Chicago Bears Position Battles: LB
by Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. on Aug 31, 2010 11:00 AM CDT
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So Brian Urlacher is hurt enough to miss a meaningless (for him anyway) preseason game, but not hurt enough to miss time had this been week one of the regular season. It's just precautionary they say. Not a big deal they say. But, and this is a big but, at his age his wheels can go at any time. I really hope he's not at that point. If he can't play the majority of the season I fear the defense will fall apart.
With Urlacher nursing an injury, Nick Roach coming off some surgery, and Lance Briggs hurting his ankle against Arizona, will the Bears open up with a 7th or maybe an 8th linebacker on the roster, just in case?
Urlacher is on pace to play week one, as is Roach, but Briggs' status is still up in the air. All three of these players will be on the opening day roster, as will possible starting strong side linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa and eight year proHunter Hillenmeyer, who has looked solid filling in at MLB. Special teams standout Tim Shaw is a no brainer, but after him, it's anybody's guess.
They are very high on Brian Iwuh as a back up OLB and as another core (or is is corp?) special teamer. The special teams is where he's made his name during his four years in Jacksonville and it's where the Bears envision him playing the majority of his snaps in Chicago. Briggs missing this last preseason game on Thursday will let Iwuh showcase his talents on a big stage, and at this point, I think the roster spot is his to lose. I think he sticks as a 7th LB.
With only nine total linebackers on the current roster, that tells me they really like the group they have and it wouldn't surprise me to see both Kevin Malast and Kelvin Smith stick around somehow, either on the practice squad or IR. Malast has had the bigger impact this far in the preseason, so if they only have eyes for one, it's him.
Linebacker is a position the Bears have pursued in the past after teams cut down to size, so Jerry Angelo might scour the waiver wire and look to improve his team.
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Too many needs at DL and in the secondary.
They keep 6. In a surprise move, Shaw gets cut. Iwuh is the better on field LB, which because of injury, they need.
If they keep 7, obviously Shaw makes it, but then a DL, CB, or a safety gets cut. With so many questions and injuries in the secondary, they can’t go low there. Will Angelo, Lovie, and Marinelli actually only keep 8 d-linemen? And cut TWO prized draft picks to get to down to 8? I’m skeptical. I think they keep 9 DL, 11 in the secondary, which leaves room for only 6 LBs.
I’m not advocating Shaw get cut, I’m just predicting that’s what Lovie, Rod, and Jerry will do.
Why do the cuts have to come from defense?
Heck, why does there have to be the same number of Def and Off? There can’t be, really. I can quite easily see there being at least 3 or 5 more defensive players than offensive players. Let’s see what I see…
2 QB. They’re not keeping Collins for the regular season. We’re screwed either way if Jay goes down, so let’s give Hanie some reps.
3 RB. Either Wolfe or Bell is going to the practice squad.
5 WR. Sorry, Iglesias. You’re PS material. Devins, Knox, Bennett, Davis.
4 TE/HB. This team has no need for a traditional FB, and having both Olsen and Clark on the field is never a bad thing.
10 OL. Necessary IMO. And should be more, but the Brain Trust won’t give us more.
That leaves 29 players for defense. The breakdown should look something like this…
9 DL. Anderson is a scrub, but nobody on the Bears will recognize that.
8 LB. This is our deepest position, and at least 5 players are already locked in. Finding 3 more in this group isn’t going to be difficult.
12 DB. All of ours suck balls, and half of them are injured. If we can’t have quality, we’ll beat em with quantity. If nothing else, we’ll throw out a different look on every play and confuse the offense that way. Yeah. That’ll work…
When doing roster count projections....
Please keep in mind you are working on 50, not 53 personnel.
The Longsnapper, Punter and Kicker take roster spots and aren’t negotiable.
by Brendan Hess on Aug 31, 2010 12:12 PM CDT up reply actions
Wolfe isn't practice squad eligable,
and I’m not positive, but I don’t think Bell is anymore either based on the number of games that he was active for last year.
true dat
In the 8th grade Mike Ditka won his school's Science Fair with a model of a working volcano. There were 17 other working volcano's made that day, but only one named Mount Ditka.
by Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. on Aug 31, 2010 12:39 PM CDT up reply actions
If you've been on a 53-man roster for 6 games, you're ineligible for the PS.
Wolfe, Iglesias, and Bell are not PS eligible.
by Mike Mueller on Aug 31, 2010 12:43 PM CDT up reply actions
If you've accrued 6 games on IR you're ineligible too,
so Henry Melton is not PS eligible either.
by Mike Mueller on Aug 31, 2010 12:45 PM CDT up reply actions
5 WR. Sorry, Iglesias. You’re PS material
Not a chance he would remain there, ergo, not a chance.
10 OL. Necessary IMO.
I think I read earlier that Brad Biggs is only projecting that they keep 8 on the active roster.
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I seem to remember someone making a statement to the effect that....
at 32 you don’t know how effective Urlacher will be coming back from injury and many people jumped all over him for it because he had the gall to “criticize” Urlacher. Personally, I never saw that as a criticism, more like an accurate observation based on most players when they reach that age.
If Brian has nagging injuries all year that keep him from playing up to his and the team’s expectations, he should issue a public apology to Mr. Sayers.
urlacher back from injury
The mitigating factor here is that the injury he is coming back from was a freak wrist injury sustained in the first game of the previous season.
- he had the whole year to rest and heal his whole body
- the injury he’s coming back from was not to his legs
Just wanted to throw that out there.
"Stay thirsty, my friend."
I agree with you but my point was relating to the first paragraph of Lester's post.
If the calf problems become recurring or other nagging injuries start to occur that slow him down, then Sayers’ observation was a good one. I think all he was saying was guys who are 32 years old don’t recover as easily or quickly which will effect their performance. I never got the impression he thought Urlacher was done for or couldn’t be a good player, it was just something that happens to all players around that age and you have to take a wait and see approach and not necessarily bank your season on him. Obviously, as many people on this site have pointed out, this defense isn’t the same when he’s not in there. I, personally, think it’s foolish to not have a better backup plan than Hillenmeyer. At this point in his career, they should be grooming Brian’s replacement not just bring in a guy almost as old and not as talented. Planning ahead, though, is not one of this regime’s strong points.
Regarding my comment about Brian apologizing to Sayers if he does have a bad season is because Urlacher is the one who made it a personal attack. Gale was asked a question about how he sees the Bears this season and this was just one of the factors.
As sad as I feel typing it,
I think I agree, about everything except the apology to Sayers. Won’t blame Urlacher for wanting to defend or support his team from criticisms. Here’s to hoping that he comes out strong and is a beast all year long. I really want him to finish his career statistically higher than Ray Lewis.
I think that and a Super Bowl are his only chance at the HOF and I really despise Ray Lewis.
yeah! man!
i think he can do better than Ray but i dont think we can get him to the Super Bowl:(
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by RoyRockNRoll on Aug 31, 2010 12:55 PM CDT up reply actions
Brad Briggs
reported in an article that Shaw was on the bubble. When I read it I was surprised at the time. With Iwuh apparently coming on strong and the coaches being high on Malast, that could make Shaw a casualty. Maybe the Special Teams looking more short bus special during the preseason so far will secure his spot.
Not the same paper, but I think it is the same article.
article
I think with as much as the Bears value special teams
they give Shaw the benefit of the doubt to start the season… but you never know
In the 8th grade Mike Ditka won his school's Science Fair with a model of a working volcano. There were 17 other working volcano's made that day, but only one named Mount Ditka.
by Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. on Aug 31, 2010 11:47 AM CDT up reply actions
at the end of the day
We will keep 1-2 people to solely play a special teams role, and then expect our 2nd-3rd stringers to cover “the rest”. If Iwuh is now that guy, its harder for Shaw. Its hard to keep 2 LBs you don’t want to actually play on defense.
by Brendan Hess on Aug 31, 2010 12:17 PM CDT up reply actions
I like rooting for the guy,
At the end of the day, I hope they keep whomever gives us the best chance of winning. Big Question, Do we trust our staff to make that decision?
The most likely scenario is...
Urlacher, Briggs, Pisa, Roach, HIlly, Shaw, Iwuh. I think Malast has the potential to be another Hilly, but 8 LBs seems like too many roster spots to justify with 2 pro-bowl guys as starters. The Bears could go with less D-linemen, but I see the LB depth as better and thus less likely to keep an extra LB. My guess is if they need a LB later due to injuries, a PS guy or an unsigned FA is more likely.
IT'S NOT TOO LATE TO FIRE LOVIE!
LB
When I made my projections, I went w/7 because I like how Malast is playing and I think they find a way to keep Shaw. This ST has been very disappointing so far and I think they can’t afford to cut him, after all, didn’t he have 30 tackles on ST in 09, including 8 in 1 game?? Just haven’t seen enough from Iwuh and Lester’s right, the other 6 are shoo-ins.
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