"Gabe Carimi: Guard, tackle -- or neither?" - (GREAT READ!)

What do you guys think?

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LINK to the article

Gabe Carimi: Guard, tackle -- or neither?


The Chicago Bears' emergency shift of Gabe Carimi begs a question, but perhaps not the one you're thinking. At some point, the Bears might have to address whether he can be a long-term answer at guard despite an atypical body type. More pressing, however, is whether Carimi has already demonstrated that he can't play tackle.

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AP Photo/David StlukaGabe Carimi will start at right guard for the Bears on Sunday.

Carimi's embarrassing performance Nov. 19 against theSan Francisco 49ers was the most visible evidence of what has been a season-long problem. In 10 starts this season, Carimi was by some measures one of the NFL's worst pass-blocking tackles. His reputation as a strong run blocker is well-earned, but a tackle who can't protect the edge at least most of the time will have a hard time staying on the field.

Pro Football Focus (PFF), which charts the result of each block for every game, has Carimi with 44 quarterback disruptions on 347 snaps as a pass-blocker this season. That figure includes seven sacks, 28 pressures and nine quarterback hits, and it qualifies him for the third-worst pass-blocking efficiency among NFL tackles this season.

"He is simply awful in protection," said Matt Williamson of Scouts Inc. "He gets beat with power, speed, you name it."

Sometimes a below-average pass-blocker can be protected if he moves to guard, but Williamson suggested that Carimi's 6-foot-7 frame could be a hindrance there.

"Being so tall on the interior is really tough when trying to get leverage against B.J. Raji/Vince Wilfork types," Williamson said. "If/when he plays high, NFL defensive tackles are going to totally walk him deep into the pocket. And now that liability is even closer to the quarterback than when he was at right tackle."

Carimi is expected to start at right guard Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks, mostly because the Bears' options are limited. Two guards who have started games this season, Lance Louisand Chilo Rachal, won't play again in 2012. A third, Chris Spencer, has a knee injury that could sideline him for a week or two.

In the long-term, however, the Bears must decide whether a poor 10-game stretch is enough to render final judgment on a former first-round draft pick who has made a total of 12 NFL starts. My guess is Carimi will get another chance, especially considering how well he has blocked for the run.

Williamson said Carimi has been "an excellent run-blocker" and thus should still be considered a prospect with "starting right tackle abilities." PFF rates him third among all NFL tackles in run-blocking. As a right tackle in a run-based offense, Carimi doesn't have to be an elite pass-blocker. But he does need to be much better than he was this season.

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Here's another good read that says Carimi will be just fine. I don't know what to believe, but I'd sure like to believe THIS article is a better evaluation of Carimi & Webb.

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LINK to the article

An NFL scout’s take on Bears’ erratic offensive line


The phone call was made in search of an explanation that was not forthcoming, at least about a subject that has had Bears fans scratching their heads and pulling out their hair simultaneously.

How can an offensive line bullied by the 49ers dominate an above-average Vikings front seven six days later?

“It happens all the time,” said a veteran NFL scout who specializes in offensive line play. “Green Bay got shattered by New York [on Monday night]. They weren’t close to what they were capable of doing. Watch them this week.

“It’s human nature. I can’t explain it. Nobody can. If you could you would be a billionaire. If you could define human emotion when it comes to a football team or human performance we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now. It happens. It just does.

“You wonder sometimes. You want to count on this and you want to count on that but you can’t count on anything. There’s an emotional factor and sometimes it rules the game.”

This scout shares his opinion about the Bears offensive line on one condition: “Keep my name out of it,” he says.
I prefer not to use anonymous sources but in this case it’s the only way to learn from someone who has studied every snap played by Bears offensive linemen this season. He will tell you what Mike Tice and Lovie Smith won’t without regard for bruised egos, locker room politics or organizational media policies.

Don’t expect a rip job, though, especially when it comes to second-year tackle Gabe Carimi, who was benched after being a big reason why the 49ers Aldon Smith had 5.5 sacks against the Bears on Monday night.

“He’s going to be all right,” the scout said of Carimi, who was the Bears first-round draft choice in 2011 before missing his rookie season with a dislocated kneecap. “He’ll re-establish himself. He wasn’t just a guy who got dominated. He had some breakdowns. He also had some very good plays.

“He got blamed a lot for the game in San Francisco but the guy playing on the other side [J’Marcus Webb] was equally guilty at times. I wouldn’t give up on Carimi. He’s a guy who will play there a long time.”

This scout has never been as down on left tackle J’Marcus Webb as the majority of Bears fans have been, and often with good reason. He sees a tackle that absorbs blows instead of inflicting them but insists that can be an effective approach with the proper footwork and technique.

He was especially impressed with how Webb responded to perhaps his worst effort of the season in San Francisco with one of his best against the Vikings.

“He took Jared Allen and pretty much won that battle across the board,” he said. “I don’t think he’s a quick-twitch athlete but he knows who he is and what he needs to do.”

When he says Jonathan Scott, who replaced Carimi at right tackle against the Vikings, is a lot like Webb, he doesn’t mean it as an insult. He knows all about the veteran Scott and was impressed by how he played against Vikings end Brian Robison, who was held to two tackles.

He agrees with Tice that Lance Louis was by far the Bears best offensive lineman this season but that doesn’t mean he believes the unit will derail the Bears after Louis was lost for the season with a torn ACL, which may force Carimi to move inside to guard.

“There are better lines but they’re good enough to keep on winning,” he said. “I don’t think people in Chicago should panic about what they have there. Keep in mind, an awful lot of it — more than an awful lot — has to do with the ability of the quarterback to move around and create second chances for himself. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a better job of that than what [Cutler] did Sunday. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anybody put the ball in a two-foot window like he did eight times [against the Vikings]. Unbelievable.

“The week before, [backup quarterback Jason Campbell] didn’t do a very good job.”

The Bears aren’t alone. For whatever reason, inconsistent line play has become a league-wide epidemic. Not even the 49ers are immune. They played poorly up front when the Vikings pounded them 24-13 earlier this season.

“Sometimes there’s an urgency on a football team that’s difficult to define,” the scout said. “The 49ers had it against the Bears. The Bears had it against the Vikings. When the Vikings beat the 49ers, it was the other way around. Explain that one to me. Why that happens I can’t tell you.

“That’s why you have to be careful about throwing babies out with the bath water. You might be making a mistake. It might be Carimi benefits from this. I still think he’s going to be a good player.”

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Originally Posted by JustAnotherBearsFan99

Pro Football Focus (PFF), which charts the result of each block for every game, has Carimi with 44 quarterback disruptions on 347 snaps as a pass-blocker this season. That figure includes seven sacks, 28 pressures and nine quarterback hits, and it qualifies him for the third-worst pass-blocking efficiency among NFL tackles this season.

"He is simply awful in protection," said Matt Williamson of Scouts Inc. "He gets beat with power, speed, you name it."

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This is what Tice refers to as being well rounded

A band-aid at guard till spencer is back I would imagine, but HOPEFULLY a developing right tackle!

Next year will be the make it or break it year for Gabe in regards to his future with the Bears. He has two years left on his rookie deal and a six-figure roster bonus on the horizon in 2014 that what would put him over 2 million mark as a cap hit.

I want to see Carimi step up and do the best job he can not only for the Bears and Bears fan but for himself. If he can show that he is willing to do his best and this best is opening holes for our RBs and keeping Denfenders out of the back field we will all love the move. And hopefully next year without Tice and with a O line coach that can work with him he will because a top RT for the Bears for years to come.

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Originally Posted by draw2anderson35

A band-aid at guard till spencer is back I would imagine, but HOPEFULLY a developing right tackle!

Next year will be the make it or break it year for Gabe in regards to his future with the Bears. He has two years left on his rookie deal and a six-figure roster bonus on the horizon in 2014 that what would put him over 2 million mark as a cap hit.

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I agree. He's a band-aid for now and an RT-or-bust going forward. Next year will definitely be a decisive time for that decision. I'm inclined to side more with the second article than the first though that's partially out of hope. I have to believe that being a rookie and less than a year out from major knee surgery and missing a full offseason has a lot to with his struggles in pass pro this year. If he flops again next year though, the BUST flag will definitely come flying up the flagpole.

Hate to say it, but JA had all this info at his disposal. He had the "yellow flag" medical stuff and the knowledge the GC came from a run heavy program at Wisconsin so he probably didn't have much pass pro experience. It's should be no surprise that Carimi had a repeat patella subluxation and turned out to be way worse at pass pro than run blocking. As small consolation, the Packers have experienced both these issue too. Brian Bulaga, another UW OT, has struggled miserably in pass pro and Derek Sherrod, the OT drafted right after Carimi, has been injured much of the year.

Maybe Big10 lineman aren't the ones you really want to protect your QB (sacrilegious I know). Maybe Stanford and USC guys do that better since their teams actually throw the ball in a semi-pro style of offense.

As Sox put it on another thread Carimi could fill out nicely at OG. Not sure why this kid isn't getting the same (or at least a portion) of slack some of the other OL have gotten. 2 knee surgeries and he's still a rook, plus learning the nuances of RT.

At least give him another year. C'mon man!

yep agreed. I certainly have not given up on him even though during the 49ers game he played the worst I have ever seen a guy play on the OL. I want to see what happens next year. And honestly, Webb is getting better too.

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Originally Posted by short faced bear

As Sox put it on another thread Carimi could fill out nicely at OG. Not sure why this kid isn't getting the same (or at least a portion) of slack some of the other OL have gotten. 2 knee surgeries and he's still a rook, plus learning the nuances of RT.

At least give him another year. C'mon man!

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Originally Posted by bearsinhouston

yep agreed. I certainly have not given up on him even though during the 49ers game he played the worst I have ever seen a guy play on the OL. I want to see what happens next year. And honestly, Webb is getting better too.

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For Webb I'd say he's gone from horrible to bad with inconsistency between a decent and bad game. But it's no great boon for a LT to go from #32nd ranked LT to say #27. Does he get yet another year to go from #27 to twenty something?

C'mon man (Chris Carter voice)

Whenever I think about this, I keep coming back to the same thought.

Carimi has an impeccable pedigree for an NFL lineman coming out of college. He was LT for Wisconsin - a premier "oline factory" for sending stud OL to the NFL. And on top of that, he was the #1 olineman in the nation, winning the Outland Trophy as the #1 olineman in the entire United States.

Yeah, I have to believe the injury has temporarily set him back a bit. I can't imagine the remotest possibility of him being a bust.