Thread: Draft strategy for olinemen

I agree Soul. You can get outstanding talent on the interior line in the 2nd and 3rd round. And there's countless players who were drafted in later rounds who had stellar careers (Jeff Saturday was not drafted, just as Hilgenberg wasn't).

But a LT is a rare breed. I agree that most will need work at the NFL level to pan out (that's why I haven't given up hope with Webb being solid).

Chris Williams, IMHO, is a real solid LG. He's definitely a quality interior lineman. But he's not the answer at LT. I classify that as our experiment to make Hester a true #1 WR. Hester has great value to our team. He's probably going to be a powerful weapon in the slot. But he's no more a #1 WR than Chris Williams is a LT.

Well we'll know soon enough about CWill. Once camp starts and the pads go on they're both gonna have to face Pep daily so that's about as good an opponent as you can get. CWill has got the athleticism to play LT but it's been a while since he's played on the outside which is kind of a handicap but Webb has to have somebody to challenge him.

I love to see the competition at LT. It's great. Webb certainly seems like the kind of guy who needs to be pushed. If Webb doesn't improve, then we can probably get by with Chris Williams. I hate that because I believe Chris is an excellent LG for us, but a mediocre (at best) LT. I sure hope Webb can step his game up.

Bears will go OLine, LB and RB next year with THEIR first 3 selections

Fans love the "glitzy" picks in the draft. WR's, franchise RB's, TE's who they feel will be great, and certainly QB's are the darlings of the NFL. Most fans don't give a crap about the oline. Oh, they are the first to complain when their season ends up in the toilet due to a crappy oline. But they often feel it's due to the "glitzy" positions needing upgrades.

But, often this is simply NOT the problem. It's like "treating the symptoms and not the disease" because the oline has the power to make every weapon on offense better. A lot better. It's one of the few positions on a football team that produces multiple benefits. The oline gives tremendous "bang for the buck" too. It's a great value-way to upgrade a team through the draft. A relatively modest investment can bring HUGE benefits to a team - and since great olinemen often last for over 10 years (often 12 to 14 great years), it's a bargain to draft great oline talent.

I watch the old clips on NFL network quite often. They'll show the greatest offensive players in the history of the NFL (top 10, top 100, greatest this or that players). Watch the oline work in those clips. The QB usually has all day to pass, the RB's have holes big enough to drive a '58 Buick through untouched, TE's and WR's have all day to run perfect routes. But it's the oline that makes it all work.

I get crap all the time from people on message boards who don't believe this......allthough the guys on this board seem to have high football IQ's in comparison with most football boards.......but I'm telling you, our season will largely depend upon:

#1 Our key players staying healthy
#2 Oline being solid

Yes, all 53 players are important too. Yes, we need a solid defense. Yes, the new toys on offense need to be good. But it really comes down mostly to #1 and #2 factors (above) IMHO. There's no magic bullet here.

Originally Posted by BigBadPapaBear

LOL You're right.

Make it and even four,LOL. Gabe Carimi's predecessor at Wisconsin, Joe Thomas, has done pretty well too. It's just a shame he's stuck in Cleveland but as I was saying before that the way it usually ends up. The best LT are playing for crappier teams because those are the teams who drafted high enough to take them. For the rest it's a process of developing one out of lesser picks.