If the Bears could look to the past for O-Line help...
by Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. on Nov 4, 2010 9:01 AM CDT
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PrintThe 2010 Chicago Bears offensive line is a question mark. Regardless of the Martz offense and the hot reads or the new blocking schemes, the line has yet to gel. The bye week should help, as veteran Roberto Garza returns and will go back to right guard. His presence should help settle down rookie RT J'Marcus Webb. Left side Frank Omiyale and Chris Williams will have had another week of practice under their belts. Olin Kreutz will benefit from better play around him, and will provide leadership.
If the Bears could look to the past for O-Line help what former player would be a good fit? If you could pluck one former Chicago offensive lineman in his prime, from any era, who would you take? My first hand Bears knowledge goes back to the early 80's and I've read enough about some of the all time greats to have a few ideas.
One of my favorite all time Bears is Keith Van Horne. His nasty attitude at right tackle was a perfect fit for the Black and Bruise brothers in the 80's. Jimbo Covert was a back injury away from being a Hall of Fame left tackle. Going really old school you can take Hall Of Famer Stan Jones, who was an absolute stud at guard. James "Big Cat" Williams was a giant of a man that had a solid road grading Bears career. Olin Kreutz circa 2002 was into his 2nd of 6 consecutive Pro Bowls. Or maybe Jay Hilgenberg is your favorite Bears center.
Did I miss anyone, Dan Jiggets maybe? Who would you take? Which one former Bears offensive lineman do you think could step into this group and make a difference?
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Bortz was a stud, as was that entire 85 line.
One time while a young lad, someone made fun of the Ditka name. One time.
by Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. on Nov 4, 2010 9:31 AM CDT up reply actions
You gotta go with Hilgenberg
..when you’re shoulder to shoulder and backs to the wall.
"I am a sinner who does not expect forgiveness. But I am not a government official." - Francis Wolcott
And he was a Hawkeye....
If you can't laugh at yourself you must not be very funny.
I remain a pessimistically hopeful Bears fan.
Hawkeye...
The Iowa Hawkeyes are the O-line U for College. It is always good to read about another Hawkeye fan.
I also trust the O-Linemen coming out of Wisconsin.
One time while a young lad, someone made fun of the Ditka name. One time.
by Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. on Nov 4, 2010 10:40 AM CDT up reply actions
I agree....
Because the coach is a former Hawkeye.
By the numbers.
In the NFL, number of linemen from a particular school…
note: there is no distinction between starting and active.
Boston College: 6 (Chris Snee, Cherilus, Trueblood, Woody, Koppen, Columbo)
Michigan: 5 (Long, Backus, Hutchinson, David Bass , Jon Goodwin)
Wisconsin: 3 (Casey Rabach, Tauscher, Thomas)
Iowa: 5 (Bulaga, Gallery, Eric Steinbach, Wiegmann, Yanda)
Arkansas : 4 (Garner, Peters, Shawn Andrews, Mitch Petrus)
Illinois: 4 (Diehl, Pashos, Brandon Moor, Jon Asamoah)
LSU: 6 (Faneca, Nate Livings, Tod McClure, Rudy Niswanger, Stephen Petermen, Andrew Whitworth)
Maryland: 5 (Bruce Campbell, Costa, Gaither, Stephon Heyer, Jaimie Thomas)
Miami (Fl): 5 (Rashad Butler, Jason Fox, Bryant Mckinnie, Chris Myers, Eric Winston)
Mississippi: 5 (Ben Claxton, John Jerry, Oher, Jermey Parnell, Chris Spencer)
Nebraska: 7 (Russ Hochstein, Incognito, Lydon Murtha, Carl Nicks, Chris Patrick, Dominic Raiola, Slauson)
ND: 6 (Jordan Black, Jeff Faine, Eric Olsen, Ryan Harris, John Sullivan, Sam Young)
OkSt: 4 (Corey Hillard, Charlie Johnson, Andrew Mitchell, Okung)
Purdue: 4 (Nick Hardwick, Matt Light, Yche Nwaneri, Michael Otto)
Rutgers: 4 (Anthony Davis, Kevin Haslam, Shaun O’Hara, Jeremy Zuttah)
Tennessee: 4 (Chad Clifton, Anthony Herrera, Jacques McClendon, Chris Scott)
Texas: 6 (Justin Blalock, Leonard Davis, Derrick Dockery, Tony Hills, Johnathon Scott, Kasey Studdard)
USC: 5 (Sam Baker, Charles Brown, Winston justice, Deuce Lutui, Chilo Rachal)
Virginia: 4 (Brandon Albert, Will Baker, D’Brickashaw Ferguson, John St. Clair)
Five foot three seems to thrive on his misery...
by awfullyquiet on Nov 4, 2010 12:05 PM CDT up reply actions
Out of that list though.
BC & Nebraska has the most active starters with 6…
Five foot three seems to thrive on his misery...
by awfullyquiet on Nov 4, 2010 12:11 PM CDT up reply actions
Chad Clifton played for Iowa
You (they(your source)) has him listed at Tennessee.
If you can't laugh at yourself you must not be very funny.
I remain a pessimistically hopeful Bears fan.
http://www.nfl.com/players/chadclifton/profile?id=CLI075046
Height: 6-5 Weight: 320 Age: 34
Born: 6/26/1976 Martin , TN
College: Tennessee
Experience: 11th season
High School: Westview HS [Martin, TN]
Five foot three seems to thrive on his misery...
My bad. I had a student telling me he was a Hawkeye
Don’t know who I must have been thinking of.
If you can't laugh at yourself you must not be very funny.
I remain a pessimistically hopeful Bears fan.
That makes sense.
That narcissistic list was also for my reference five years from now…
unless it gets deleted.
Five foot three seems to thrive on his misery...
And tight ends... (Dallas Clark, Tony Moeaki)
And don’t forget linebackers. We have a handful of them in the NFL.
If you can't laugh at yourself you must not be very funny.
I remain a pessimistically hopeful Bears fan.
even having been born at
University of Iowa Hospital, I still have an unquenchable disdain for the Hawkeyes.
Nice phraseology
unquenchable disdain
If you can't laugh at yourself you must not be very funny.
I remain a pessimistically hopeful Bears fan.
Tight Ends...
Just a few more, Brandon Myers – Oakland, and Scott Chandler – Ravens. I know there are few more that I am missing.
Under Ferentz they are definitely a strength.
If you can't laugh at yourself you must not be very funny.
I remain a pessimistically hopeful Bears fan.
Jimbo Covert
should be in the HOF. Even more so than a certain DL that gets a lot of HOF consideration. IMO
Don't know about "more" deserving but definitely should be mentioned...
outside of Anthony Munoz, he was probably the best LT in his era.
Jiggs was not very good...
that was humor…
One time while a young lad, someone made fun of the Ditka name. One time.
by Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. on Nov 4, 2010 10:41 AM CDT up reply actions
he played
badly
One time while a young lad, someone made fun of the Ditka name. One time.
by Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. on Nov 4, 2010 12:07 PM CDT up reply actions
I say...
John Tait or Ruben Brown….You know what give me John Tait, Ruben Brown, Fred Miller, Roberto Garza, and Kruetz from 5 years ago. Please and thanks
13. It's a magic number
Really
That line was pretty awesome.
Five foot three seems to thrive on his misery...
by awfullyquiet on Nov 4, 2010 12:06 PM CDT up reply actions
Awesome run blockers....
mediocre pass blockers, at best.
in•san•i•ty \in-ˈsa-nə-tē\ noun
1 : The practice of repeating the same action while expecting different results.
by Timothy Hockemeyer on Nov 4, 2010 12:08 PM CDT up reply actions
Your problem with that?
If a line excels in at least one area, that’s still better than what we’ve got currently.
Actually....
Being mediocre as pass blockers would be an improvement. I didn’t mean that to dis the line. I was just pointing out that they weren’t awesome all around. But mediorce doesn’t translate to bad. It translates to middle of the road, which is where they usually sat.
in•san•i•ty \in-ˈsa-nə-tē\ noun
1 : The practice of repeating the same action while expecting different results.
by Timothy Hockemeyer on Nov 5, 2010 6:53 AM CDT up reply actions
i think a lot of their pass protection problems were in part due to
terrible QB production.
See a line can make a QB look just as bad as a QB can make a line look. IMO ofcourse
13. It's a magic number
Tait
Before he came to the Bears was good at both run and pass blocking. He was already losing some skills when he came here.
"I am a sinner who does not expect forgiveness. But I am not a government official." - Francis Wolcott
As was Fred Miller and Ruben Brown....
Both were very good in their prime (Miller being under-rated by most here because he was the fastest to decline, but he was a stud in St Louis.)
in•san•i•ty \in-ˈsa-nə-tē\ noun
1 : The practice of repeating the same action while expecting different results.
by Timothy Hockemeyer on Nov 5, 2010 6:54 AM CDT up reply actions
They’re also awesome in Madden 07. I can run the ball with impunity behind that line (and even get some production out of Sex Cannon).
"44 years of football history and nothing to show for it. I wish I wasn’t banned at the Norseman.." - tfrabotta
"Fellas, what are they, unblockable? Is that the '85 Bears over there?" - Tom Coughlin, Giants '06 training camp
~~~ Check my profile for links for SB20 and America's Game: '85 Bears ~~~
One of them still works of the organization.....
as an analyst for Chicago Bears.com. Tom Thayer. He should be easy enough to find….
in•san•i•ty \in-ˈsa-nə-tē\ noun
1 : The practice of repeating the same action while expecting different results.
by Timothy Hockemeyer on Nov 4, 2010 12:04 PM CDT up reply actions
Jimbo Covert
Never saw him play, but I understand he was damn good. My memory of him really comes from the NBC Game Day Live and Game Night Live w/ Mark Schanowski (sp), who is now w/ CSNC, after he left they had Byron or Bryon or something like that. I can’t remember, it was like 5 years ago that I last watched. Anyway, Convert was awesome on that show.
"I feel like the pieces are in place. But we have to execute...It's about execution. You have to execute. You have to have a scheme that facilitates the strengths of your players. If it doesn't, then it's a bad scheme. It's that simple. So we feel real good about the parts in place on offense."
"We feel very good about this football team. We felt very good about our football teams in the past and it's no different. You've got to go out there and you've got to do it."
-Jerry Angelo, Aug. 2, 2010
by Sam Householder on Nov 4, 2010 11:15 AM CDT reply actions
I did see him play, and he would be my personal choice.
He was a true earth-mover. Totally under-rated.
in•san•i•ty \in-ˈsa-nə-tē\ noun
1 : The practice of repeating the same action while expecting different results.
by Timothy Hockemeyer on Nov 4, 2010 12:06 PM CDT up reply actions
Andy Heck might deserve some consideration.
Big Cat got a lot of credit, but it was heck guarding the blind side, and he had what should have been a all-pro year in ‘95. Heck was truly an under-rated left tackle that was screwed out of pro-bowl berths by playing for some truly bad teams. Seattle in the beginning of his career, Chicago in the mid and late 90’s and a mediocre Washington in ’99 and ’00.
Andy would have fit in just fine on the ’85 line.
in•san•i•ty \in-ˈsa-nə-tē\ noun
1 : The practice of repeating the same action while expecting different results.
by Timothy Hockemeyer on Nov 4, 2010 12:15 PM CDT reply actions
Andy Heck
would be up there with Van Horne for me. This line is missing that type of nastiness (Kreutz excepted)
by PrincetonCubs on Nov 4, 2010 12:46 PM CDT up reply actions
OL from the past
I could choose anybody of the 5 from the 85 team, but my choice is Jimbo Covert, again , not taking anything away from the other guys, but Cutler really needs someone to protect the blind side. Ditka gave an interview in 05 saying that was the best draft pick we made while he was coaching. My second choice would be Big Cat Williams.
no, enlighten us...
One time while a young lad, someone made fun of the Ditka name. One time.
by Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. on Nov 4, 2010 2:37 PM CDT up reply actions
Fred Miller, he was a beast!
David Taylor's personal hype man. Check out his website unless you're a loser. http://www.cheekymonkeyart.com/
Except when he wasn't.
If you can't laugh at yourself you must not be very funny.
I remain a pessimistically hopeful Bears fan.
Maybe not today but probably tomorrow
Or the day after.
David Taylor's personal hype man. Check out his website unless you're a loser. http://www.cheekymonkeyart.com/
by Ditkavsworld on Nov 5, 2010 2:43 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
DITKA
He would do great at any position.
by DaHamsta on Nov 4, 2010 4:29 PM CDT reply actions 2 recs
Jimbo Covert
Although he’d have to gain about 30 pounds to get up to size for today’s NFL left tackles. His playing weight back on that ’85 team was about 275. Hilgenberg played at about 265.
no
One time while a young lad, someone made fun of the Ditka name. One time.
by Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. on Nov 5, 2010 11:20 AM CDT up reply actions
To the corner with you....
It’s “Time Out” time >:(
in•san•i•ty \in-ˈsa-nə-tē\ noun
1 : The practice of repeating the same action while expecting different results.
by Timothy Hockemeyer on Nov 5, 2010 9:11 PM CDT up reply actions
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