Thread: Chicago Bears Roster Battle: Chris Spencer and Chilo Rachal

Originally Posted by soulman

But Brandon is strictly a RT so he does you no good in that reserve spot and so far Brown looks like he's been getting pushed around a lot. I think he needs more bulk and more strength before he'd be ready for a start. You could push the hell out of him and maybe get him ready by later in the season but not before the opener.

I don't disagree with you mo, or anyone else for that matter, as it relates to CWill's overall skills at OT but as it stands right now he's all we've got in the way of a vet OT. Neither Brandon or Brown could even handle starting at one OT spot let alone be in a position to be one snap away from having to start at either. They're not ready yet and it would be an even bigger disaster. Think OMG type blocking.

Our best bet is the possibility of picking up a guy whose been released by another team who can still play but he's lost his starters job and he's too expensive to keep as a backup. Essentially the OT equivalent of Spencer if he doesn't win that LG spot. A guy like that is a $1 mil or less insurance policy who can backup at LT or RT and then maybe we can move CWill to OG but without that guy I think we're stuck keeping him in reserve. JMHO.

Regardless of whatever happens this season, soul, we have to address this issue once and for all this off season. We have had ample opportunity over the past five years to build this offensive line into a force to be reckoned through both the draft and in free agency, and have thus far failed miserably in doing so. Now, I know that it's rare that unless you're the New England Patriots or the New Orleans Saints from past years, a team usually doesn't have a dominant offensive line, including virtually all Super Bowl champions since 2005, but we barely have a serviceable unit in which two positions are still up for grabs because Mike Tice is so uncomfortable with the current state of the left side that he "can't sleep at night." If Tice honestly thinks he can coach this group up, he's mistaken, because just like in college football and college basketball, you can only do so much with so-so talent before the lack of athletic merits come up to bite the team in the ass.