Bears ready to size up offensive tackles

It is going to be interesting to see how much the oline can be improved for 2013. Mike Tice worked years on the oline, trying to develop young talent. For the most part, those were wasted years IMHO. If Louis comes back and can play well, then he's probably the only guy who made any significant improvement with Tice's coaching. I believe the oline actually regressed last year. We had a small army of max-protectors having to try and help the oline. It killed our offense.

I say this, not to trash Tice, but to point out that maybe the NEW coaches will need multiple years to develop players taken in the draft (certainly anyone taken AFTER the 1st round, is not a sure-fired solid starter in 2013). We may start them anyway, but that means another nail-biter year with a hit-and-miss offense.

Free agents can help us here, but they are usually way overpriced for what you get. If they truly are great, then their team is probably going to retain them. Yes, there are exceptions to this, but the exceptions are just that - exceptions.

So, where does that leave us for 2013? I do worry about this. I know Emery will bring in some good talent. I just don't know how good the overall offensive line will be this 2013 season.

When I think about these things, I sure get angry with the regime that was just run out of Halas Hall. Jerry Angelo, Lovie Smith & Mike Tice hurt us here. I include Tice because HE was the one crowing about how good the 2012 OL was going to be. That he was "good" with the players he had. It was all a bunch of crap.

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Originally Posted by weneedmorelinemen

This is why I have little respect for Bleacher Report. Long is not the must have LT. From the articles and radio bits I've heard about him, he's breaking down physically much too quick for his age. I don't want a guy that can't stay healthy, no matter how high profile he is.

Albert is the move I'd want in FA, but that's a big if too because I get the feeling he's a bit crazy about his worth. The fact that Demetress
Bell got a 35 million dollar deal last year makes me think we might be addressing our LT needs in the draft.

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I'm right there with you on the Albert thing. I think he's also capable of playing inside as well so in the event we do bring in a young kid who develops well or if my some strange quirk of fate Webb decides football is actually more important to him than what's on the dollar menu at McDs or Taco Bell he's a good man to have.

A few months ago Jack Bechta wrote an article for NFP in which he said that he believed FA prices would be less this year than last for two reasons. One is that the cap won't increase all that much and the other is that there a fewer teams with a huge cap excess as there were last year. That's what allowed a team like Tampa Bay to afford a couple of the major FA grabs they took on last year.

Actually if we could get either Bushrod or Albert for $35 mil/5yrs I'd consider that a good deal. I don't think Long will come anywhere near that cheaply despite his decline and health issues. I see Emery as a pretty shrewd guy when it comes to how he spends. He'll be looking for value instead of a marquee name and whatever move he does make may surprise us all much like the Marshall trade. From a dollars and cents standpoint he got a deal.

I don't know why there is so much focus on Bears in need to draft a OT. C or LG is way higher on my list. (I assume we land LT in FA)
We still don't know how good Carimi will be after all this was sort of a rookie season for him and wasn't probably 100% over hes injurie. So if we can land a LT in FA we can have Webb/Carimi battle for RT. Draft a Center(Hi Jones) move Garza to LG, Louis at RG.

FA-Garza-(Drafted guy perhaps Jones)-Louis-Webb/Carimi

Depending on how heavy we go in Draft on Oline men you could say
FA-Draft-Draft-Louis-Webb/Carimi
Need to get Garza's replacement in this years draft or next years.

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Originally Posted by ZifanQ

I don't know why there is so much focus on Bears in need to draft a OT. C or LG is way higher on my list. (I assume we land LT in FA)
We still don't know how good Carimi will be after all this was sort of a rookie season for him and wasn't probably 100% over hes injurie. So if we can land a LT in FA we can have Webb/Carimi battle for RT. Draft a Center(Hi Jones) move Garza to LG, Louis at RG.

FA-Garza-(Drafted guy perhaps Jones)-Louis-Webb/Carimi

Depending on how heavy we go in Draft on Oline men you could say
FA-Draft-Draft-Louis-Webb/Carimi
Need to get Garza's replacement in this years draft or next years.

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I think the emphasis on it is coming more from the sporstwriters trying to play GM than it is from the GM and coach themselves Zif. Others read that and pick up on it as if it was part of a Bears press release when it's not.

I'm sure Emery and Trestman are looking at lineman and OTs are part of that mix but to project that's where they'll concentrate their attention instead of other positions is nonsense. The need may be there but first and foremost Emery wants to draft good football players and if the best player on the board at #20 isn't an OT then I don't think he'll reach the way JA did when he drafted CWill.

We have needs at OG, OC and TE as well and on the defensive side of the ball at LB so who knows exactly what he'll do with his first two picks. I was surprised he took Jeffery last year and he's just as likely to surprise this year too if he finds a guy he wants.

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Originally Posted by inchibearfan

At the very least you draft a prospective LT and sign long. Bleacher report rated him as the 7th best tackle in the league and stated, "Long had a down year by his standards, but still allowed pressure on just 1.87 percent of snaps." He is no where as old as Pace was when we signed him. The fact is that even with all of his injuries he was still light years better than Webb.

Top 20 Offensive Tackles in the NFL: Using Advanced Stats to Select the Best OTs | Bleacher Report

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Very nice article/find. Thank you. The idea of counting pressures rather than sacks makes good sense as it seems less dependent upon the rest of the pass rush and the QB's maneuvers. It will be interesting is this guy does a 2012 season evaluation.

And as you say, Long is waaay younger than Pace was. Back injuries are scary but Long is 27 and seemed to recover. His torn bicep this year is not the type of injury that is recurrent so is probably bad luck. If he would come to the Bears at a modest (for quality LT) salary, I'd grab him. I doubt he is willing to play for what the Bears can afford though.

just look at lineman with 6'5 or higher.

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Originally Posted by soulman

I'm right there with you on the Albert thing. I think he's also capable of playing inside as well so in the event we do bring in a young kid who develops well or if my some strange quirk of fate Webb decides football is actually more important to him than what's on the dollar menu at McDs or Taco Bell he's a good man to have.

A few months ago Jack Bechta wrote an article for NFP in which he said that he believed FA prices would be less this year than last for two reasons. One is that the cap won't increase all that much and the other is that there a fewer teams with a huge cap excess as there were last year. That's what allowed a team like Tampa Bay to afford a couple of the major FA grabs they took on last year.

Actually if we could get either Bushrod or Albert for $35 mil/5yrs I'd consider that a good deal. I don't think Long will come anywhere near that cheaply despite his decline and health issues. I see Emery as a pretty shrewd guy when it comes to how he spends. He'll be looking for value instead of a marquee name and whatever move he does make may surprise us all much like the Marshall trade. From a dollars and cents standpoint he got a deal.

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Oh man, if we could get Albert for 35M/ 5 years absolutely that is what I want. I'm afraid he's gonna see what Clady gets and think he should get just under that. I'm not high on Bushrod, but I will take an upgrade over Webb. The dollar menu line is classic.

You're thinking the same thing that I am in that Long will want a huge deal even though he's breaking down at a faster rate than expected. Just because of his name and all. When it comes to linemen, I place a premium on durability.

Jerry Angelo is amazing. There were so many left tackles in the first round in 2008, and he managed to find the worst one. Way to go, JA!

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Originally Posted by ZifanQ

I don't know why there is so much focus on Bears in need to draft a OT. C or LG is way higher on my list. (I assume we land LT in FA)
We still don't know how good Carimi will be after all this was sort of a rookie season for him and wasn't probably 100% over hes injurie. So if we can land a LT in FA we can have Webb/Carimi battle for RT. Draft a Center(Hi Jones) move Garza to LG, Louis at RG.

FA-Garza-(Drafted guy perhaps Jones)-Louis-Webb/Carimi

Depending on how heavy we go in Draft on Oline men you could say
FA-Draft-Draft-Louis-Webb/Carimi
Need to get Garza's replacement in this years draft or next years.

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Garza was bad at LG two years ago. I do not beleiuve he will improve with age.

I'd love to get Barrett Jones, but I would not want to start him at center his rookie year with Garza on the roster. I'd rather he played guard and Garza at C, learned how to play at NFL speed, and took over at center in 2014. Jones has 25 starts at guard and only 13 at center if my memory serves me correctly. He'll be fine at either position, but we don't have a LG on the roster unless James Brown develops, and I'd prefer a vet at C if we are going to go that route. If he was going to play center, I'd just go without Garza on the roster.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ZifanQ

I don't know why there is so much focus on Bears in need to draft a OT. C or LG is way higher on my list. (I assume we land LT in FA)
We still don't know how good Carimi will be after all this was sort of a rookie season for him and wasn't probably 100% over hes injurie. So if we can land a LT in FA we can have Webb/Carimi battle for RT. Draft a Center(Hi Jones) move Garza to LG, Louis at RG.

FA-Garza-(Drafted guy perhaps Jones)-Louis-Webb/Carimi

Depending on how heavy we go in Draft on Oline men you could say
FA-Draft-Draft-Louis-Webb/Carimi
Need to get Garza's replacement in this years draft or next years.

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I think we can live with Carimi at right tackle, even with his poor play last season. If he can perform a little bit better in pass protection, and shore up the other side of the line, Cutler can at least see the right side of the line since he is right handed.

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Originally Posted by inchibearfan

I think we can live with Carimi at right tackle, even with his poor play last season. If he can perform a little bit better in pass protection, and shore up the other side of the line, Cutler can at least see the right side of the line since he is right handed.

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I did not have high hopes for Carimi kicking ass right out of the gate in 2012 because of all those surgeries in the offseason on his kneecap. I think it affected his strength by limiting his ability to train. If we keep Scott on the roster, I'm fine with Carimi/ Scott figuring out RT. It's what to do about LT that concerns me.

Watch. Our new OC/ oline coach is going to bring in nobody and tell everyone that Webb has all the tools to be a premier LT. Then we will riot in the streets.