Good to know the numbers back up my eyeballs!

I thought Williams and Omiyale hit their stride late in the season, and I never understood the get rid of Kruetz stuff. And Garza has been a solid pro his time in Chicago. If the Bears can get RT figured out (maybe Shaffer will be the guy?) the line should start getting even more familiarity with each other moving forward.

We need to let the players play at their natural positions.

No more WR’s that were DB’s, no more RT’s that were LT’s, no more LG’s that were RT’s. There is a reason when college players are selected in the draft they have a position designation…that’s where they should be playing. Some players play multiple positions…ok that’s fine let them play the positions they know, but let’s not try to put a square peg in a round hole.

Some of the experiments are working, like Hester from DB to WR; however, some failed miserably like Williams LT to RT. How much different would our line have looked with Williams on the Left from the begining of the season…

I am shocked at the Kreutz rating and obviously Wilt will disagree but he was awful for most of the year. The game has definitely passed him by and should be gone. A stronger run game in between the tackle will be led by an upgrade at center and guard. Still not sold on Omiyale but definitely not as bad asa earlier in the year. I think he cut his penalties per game from 3 to 2…

but i wonder where our OL ranked when it came to penalties last season?

He should help the o-line come along next season

I like how you broke down even further the last few games for Williams, etc.

There is, however, one thing that bothers me. I’ve always been a fan of stats. It is a really important tool for comparison and analysis. But when we rely too much on stats and not on our own eyes, we miss the subtleties and complexities of the game.

For instance, my eyes told me that Kruetz has really lost a step in all aspects of his game. Omiyale, although he has shown improvement over the last few games, still looked bad overall.

Was our Oline really getting that much better over the course of the year, or did Jay get used to imminent pressure once he took the snap and was looking to get rid of it quicker or learn to watch for the pressure from the A gap? Maybe Forte was feeling healthier over the last 2 games and made our Oline’s run blocking look better? Perhaps Turner started actually making adjustments to compensate for the lack of line cohesion?

These are things I am never sure of, and is the reason why I try to temper the raw stats with what I see on gameday. We also shouldn’t celebrate mediocrity just because it replaced inadequacy. “Better” does not equal “good enough”. (Wow, I’m sounding more and more like Rosenbloom. I think I’ll step away from the keyboard for awhile after this post.)

I agree with your last statement. I think the Bears will try to go for whatever is more affordable given the market and get a RT or G, then move Omiyale into whatever void is left. Sigh… Will we ever learn?

 But stats don’t always tell the whole story and should be looked at as a part of the picture but not the entire portrait.

I will be deeply disappointed (yet not suprised) if we don’t get Beekman into the starting lineup next season.

Kreutz was not good (regardless of what someone’s calculations may say), and has been on the decline for several seasons now. It’s time to turn the snapping duties over to Beekman.

However, now that we’ve signed Tice, who apparently loves Kreutz, I fear that we’ll have to suffer thru another season of having no ability to run up the middle. Besides losing his ability to consistently get a good push, Kreutz commits way too many penalties these days, and actually struggles to snap the ball worth a damn.

but, Im afraid of staying with him for to much longer. I agree that he is a great leader but he must be able to perform as well. I dont want to wait to long to replace him. :( But I dont know that Beekman is the answer either.

I appreciate the effort and agree with the conclusions that the in all likelihood, the Bears will only be looking for one additional starter on the O Line. I also agree that it will either be a new RT or and new LG if Omiyale is moved to RT. I would prefer to leave Omiyale where is is and let him continue to grow into that role. But finding a new quality RT will not be easy. There are no 4 or 5 star young UFA OT’s coming into the market next year at all. I think we could have found one with our 42nd pick in this draft but alas that sad story is over.

We are more likely to find starter quality in FA and with our 3rd round pick at the OG position and so there is a chance we pursue that route.

Alternatively, we could try to trade vets (pick your poison because as far as I’m concerned, nobody on this roster except Cutler is untouchable right now) for draft picks and move into the second round again to pick up a starting caliber o linemen.

Our decisions also hinge, imho, on what Tice wants out of his o-line (size, strength vs. speed, athleticism.)

One last variable: We have two interesting prospects on the bench in OG Lance Louis and OT James Marten. I don’t know how they’re developing but I am holding out some hope that one of them steps us and surprises us next off-season.