Thread: Webb's doin' better

Originally Posted by short faced bear

I don't know about all that. In the age of pass first teams less emphasis is on the run making it seem like the D has caught up. Some teams have some real nice blocking schemes. Everything in the NFL is relative and cyclical. Plus the rules tend to slant towards the O. I'm sure we'll see some new iteration that is clever and complex in it's pass-blocking.

I agree. I think we may be saying the same thing. I guess one point I'm trying to make is that "blocking" is SO much more than just an "offensive line thing" now. More so than ever before. A great blocking team even has decent help from WR's. With defenses evolved to an extremely high degree of complexity, you have to have more than just 5 solid oline guys.

Last year there were a lot of times where defenders came in untouched to blow up our QB's. It looked to me like these were times where players simply didn't understand WHO was responsible for blocking that guy. You'd see a double-team on another player instead, so the defender would have a clear shot to unload on our QB. Sometimes the RB would just ignore the guy coming in like he didn't even REGISTER the fact that SOMEONE needed to pick up that defender with a block.

These are things I hope Tice can clean up this year. It's not just a problem with an oline player (although we have our share of these problems too). It's a problem with understanding blocking assignments.

Better than what??? LOL

When you're the lowest ranked LT in the NFL wouldn't it be a little hard to say that he was doing any worse?

I admit that I didn't see enough of the game to judge so I'll just rely on what you guys saw. My guess is that he is improving but that still doesn't mean he reached the competent stage yet. They play the Giants this week and the starters will play the entire first half and probably a little of the 3rd Q as well so I can see Tice letting the competition run through this weekend at both LT and LG.

The way it looks today is that Webb and Rachal may be in the lead but who know where we'll be a week from now. None of these guys are playing standout ball so far. I think the guy who may be in real danger of getting cut is Spencer. If he can't take that starting spot at LG I can't see than keeping him based on his cap hit. Together Rachal and EWill don't make half of what Spencer is due this year.

Originally Posted by Riczaj01

Why didn't they move Garza back to his G spot, and let Spencer play C, so they can both do what they showed they can do at a pro level? Spencer at C, Cwill/Garza at G's, and the interior looks really good right about now.

It's not a bad idea. And w/Garza as LG he could perhaps help Webb. Or maybe the line could just rotate like in volleyball lol. Hell at this rate everyone's going to have played every position on the line.

Originally Posted by Riczaj01

Remember that JA actually built that SB OL via FA not draft; his mistake was ignoring it afterwards to the point of no return. I'm a big fan of building a line via FA, but certain positions will always struggle to find or overpay, LT is one of them. Gotta find that guy in the draft, and the majority of the time it's early in the draft.

Both good points Ric but the Bear's dilemma is gonna be that if we stay on top record wise we'll never draft low enough to ever get that stud sure thing LT in the draft. There are only ever one or two guys in any draft class that have the skills to become day one starters at LT. After that you have to get real lucky.

If Emery tries to plug that hole in FA it's big $$$ if you want a top guy. If you saw the post I did of Jake Longs last contract you get an idea of what it will cost to get a guy like him. Ouch! Given these two factors I think we can all see why Tice is working so hard to make a half way decent LT out of Webb. The other options don't look good.

JA did do a pretty decent job of cobbling together a decent line out of FA's but he dropped the ball after that twice as far getting the help we needed. The first was when he fell asleep at the wheel and let the Broncos "leap frog" us for Clady and the second time was last summer when there was an entire herd of decent lineman to be had and he came away with zip. He let a few good pitches go by then swung and missed on two more. He whiffed big time!

After this season Emery will have his second big challenge as far as rebuilding that offense and it's probably gonna need to come from FA without somehow breaking the bank. Let's just hope a couple of these guys step up their play this year and make his job a little easier for him.

Originally Posted by soulman

Better than what??? LOL

When you're the lowest ranked LT in the NFL wouldn't it be a little hard to say that he was doing any worse?

I admit that I didn't see enough of the game to judge so I'll just rely on what you guys saw. My guess is that he is improving but that still doesn't mean he reached the competent stage yet. They play the Giants this week and the starters will play the entire first half and probably a little of the 3rd Q as well so I can see Tice letting the competition run through this weekend at both LT and LG.

The way it looks today is that Webb and Rachal may be in the lead but who know where we'll be a week from now. None of these guys are playing standout ball so far. I think the guy who may be in real danger of getting cut is Spencer. If he can't take that starting spot at LG I can't see than keeping him based on his cap hit. Together Rachal and EWill don't make half of what Spencer is due this year.

My gut feeling is that the Bears will go with Webb, Rachel, Garza, Lance Louis, Carimi, (LT to RT). I'm not saying this is MY pick, but that it looks like they may be the Bears starters when the dust settles. That would be a decent oline (for us anyway). None of these guys are standout players, but they are all decent enough to let us have a solid season.

C.Will is probably going to be our backup tackle. E.Will our backup center (he looks pretty good to me). Spencer could be a decent backup guard. So we'd have decent depth if we have injuries. Brown isn't ready for prime time NFL work yet. Maybe keep him on PS as a "project".

I can't believe the Bears would go with Spencer as a starter (anything) due to his play deteriorating this year. I'd rather see E.Will as our backup center than Spencer. I like Lance Louis over Spencer at RG. Louis is a guy on his way up, and Spencer just looks bad.

Originally Posted by Riczaj01

Why didn't they move Garza back to his G spot, and let Spencer play C, so they can both do what they showed they can do at a pro level? Spencer at C, Cwill/Garza at G's, and the interior looks really good right about now.

Nah, Garza knows the line calls and he did a bang up job last year for never having played OC as a pro except a game or two as a sub long ago. He's probably as good or better at OC than he was at OG, he's cheaper than Spencer and he's signed through 2013 whereas Spencer is in his last year of his. If you start him at OC he becomes less expendable and you need to extend his deal.

This way they can cut Spencer is he can't win the starting job at LG and shave some cap $$$. If Spencer isn't good enough to start at OG then as long as EWill is here Spencer is expendable. I think the reason they signed Rachal to compete with him is that his cap cost is $3 mil less than Spencer's. If we can regain some cap we can use that for extensions later this year and there are a few who will be due one.

Originally Posted by VJ18

if your willing to give up 2 1st for Long and dump Urlacher and a few others guys like Hester then i think we might have a chance

Jake Long will be an FA in 2013. There's no need to give up picks for him. If he doesn't stay in Miami he can go wherever he likes. He may well be next years Mario Williams so you line up and take your best shot.