Anyone else here believe the oline woes are being blown out of proportion?

You can put me officially on record (if there is such an animal :smile:) as believing the offensive line will be "decent" and plenty "good enough" for us to have a solid year. Yes, Cutler will be hurried at times and have some hits & sacks, like any other QB in the NFL this season. But it won't be like last year. Not even close.

Think about it.

How could it NOT be better than last year? We have a lot of young people who will be 1 year better. This includes Webb. We have a better OC, will have plays called that better match our personnel. Carimi is back.

We have THREE 1st round draft picks on that line!

And I'll be honest here. I've closely watched Webb work at camp, and I've watched that 1st pre-season game repeatedly. I don't see what others are claiming. He blew some plays, but he looked pretty darned good to me on almost all of his pass protection. He had 1 false start (not exactly a criminal offense in your first pre-season game). He allowed 1 sack in 4 quarters of play. Again, I'm not going to say the season is over - with 1 sack allowed in the first pre-season game.

So, I am going to believe my own eyes and not blindly accept what some other people are saying.

I almost think it's in vogue this pre-season, to jump on the "Sky is Falling" bandwagon and claim the oline is going to wreck our season. I just don't see it. I just don't believe it.

Feel free to call me a delusional lunatic, and maybe I am http://www.dabears.com/images/smilies/Default/smile.gif
but the more I think this through, and watch the players, I can't honestly come to any other conclusion.

I believe in the power of pixy dust over talent it makes logical sense

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Originally Posted by JustAnotherBearsFan99

You can put me officially on record (if there is such an animal :smile:) as believing the offensive line will be "decent" and plenty "good enough" for us to have a solid year.

Think about it.

How could it NOT be better than last year? We have a lot of young people who will be 1 year better. This includes Webb. We have a better OC, will have plays called that better match our personnel. Carimi is back.

We have THREE 1st round draft picks on that line!

And I'll be honest here. I've closely watched Webb work at camp, and I've watched that 1st pre-season game repeatedly. I don't see what others are claiming. He blew some plays, but he looked pretty darned good to me on almost all of his pass protection. He had 1 false start (not exactly a criminal offense in your first pre-season game). He allowed 1 sack in 4 quarters of play. Again, I'm not going to say the season is over - with 1 sack allowed in the first pre-season game.

So, I am going to believe my own eyes and not blindly accept what some other people are saying.

I almost think it's in vogue this pre-season, to jump on the "Sky is Falling" bandwagon and claim the oline is going to wreck our season. I just don't see it. I just don't believe it.

Feel free to call me a lunatic :smile:

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You're a lunatic. :lol-027:

But maybe not by a whole lot. After Turnstyle Miller, Orlando Off-Pace, Metcalf, OMG, and a few others, we have seen enough pathetic o-line performances to be permanently scarred. So when Webb shows up and starts right in with the false starts and sacks allowed, we're all scared to death of another repeat performance. It doesn't take much to jump on the bandwagon and persecute the guy. Especially with his apparent attitude (lack thereof) and the Webb Nation.

You are correct in your observations of camp and the first game. I fear it will be more of the same, but maybe, just maybe, he'll be okay.

I have to disagree with your confidence in the line based on having three 1st round picks in it. 1st round picks haven't been very good. Enis the Penis? Rashaan Salami? Cedric Bumson? A 1st round pick doesn't always play like a 1st round pick should.

I belive Mike Martz and J.A. for increasing the skill of the Oline by 50%.
I don't go by the sky is falling either, I stay optimistic and hope for the best. I mean it can't get any worse than last year?

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Originally Posted by Shark86x

You're a lunatic. :lol-027:

But maybe not by a whole lot. After Turnstyle Miller, Orlando Off-Pace, Metcalf, OMG, and a few others, we have seen enough pathetic o-line performances to be permanently scarred. So when Webb shows up and starts right in with the false starts and sacks allowed, we're all scared to death of another repeat performance. It doesn't take much to jump on the bandwagon and persecute the guy. Especially with his apparent attitude (lack thereof) and the Webb Nation.

You are correct in your observations of camp and the first game. I fear it will be more of the same, but maybe, just maybe, he'll be okay.

I have to disagree with your confidence in the line based on having three 1st round picks in it. 1st round picks haven't been very good. Enis the Penis? Rashaan Salami? Cedric Bumson? A 1st round pick doesn't always play like a 1st round pick should.

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Great points (my wife and kids would agree with you too....on the lunatic accusation) :smile:

On that last point, regarding 1st round picks, I definitely agree that they don't automatically pan out as good players. But I also think there is some level of talent in 3 first rounders. And I'm definitely not saying they're great talents (Carimi may be one down the road), but they count for at least average talent. C.Will (one of our first rounders, looked solid to me all last season at LG). Spencer is a center from Seattle, that played decent RG last year. He looked rough in our 1st pre-season game, but I have to believe he'll adjust and improve as he gets reps at this new position. That's not illogical to expect of any player moved to his 3rd NFL position in a few seasons. You may not look razor-sharp in your 1st pre-season game at the new position.

I guess I'm just asking folks to think this through and not just "parrot" what some fans and writers are wailing about. Don't do the "Fan Diva" thing and get caught up in the drama - thinking we're doomed with a crap offensive line, at least not at this early point in time. Use your God-given sense and WATCH the players with an open mind. If you see a botched play, ask yourself if this may (just may) be normal in an early pre-season game - or does the botched play mean our entire season is going to tank, like some of the "Chicken Littles" are saying. I don't think the sky is falling.

Not yet anyway.

I believe the line will be helped w/scheme. I also believe that past the halfway point in the season the line will gel more.

That being said if anyone actually saw Webb's mechanics and technique it's a red flag. Second is taking the best OG and putting him at LT. It will work but it will be eventually. Next is replacing Cwill with Spencer, again it will work but will take time. Not a talent upgrade at the position.

The flip side is there will be tremendous flexibility in case of injury so that is a good thing.

Bottom line is it is still a new system, there is talent but it is dislocated in other directions and either way next year will require a talent overhaul equivalent to what happened to the WR's this year.

Not worried.

The OL can be " GOOD" this year if only one person will be needing help ( TE, RB chipping), they can survive. But if more then one needs to have help in someway then NO !

I think the OL is still shit yet the offensive additions will help out a lot with spreading the defenses. Brandon Marshall will make teams pay when they blitz and leave him one on one to cover.

I am neither jumping on the "everything will be alright" bandwagon, nor the "O-Line will kill our season" bandwagon, and my opinion hasn't really changed just because of the first pre-season game. I just don't think we have enough information yet to know what we really have.


The Good news:


The optimists will tell you that the Martz scheme was terrible for O-Linemen, and they would be right, it was, and it always has been. To run the Martz offense to it's peak efficiency and to avoid killing your QB requires a near unanimous Pro-Bowl Line, and who the hell has that in 2012...who the hell can AFFORD that in 2012? If you pay for that, then there is no Matt Forte, Jay Cutler or Brandon Marshall.

The Optimists will tell you that another year of experience for these young guys could and likely will make a difference in how well they play, and they would more than likely be right again. They will also say that the new and improved WR corps will also help, and that would be right as well. We have guys healthy again (Gabe Carimi's knee, Chris Williams' wrist, and lets not forget Chris Spencer's healed hand).

All this point the O-Line arrow up and it's not just hubris, they are all valid points.

The Bad News:


Unfortunately, I watch the games with my eyes as well, and unfortunately 99, I see things differently. In contrast to what you have said about getting caught up by the media bad news, I have been frustrated by the fan and media buy in (up till this year) that some of these guys are serviceable. As I've said in other threads, I don't think most of these guys would even crack the starting line-up for most other teams, but especially not winners. The thing that's getting me pissed off is that the media and fans are throwing all the blame on Webb. In my opinion he is an immature dufus but he does have the physical tools, so if he ever does come around, he could at least do well, if not great. I also think Carimi is a good addition, but lets face it, he is still a heeling "yungun" and he'll get burned occasionally too.

I've been frustrated by the fact that some seem to think our interior is OK. I do not think it is, not at all. We certainly have volume, but we do not have quality. On the inside we have Spencer, Lewis, Edwin Williams, Garza, Chris Williams (potentially), Chilo Rachal, Ricky Henry, and a few other camp bodies. Now I like Garza, and he played Center last year FAR better than I thought he would, but really, who in here, besides perhaps Chris Williams, do we all think could play elsewhere? Spencer was a first rounder that Seattle gave up on. Rachal is a Second rounder that SF gave up on. Teams don't usually give up on high picks unless they are convinced they are not serviceable. The rest are late round projects that have been really iffy all along.

That interior that everyone seems to think is fine, or at least adequate, got stuffed last week. Now, I'm not uptight about that by itself, but it's a continuation of what I've seen over the course of the last two years. Anyone like our goal line production over the last couple of years? Is that all on Forte? Not in my opinion. Our guys get shoved back routinely. Unless you've got a RB like Walter or Barry Sanders (they broke the mold on both those guys, so they aren't making them anymore) that can bounce outside and still get to the edge before the Linebacker or Safety does, then your going to get exactly what we have gotten.

Summation:


I don't know what we are going to have. I think both viewpoint have merit, and I hope to see these guys get better as a unit. I'm not holding my breath, but I'm not discounting it either. Let's just say I'm hopefully optimistic, but generally realistic. Unfortunately, there isn't a damn thing any of us can do about it anyway, so we might as well just watch what happens and hope for the best.