Thread: How do you rank our 1st six offensive linemen 1-6?

1. Carimi hasn't played much at all, but he's special

2. C. Will has matured into a great LG. I don't know, maybe he'll be a solid LT too.

3 & 4. is a tie between Garza and Spencer. Both are solid, but not great players.

5. Louis, is a borderline starter. He does some things very well though.

6. Webb has the raw physical talent to be our #1 lineman IMHO. But so far we're still waiting to see the talent translate into solid play on game day.

Originally Posted by JustAnotherBearsFan99

I'm curious. How do you rank our oline players best to worst (1 is best, 6 is worst)? Not their potential, but where they are at right now, for this season.

Web - C.Will - Spencer - Garza - Louis - Carimi

Garza - Carimi - CWill - Louis - Spencer - Webb

I realize Carimi hasn't played much but the guy is truly a beast of an OT. I just wish he had all of the goods to play LT instead of RT. CWill, Louis, and Spencer are almost too close to call. Louis will be a much better player at OG than OT and Spencer played surprisingly well for playing OG for the first time.

If it worked out the way I'd like to see it go then CWill will be playing LT this year and Webb will be the swing tackle. Spencer will play LG next to CWill and the pass protection will be better. Rachal will back up at both OG spots and EWill at OC. It looks like he's the heir apparent to Garza. Carimi and Louis who are both brutal run blockers take the right side which is where we run most of the time anyway.

That's the way it looks now but there's some young talent that's gonna be hungry to make the roster so once the pads go one one of those guys may pop out of nowhere. For instance. It might be risky to leave James Brown and Ricky Henry on the PS. Both could get signed away and those are two guys who may have starting potential in another year or two.

The main thing is to get the starting five set as early as possible then let the rest fight for the backup spots. Once that's established the backups can compete with the starters and try to unseat them. Tice always says he's going with his top five and unless Webb shows that he's really improved the mental part of his game he isn't among the top five. JMO

Originally Posted by soulman

Garza - Carimi - CWill - Louis - Spencer - Webb

I realize Carimi hasn't played much but the guy is truly a beast of an OT. I just wish he had all of the goods to play LT instead of RT. CWill, Louis, and Spencer are almost too close to call. Louis will be a much better player at OG than OT and Spencer played surprisingly well for playing OG for the first time.

If it worked out the way I'd like to see it go then CWill will be playing LT this year and Webb will be the swing tackle. Spencer will play LG next to CWill and the pass protection will be better. Rachal will back up at both OG spots and EWill at OC. It looks like he's the heir apparent to Garza. Carimi and Louis who are both brutal run blockers take the right side which is where we run most of the time anyway.

That's the way it looks now but there's some young talent that's gonna be hungry to make the roster so once the pads go one one of those guys may pop out of nowhere. For instance. It might be risky to leave James Brown and Ricky Henry on the PS. Both could get signed away and those are two guys who may have starting potential in another year or two.

The main thing is to get the starting five set as early as possible then let the rest fight for the backup spots. Once that's established the backups can compete with the starters and try to unseat them. Tice always says he's going with his top five and unless Webb shows that he's really improved the mental part of his game he isn't among the top five. JMO

Interesting seeing Garza at the top of your list. I think of Garza and Spencer as being very similar talent level (I like Spencer's play, and of course I do like all that Garza has done for us). But I can see where a case could be made for Garza being best due to the fact he sets our line every play. He's smart, and gives all out effort. Can you imagine what we'd have in Webb if he did the same?

Originally Posted by JustAnotherBearsFan99

Interesting seeing Garza at the top of your list. I think of Garza and Spencer as being very similar talent level (I like Spencer's play, and of course I do like all that Garza has done for us). But I can see where a case could be made for Garza being best due to the fact he sets our line every play. He's smart, and gives all out effort. Can you imagine what we'd have in Webb if he did the same?

Yeah, a taco buffet for a pregame meal and cluster fuck once the game started.

Garza his a tough cookie and he's grown pretty crafty over the years. Making that shift couldn't have been easy yet I think we came out even better than if Olin would have played. Hell he made it as a pro bowl alternate which is something he never accomplished in ten years of playing OG.

I gave it to him based as much on his intangibles as his blocking ability and that's pretty fair too. If we swapped Garza and Spencer back to their usual spots I'm not certain that would improve anything. Both did pretty well playing different spots. Maybe it was because they had to focus more and put more effort into it.

Based on pure blocking ability I'd pick Carimi but he still needs to learn a few lessons that only come with time and experience. The guy I'm looking for to really break out is Louis. Tice has been grooming him to start too and this is his chance. If he can't take and keep that RG spot he may not be back so he's another guy who's playing for his contract.

Carimi - CWill - Louis - Garza - Spencer - Webb

It is interesting to see how others view the oline players. I'm encouraged that everyone sees Louis as better than I had him rated. I didn't think of him as a bad player, but just as a borderline starter. Clearly you guys see more talent there, and I'm really hoping that's right.

I was also surprised by how well-regarded Garza is by posters here. I think you guys are right on this. I thought he was solid, but that was about it. But after reading your posts, I do agree that he has done one heck of a job moving to center. He is rock solid there. So THAT was encouraging to read here.

I noticed Webb is dead-last in ratings here. I felt that way too, but wasn't sure how low others would rate him.

It will be interesting to see if Chris Williams will be solid at LT if Webb doesn't make it as a starter. Chris has made great strides at LG. I'm hoping that will translate into an improvement at LT. It certainly could. He has SO much more NFL experience as a starter now at guard. And he was pretty green when he last played LT. So this will be interesting to watch this year.

I guess I'm encouraged now. Thanks for everyone's 2-cents worth here. I wasn't sure how everyone was viewing the talent. Now I know.

The advantage Louis has if he's finally learned how to harness it is he has incredible strength coupled with great athleticism. He's athletic enough to have played some TE in college along with LT. The kid can move as far as getting out in front of runs and there were also some instances last year when he flat out "pancaked" guys. I mean put them flat on their backs.

His biggest problems seem to stem from the fact that he wanted to do that every play and the quicker craftier DT's made him pay for it. He ended up lunging instead of blocking and allowed himself to get all off balance then he was easy to beat. That's just a technique thing so it con be fixed with some better coaching.

Carimi is just a natural lineman and he comes from a school that produces very good NFL lineman. When you figure he came in as a freshman and took over Joe Thomas' spot at LT and kept it for four years he has to have something on the ball. I think he could play LT if he had to but his run blocking skills make him more of a natural for RT. Having him back will make a big difference this year.