Thread: Bears could have a steal in Troy left tackle James Brown

Right after the draft there was an interview that Tom Thayer did where he was asked about the Bears decision to not draft OLineman early in the draft. Thayer was a pro bowl RG during the 80's and a starter in the 86 Super Bowl Team so his is an opinion I would value. He knows something about the topic.

Thayer said that he believed the Bears had some talented players on the line but that injuries and shifting positions have made it difficult for them to settle guys into positions and keep them there. The net result of this is that guys are always learning something new themselves and also trying to learn what the guy next to them will do. In combination that tends to make them hesitant and slower in their response right after the snap. Their timing is off and instead of firing out and controlling their man they lose the ability to get the leverage they need to win the battle.

He also said that in some cases their technique was sloppy but easy enough to correct through coaching as the develop. The main point he emphasized was that it's difficult to get coordination and cohesiveness when you have players shifting positions or moving in and out of the starting spots on the line. These guys need to learn to synchronize their blocking with one another, especially their pass blocking, and that only comes from playing together over a period of time.

He looked at the line as they began the 2011 season and only one player, CWill, was in the same position he had started in the previous year. Then he added the lack of a regular offseason as another reason for their struggles and said that the results weren't that surprising. He thinks there's enough talent and depth there that once they work out the kinks they'll do OK. Thayer believes it's not as big a problem as many think it is.

We already know they can run block. It's mainly developing their pass blocking skills and getting coordinated they need to work on. I expect they'll still struggle a little during the first few games but after they settle in they'll be good enough to win with.

Several good points there. First, I had not thought about the fact C.Will was the only guy last season who was starting in the same place he'd been in the previous season. I'll bet that had a lot to do with his great play last year (I thought he was our most consistent lineman).

We are deep with talent this year on the interior of our line. Hopefully if one of those guys goes down, Tice simply plugs in the next guy on the depth chart, rather than doing the "musical chairs" with the guys switching to new positions.

It probably will help to have the C.Will/Webb battle, with the loser being our swing tackle. That way if a tackle goes down to injury, we simply plug in the swing tackle (again, instead of shifting players to new/unfamiliar positions). Injuries are going to happen every year. It will pay dividends if we have a pro-active plan in place to deal with those injuries that doesn't totally screw up the chemistry and timing of our offensive line.

One last point. I thought one significant part of our blocking problem last year was simply some confusion as to blocking assignments when there was a blitz. Blitzers often blew up Cutler due to the fact they were untouched by anyone blocking. Just a confusion situation that should not happen. It really made me pretty angry to see Cutler getting beat up on these plays. Hopefully, this season, the guys will better understand assignments in blitz situations (and part of this is definitely chemistry and communication on those plays).

Originally Posted by soulman

Right after the draft there was an interview that Tom Thayer did where he was asked about the Bears decision to not draft OLineman early in the draft. Thayer was a pro bowl RG during the 80's and a starter in the 86 Super Bowl Team so his is an opinion I would value. He knows something about the topic.

Thayer said that he believed the Bears had some talented players on the line but that injuries and shifting positions have made it difficult for them to settle guys into positions and keep them there. The net result of this is that guys are always learning something new themselves and also trying to learn what the guy next to them will do. In combination that tends to make them hesitant and slower in their response right after the snap. Their timing is off and instead of firing out and controlling their man they lose the ability to get the leverage they need to win the battle.

He also said that in some cases their technique was sloppy but easy enough to correct through coaching as the develop. The main point he emphasized was that it's difficult to get coordination and cohesiveness when you have players shifting positions or moving in and out of the starting spots on the line. These guys need to learn to synchronize their blocking with one another, especially their pass blocking, and that only comes from playing together over a period of time.

He looked at the line as they began the 2011 season and only one player, CWill, was in the same position he had started in the previous year. Then he added the lack of a regular offseason as another reason for their struggles and said that the results weren't that surprising. He thinks there's enough talent and depth there that once they work out the kinks they'll do OK. Thayer believes it's not as big a problem as many think it is.

We already know they can run block. It's mainly developing their pass blocking skills and getting coordinated they need to work on. I expect they'll still struggle a little during the first few games but after they settle in they'll be good enough to win with.

Originally Posted by BigBadPapaBear

I'm confident because if this line was as bad as everyone tries to suggest then they would have overhauled it this past offseason. I mean do we believe that Emery is a smart GM that knows how to assess this teams needs and strengths or don't we? We need to trust that he has an eye for talent, which I believe that he does. So let the cynics keep making fun of this O-line. It will just give me more ammo towards the end of the year to shred and slam all those who have mocked this O-line. And it will be well justified too. LOL

LOL, feel free to slam away at me bruh. However, keep in mind that if this line is bad, I don't necessarily blame Emery for not overhauling it in the off season. A new GM getting hired only shortly before the combine is already behind the 8 ball and playing catch-up. He depends heavily on the evaluation from his coaching staff, along with an abbreviated evaluation of his own. Couple that with the fact that there was very limited options and limited cap space to make all the changes one might want to make in only one off-season. I'll go one better. I still don't throw all the blame on Angelo either; 50% to 60%, yea, but again, GM's do not operate in a vacuum. They do a year end evaluation of their own players every year, and that evaluation includes the input from the coaches that work with these guys. I sincerely believe that part of our problem has been inaccurate or even misleading evaluations from Lovie and his coaching staff.

Bottom line is that I'm not convinced how our O-Line will be yet. There is enough evidence to suggest that they COULD improve, but lets face it, that's speculation and optimism. The facts show basically the same players (save for Carimi) that played last year and it was bad last year. So we hang our hats on a new Offense and a new scheme and an additional year of experience for these guys. It's possible that COULD be enough to show improvement because ALL of those factors are legitimate points, but it is far from convincing, at least for me that it will be enough to showed marked improvements.

I hope it is.

Originally Posted by Riczaj01

Multiple sources are saying Jeff Otah didn't pass his physical and is now back w/the Panthers....don't see a reason to pursue him at this point. I'll assume he'll get released and then we can check him out for free.

This is a setup that makes sense. If we trade for him we have to pick up his salary for 2012 whatever amount that may be. If the Panther's release him he's a FA and he signs for whatever someone is willing to offer him.

He might be worth taking a look at but only if the rookie James Brown looks like he's a year away from being able to hold down a backup job. I hate to trust any line position to a rookie, even a backup spot at OG or at Swing OT but if he's got the goods and needs to work regularly to get better now then there isn't any better way to do it.

That's why I still think Webb would be better off spending a year at Swing OT and we use CWill at LT this year.