Bears Overrated/Underrated

by Adam T on Jun 2, 2008 12:41 PM CDT Comment 18 comments

Typically it is not my style to go at a journalist for the sole reason that they dare say something negative about my team, I'll let other blogs handle that. I did however want to this one out to you though, and ask what the hell Pete Prisco was thinking. Maybe it is just his way of getting people to point to this work like I am.

Every year he does an overrated/underrated player for each team. Here is what he had to say about the Bears:

Overrated: C Olin Kreutz. He struggled in 2007 and looks to be in a major decline. The Bears need better play inside from him this season to get that running game going.

Underrated: DE Adewale Ogunleye. On a defense that features Brian Urlacher, Lance Briggs and Tommie Harris, Ogunleye had an outstanding season with nine sacks in 2007.

I think somebody better start by defining overrated and underrated to Mr. Prisco.

Kruetz has been to the last 6 Pro Bowls. Last year he had a bit of a down year, but when half your line sucks as does the play of QB and RB, can anybody on the team really have an up year? That said, that one year makes him overrated? I am sorry that not every player is Bruce Matthews and can play 17 seasons. Everybody has to take a step back some time, and trust me I am not saying Kruetz is about to, in fact I think he will have a fantastic year this year, but the point is one non-outstanding year does not make someone overrated.

Adewale Ogunleye, underrated? I guess you can say that, but I don't think that applies. He probably used Hunter Hillenmeyer last year and just had to find a different name. We got Ogunleye off a 15 sack performance with the Miami Dolphins. He hasn't returned to those numbers, so while yes it is easy to get overshadowed with Urlacher, Briggs and Harris, he just wasn't consistent. It was really only half way through last year that he started playing dominant football. We all hope he can keep that up. I suppose that half a season was enough to make the list.

0 recs | Comment 18 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

umm...

Kruetz has been to the last 6 Pro Bowls.

Being in a pro-bowl is not evidence against being overrated. It could actually be evidence for being overrated, being that they are in large part popularity contests. And honestly, nothing else you said was evidence that Kruetz wasn’t overrated. You seem to be saying that yea, he may be on the downside of his career, but he may not be!

I would actually agree that Kruetz is overrated, though I am not sure that i would say that Adawale is underrated.

visit the mindful mission

by big_lowitzki on Jun 2, 2008 1:02 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Fair enough on the Pro Bowls

but the only think he gives is he had a bad last year and is on the down side of his career. That doesn’t pass for an argument.

Likewise, can you give me reason that he is overrated?

Being Who You Thought We Were Since 2005!

by Adam T on Jun 2, 2008 1:13 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

sure...

What mike b said below would be a good start.

visit the mindful mission

by big_lowitzki on Jun 2, 2008 2:34 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

a lot of pressure

from the middle last year, and for the supossed leader of the lineman he didn’t seem do much last year to get them any better. hard to tell if it was him or the guys next to him but something wasn’t right. also all 3 qbs had problems handeling snaps from him.

by mike b on Jun 2, 2008 1:23 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

false

the like did ok with pressure up the middle it was off the edge where they were eaten alive. And I heard on some radio station jim miller talking about how it was hard for him to take snaps from olin kruetz.

"snuffalufagus fucks my shit up"

by leopoldjones on Jun 2, 2008 3:25 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

no pressure up the middle?

really? got all the games logged in your head there genius? when benson was getting stuffed in the back field it was off edge pressure every time? those are some fast guys.

by mike b on Jun 2, 2008 3:36 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

wow that isnt even close to what I said

the line was worse blocking off the edges, hence all the grossman sack/ fumbles. stop being an asshole.

"snuffalufagus fucks my shit up"

by leopoldjones on Jun 3, 2008 5:01 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

pot kettle black

by mike b on Jun 3, 2008 10:50 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

huh?

Not in the games I saw. One of the problems with Rex Grossman was that he would run backwards. That is problematic, and something he needs to fix. But one of the causes of that problem was that the pocket often collapsed up the middle, leaving Grossman little room to step up.

And as mike b said, there were almost NEVER holes up the middle for the running game.

visit the mindful mission

by big_lowitzki on Jun 2, 2008 4:23 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

the article is pointless

i think anyone who watched the games last season, realized that every position can be held accountable for the bad play at some point in the year.

i equate writing an article over and under rating players to be similiar to fantasy football. its pretty lame and defeats the purpose of team sports. Kreutz is a good player and has performed at high level even when the team wasnt. Which goes too show if anyting those pro bowl appearances mean even more.

Oh yeah and last year rex ran backwards in one game….. and that was against the giants. And when he did try to step up bennett went for his leg….

by rahulsriram on Jun 2, 2008 6:29 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Kreutz is a good leader and a hell of a player

I don’t remember him getting beat too bad but I don’t remember that many games. I watched the NFL Replay of the Broncos game yesterday and Grossman tried to run from trouble up the middle everytime, that was the only way open to him. Benson broke his fatal run on an up the middle play.

Wale is a great player and I don’t think he’s underrated. Maybe people don’t talk about him enough but I think that Alex Brown gets talked about even less and that could be said about Vasher too, I felt like a lot of people forgot him when the secondary was getting torched w/o him last season.

Lovie Smith-isms:
"We get off the bus running"
"Rex Grossman is our quarterback."
"...and we'll go from there."

by GallopingGhost on Jun 2, 2008 7:24 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I have been surprised

the last few years that Kreutz makes the pro bowl.

There are a lot of fumbled exchanges, others teams get a lot of pass rush up the middle, we can’t run inside, and he seems to get penalized more than most centers (that could be my imagination, but I’ve never seen a center get so many false start penalties.

He could be suffering from a lack of quality guards around him, but at some point if he’s as good as he’s made out to be, he should be making those guys look respectable.

As far as Wale goes, he had a bit of a comeback year last year, maybe that’s why prisco felt he was underrated. it’s probably tough to find someone underrated on a team as bad as we were last year.

DEJESUS!!!

by tomas21 on Jun 2, 2008 7:44 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

not the bears i saw

Kreutz: in no way should he be blamed for last season’s offensive woes, let alone have his overall value diminished. He’s awesome. The problem is the horrible qbs he was snapping the ball to. Lovie has said he is the best leader he has ever been around and i believe him. Judging from how they have treated Mike Brown, Kreutz isn’t going anywhere. At some point during the game one must get tired of snapping the ball knowing the outcome will likely be negligible at best.

Wale: maybe underrated, but i think Prisco just saw the 9 sacks. 6 years at $33.4 million with Mark Anderson and Alex Brown fighting for PT…, but i suppose replaceable and underrated are 2 different concepts.

Overrated: Rex Grossman

Underrated: Devin Hester. Play him at QB and run the option or put him and at RB, i don’t care just do whatever it takes to get him the ball.

by No It All on Jun 2, 2008 10:12 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

lol

grossman is overrated? by whom? he is ripped by every single person in the media/bears message boards/chicago bear bars all over the place.

by lopey986 on Jun 4, 2008 3:15 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Overrated

I think Kreutz is overrated in that he’s not the automatic, unblemished stud people think he is. Here’s an example. Everyone completely absolves him of any blame with all of the fumbled snaps we’ve seen simply because he’s a multi-year pro bowler. This, despite the fact that almost every QB to line up under him has had issues with fumbled snaps.

by bfos7215 on Jun 3, 2008 9:07 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

underrated

alex brown, anyone? guy lost his starting job to mark anderson and still had a better year than anderson and was probably better than half the other starting defensive ends in the league.

by lopey986 on Jun 4, 2008 3:14 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Not by me

I named my freaking dog after Alex Brown. I love that guy.

by bfos7215 on Jun 4, 2008 8:21 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

at least he didnt repeat the same old tripe

about Urlacher being the most overrated, although I dont know if thats cause he feels #54 is that good, or because everybody seemed to downgrade him after the spine and neck injuries were reported last season. I know I will get blasted for this but I would have said Tommie Harris getting widespread acclaim as a top-rated DT makes him overrated. as for underrated, its hard to say after last season, but I’ll go with Ogunleye and Alex Brown.

by gillrowdy on Jun 6, 2008 10:50 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs