume his role as left guard when training camp begins: "I can't tell you that right now. We have options with him. We'll see how it all shakes out. Chris, of course, can do both [guard and tackle]. Right now, we're two weeks into our offseason program. Let us get into it a little more and we'll be able to define some roles a little better."

That's hardly an endorsement for a player who has started at right tackle, left tackle and left guard in his disappointing career. Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune makes some excellent points in suggesting Williams' most likely 2012 destination is a swing backup.


If he becomes a backup, and they had to have figured that out before the draft, meaning they shoulda draft DeCastro. To me tho, it sounds like tackle is an option again.

I dunno. C Will was a pretty good guard before he went down. Not Carl Nicks or anything, but certainly worth keeping at LG.

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Originally Posted by Henry Burris

Per Kevin Seifert:

The Chicago Bears' decision not to draft a lineman would appear an endorsement of their returning starters. So it's worth noting that coach Lovie Smith refused to say where offensive lineman Chris Williams will play in 2012, calling into question the short- and long-term future of the Bears' No. 1 draft choice in 2008.

First, here's what Smith said when asked if Williams would resume his role as left guard when training camp begins: "I can't tell you that right now. We have options with him. We'll see how it all shakes out. Chris, of course, can do both [guard and tackle]. Right now, we're two weeks into our offseason program. Let us get into it a little more and we'll be able to define some roles a little better."

That's hardly an endorsement for a player who has started at right tackle, left tackle and left guard in his disappointing career. Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune makes some excellent points in suggesting Williams' most likely 2012 destination is a swing backup.


If he becomes a backup, and they had to have figured that out before the draft, meaning they shoulda draft DeCastro. To me tho, it sounds like tackle is an option again.

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Good post Henry. Seifert gets to the heart of the matter.

I don't think there's any question CWill is a potential move back to LT at least to see if he can handle it now that he's had a few years NFL experience under his belt. Even as a rookie he didn't do horribly when they gave him his first shot at it and if he hadn't struggled with that back injury maybe it would have made a difference.

I always try to examine this stuff based on logic and here's what I see. CWill is in his contract year so we have a decision to make with him to extend or not extend. If he can play LT he becomes far more valuable to us than he is as an OG even if it's only as a swing OT for now. If we'd have had someone else to play LG before he was hurt I think he would have been a better option at RT than Louis.

Tice seems determined about two things. One is that he really wants to leave Carimi at RT where his run blocking can be better used and two he honestly believes he can make and NFL LT out of Webb. But.....he needs a contingency plan if he's wrong and CWill is a possibility for that if they don't bring in a guy like Adam Goldberg and maybe even if they do. Gotta know what we're gonna do with him after this year when he comes off his rookie contract.

Realizing there was some chance DeCastro would be there at #19 (and he was) they had a choice to make. Do they take him or stick to the plan of getting a DE? Enter Chilo Rachal and the decision of what to do is now cast in stone. They're gonna take a DE. Rachal was as highly rated as an OG in his draft as DeCastro and even if he's been as stoned ass failure so far he hasn't had Tice coaching him and there's always a chance he can get better in Chicago. At the worst he also provides more depth and competition at OG in the event CWill gets shifted back to OT.

Rachal isn't a better prospect than DeCastro but he was the closest we could get in FA as far as potential is concerned. The guy can be a beast if they can keep him consistent and teach him how to pass block. So if we move CWill we still have Rachal, EWill, Spencer, and Louis all with experience to compete for the two OG slots and we have Ricky Henry and a couple of others behind them.

The conclusion I draw from this is at the very least they've prepared for the possibility of doing it. Whether it happens or not all depends on Webb and CWill and how things look as they go through OTA's and camp. JMHO.

I don't see any major changes happening on the offensive line, in my humble opinion. Like you said, soul, Tice thinks Webb can become a solid pro LT, and as long as he's coaching the Bears' offense, that's exactly what's going to happen. I also don't see Chris Williams playing anywhere other than LG unless Webb comes back as bad or worse than he was, in which case he would be the logical choice in lieu of Carimi of moving over to LT.