Greg Olsen Might Be The Difference Maker Devin Hester Is Supposed To Be

by Adam T on Aug 3, 2007 1:02 PM CDT in News Comment 27 comments

It seems that everybody has their own opinion on how Devin Hester being on offense is going to change things. Be it Berrian and Hester having a good ol fashion foot race to the endzone, the one I am fond of, or running a double reverse or just being a decoy everybody expects that defenses will have to game plan him.

In truth though if they will need to game plan for a player who will see the field more, Bears first round draft pick, Greg Olsen is the guy.

G-Reg is already drawing some comparisons to Mike Ditka's work ethic and will give offensive coordinator Ron Turner a lot more options.

Turner can pair Olsen in a double-tight-end formation with Clark, who is coming off a career year, and force defenses to make a decision. If teams view Olsen as a receiving threat and insert an extra defensive back, that opens up opportunities for the Bears' running game.

If teams keep a linebacker on the field in the hope he can cover Olsen, good luck. There are wide receivers in the Bears' camp who would lose a foot race to the 6-foot-5-inch, 254-pounder. One result should be Rex Grossman improving his third-down completion percentage (52 percent) and passer rating (66.4) from 2006.

In a division in which every defense primarily plays the Cover-2, which leaves the deep middle of the field vulnerable, having the second-fastest tight end in the league matters.

"I'm eager to see how teams will handle that," coach Lovie Smith said. "After you see him out running routes outside, you can easily treat him like a wide receiver. He has those kinds of skills."

There are going to be some defensive coordinators spending more time in the film room then they hoped to, now having to insert schemes for when Olsen is on the field as well as Hester.

And if they manage to stop them, I am sure Berrian will be somewhere near the endzone and Muhammad will be his usual steady self waiting for the ball.

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awesome

come on rex, get it together.

by mike b on Aug 3, 2007 1:09 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I have had these thoughts...

ever since draft day. When they said "6'5" Olsen" I about fell out of my chair. My wife still makes fun of me. I knew he was fast, I knew he could catch (I had watched a college "skills" competition a few weeks earlier and saw him catch every ball), but I had no idea he was that damn huge. There is no reason he will not be in consideration for MVB (most valuable bear) when the year is out knocks on wood...for health reasons. Once he learns how to run block, he will be the PERFECT tight end.

"World Champs" on 3. 1...2...3, "WORLD CHAMPS!"

by mikebdot on Aug 3, 2007 1:34 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

The stuff coming out of camp...

about Olsen has got me really excited, too. The possibility of two tight end sets involving both Clark and Olsen has got to make other teams' defense worry a little bit. Lovie was saying something the other day about how defenses won't really know whether to cover Olsen as a receiver or to let a LB try to cover him. Sounds like this offense could be really fun to watch this year!

by Marcus on Aug 3, 2007 4:27 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

the more I hear from Bears training camp

the more excited I get about this upcoming season

all the way to Arizona

by mike on Aug 3, 2007 5:15 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

G-Reg!!!

http://www.myspace.com/seventhfloorcrew

6:09

Former teammate and fellow first-rounder follows!

by tyger1147 on Aug 3, 2007 5:15 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I think that

G is going to be great. He has great skills and will surprise the league. I am kinda sick of the whole "Devin Hester experience" stuff, but hopefully he can be as groundbreaking of a player on the O as he was on ST. I resonate with WCG when he says he wants to see a footrace with Berrian and Hester! They are going to be sick.

Also, another thing I will tout and preach is the impact I believe that Bradley will have. I think he, providing he can stay healthy, can have a huge impact on defenses like Berrian did. Also, Rashied Davis is going to get better.

All in all we have a solid possession guy in Moose. Two great TE's in G and Clark. We have THREE burners in Hester, Berrian, and Bradley. Rashied is a great slot guy. We have two solid big running backs and two change of pace guys in Wolfe and Hester. Can't forget about the solid line. Grossman may be criticized, but he is my guy and I am convinced that he is going to have about 30 TD's and about 10 INT's. He won't have a perfect year, but we will be the best QB in the division and a great one in the confrence. I don't know if he will hit Hasselback, Brees, or McNabb's plateau, but he will be good.

All in all I cannot wait to see the teams O and D this year!

by South Side Irish on Aug 4, 2007 8:35 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Some agreements and disagreements...

First, I'd like to add Wolfe motioning out of the backfield into the footrace.

Second, I agree about Bradley. We've seen flashes. Hopefully he can put it together.

Third, I don't think Rashied will get any better. He just turned 28, I wouldn't be surprised if he's a tad slower, he'll have many more roles across the team and will lose playing time at WR. Maybe he'll have more of an impact across the team, but I don't see it on offense. Not with a healthy Muhammed, Berrian, Bradley, Hester, Wolfe, Clark, Olsen. Just my opinion.

Fourth, I don't think you could say either TE is great. I'm sure it's just fanatic hyperbole, so, yeah... both will be above-average, but to me, "great" means Top 5 and I'd bet my house that neither is that good.

Fifth, there's obviously no such thing as a "perfect season", but 30 TD's and 10 INT's is pretty damn close. That might actually be the most ridiculous prediction of the year. Did you even look at stats from last year? Obviously not, because you would have seen that 30 TD's and 10 INT's would put him at or even above McNabb, Brees, Brady, etc.

I know people will get mad, but I will just not understand how people can "say" things without thinking or researching.

But then, this is a fan blog, and you're by no means a professional writer, so bring on the RAH RAH RAH, SIS BOOM BAH!!!

by tyger1147 on Aug 4, 2007 8:58 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Clark is so underrated.

Not that it's a sure thing he'll be as good this year, but Football Outsiders ranked Clark at number 4 for TE's last season. He was tied with Todd Heap and LJ Smith for third most receiving touchdowns (6). He had the second highest yards per catch (13.91) for TE's with more than 40 receptions, beneath Crumpler (13.93 y/catch). So it's by no means unreasonable to call him a "Top 5" tight end.

If Olsen ends up being anywhere near as good as the Bears press seems to think he will be, I'd say Chicago easily has the best tight end tandem in the league.

Also, I'd say Grossman's due up for about 900 touchdowns this year! Go Bears!

by Marcus on Aug 5, 2007 12:10 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hmm...

Yeah it is. Just because you can pick a couple of stats that show him favorably...one or two good seasons doesn't do it for me. Is Freddy Sanchez one of the five best hitters in the National League? He was last year, but he wasn't before, and he won't be again. Is Jermaine Dye one of the 8 most productive hitters? He was last year, but wasn't before and never will be again.

He's had two good seasons (neither of which was great). There's still 10 TE's I'd take over him.

by tyger1147 on Aug 5, 2007 1:34 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm not meaning at all to be combative,

but I'm curious: which ten TE's would you take over Clark?

I was trying, but I definitely can't think of ten who are clearly better. Antonio Gates, for sure.
Tony Gonzalez, for sure. But after them?

Maybe Todd Heap, but he's only had one more consecutive extremely good season than Clark. Maybe LJ Smith, but same as with Heap, he's only been excellent for 2005 & 2006. Plus, up until last year, look at who was throwing balls to Clark. I'd say they're all right around the same talent level.

Jeremy Shockey is an overrated douchebag who's really only a better-than-average TE with a superstar's mouth. But I might just think that because I hate him so much.

I would say Alge Crumpler, but reports out of Atlanta say he's got some chronic knee thing that he can't get rid of. He's certainly been better than Des Clark for the last several seasons, but with a nagging injury I'm not sure I'd say he's definitely better than Clark as of right now.

Whether or not Clark's "great," I don't know. That's a kind of nebulous category and I'd not be willing to defend his inclusion in it. But I would be interested to hear which ten TE's around the league are clearly better than he is.

by Marcus on Aug 7, 2007 2:55 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Better than Clark

Not necessarily in order...

Gates
Tony Gonzalez
Shockey
Crumpler
Heap
LJ Smith
Kellon Winslow
Vernon Davis
Cooley
Jason Whitten

Dallas Clark, Heath Miller, Randy McMichael are all in the conversation.

visit the mindful mission.

by big_lowitzki on Aug 7, 2007 9:16 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

While they maybe better...

How much better? Overall, how much better would the Bears have been last year with Jason Whitten? I say slightly. So while you list TEs that are 'better' they are not all game changing better.

by Chad on Aug 7, 2007 12:25 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Re-read...

I never said they were game changers. I simply said that they were better than Clark. That was the original question - are there ten tight ends better than Desmond Clark?

visit the mindful mission.

by big_lowitzki on Aug 8, 2007 9:51 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

C'mon!

I think the point of the whole question is "What TE's are better than Des that will make a difference on the field?" Don't be so exact words Jan Brady.

by Chad on Aug 8, 2007 4:30 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Blah...

The question was can you think of 10 tight ends that you would take over Clark. So I listed the tight ends that I would take over Clark.

Why do you hate me? Is it because I am smarter than you? :)

visit the mindful mission.

by big_lowitzki on Aug 8, 2007 4:58 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Were talkin' minimum 8 peat for the Bears here...

takes off super fan hat

In regards to Rashied, I was simply trying to say that he is a good slot or 4th WR option. Obviously he isn't that great, but I think he will do well for us.

Fair enough, great was a bit of an overstatement. Clark is a good vet TE in my opinion and had a great banner year this year. I don't think that he will match this years past performance, but I don't think it will be noticed too much unless he starts losing us games. I used the word great in a semi-hyperbolic way to denote my belief that he will have an impact on this team. I may be getting overtly excited, but I still think that he will have an impact year.

Everyone here may come to hate me for this, but I have some serious man love for Rex Grossman coming your way. Call me a homer if you must, but I love the guy, and with a little more discipline there is no reason that he can't make the jump from 23 TD's to 30 or close to 30. I also think he will cut his INT's down to about 10-12ish. With a good offense and O line, there is no reason why this can't happen.

Also, I do check stats, think, and research. I apologize for my hyperbole with the word great, but I won't apologize for my man love for Grossman.

by South Side Irish on Aug 5, 2007 1:31 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Wow.

So Grossman will be one of the 3 best QB's in the league? You do realize that makes this team the best ever--without hesitation?

by tyger1147 on Aug 5, 2007 1:35 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think he makes the leap this year.

Seriously. I know you may not believe, and that is fine. I am not trying to be some superfan hyped up on greasy food and beer, but I do think he will have a great year. I think this for a couple reasons.

He has really dedicated himself to off season endurance training. The reason being is so he can truck and run with the ball more. It is obvious and admitted on his part that he was nervous to more a bunch this year because of his past leg injuries. I think this year he is stronger and ready to show us his moves! Ok, maybe no moves, but some mobility is needed and welcome.
He spent the off season analyzing every game from this season. He was been training to work on his mechanics. I usually hate the talking heads, but they made a good point the other day. They said that Rex's footwork got messed up after he passed his 1st and 2nd read. It wasn't so much that he wasn't seeing the play, but he wasn't used to the pressure and tried to much to make a great play off his back foot or some other crap like that. He admits this and has been working on it.
His TD/INT #'s last year were 23/20. Granted I don't think he will be perfect and I even expect a couple multi INT games. However, I don't think it is too unreasonable to think or expect that this guy can up his TD and drop his INT by about 5. Maybe 28/15 is a more realistic thought. I don't understand what is so untouchable about that. I understand that will make him a premier QB, and that is what I expect from him.

Trust me, I am not dogmatic and would bet nothing more than lunch with some buddies over it. What can I do? I am a homer, but I really believe that he has worked hard and will have a better season than last year. What do you think about those points? Just curious.

BTW, I have a running bet for lunch that Sexy Rexy will have a better statistical season than Tony Romo.

by South Side Irish on Aug 5, 2007 9:28 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Now that's better.

I might think 28/15 is too far, but it's much more realistic. Improving both by a total of five would be huge.

28/15 would make him a Top 10, maybe Top 6 QB depending on yards, attempts, etc. I don't think it's likely, but it's much more reasonable than thinking he's going to be the 2nd best QB in the NFL.

Sorry I went off. But expecting 30/10 is just way off the charts. Sorry.

by tyger1147 on Aug 5, 2007 10:20 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Its cool,

I do have a bit of superfan in me...

by South Side Irish on Aug 6, 2007 9:49 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Olsen

I went Bears Training Camp on Saturday. Olsen had the most spectacular catch there. Running a fly pattern down the sideline, he turned to a slightly underthrown ball by Grossman. The cornerback had perfect position. Olsen turned around, jumped up, and simply reached over the corner and stole the ball. It was awesome. Everyone at camp went crazy.

Hester missed a couple catchable balls. I hope he does great, but he didn't look sharp on Saturday.

Grossman looks very, very accurate. Griese looks, well, terrible. Besides the missing neck-beard, Orton looks good.

by quartz77277 on Aug 5, 2007 3:36 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

WHAAAT!?

NO NECKBEARD!? CUT HIM!

by lopey986 on Aug 5, 2007 10:09 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

lmao

by South Side Irish on Aug 5, 2007 1:31 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Rex

A lot rides on Grossman, and I certainly hope he can fulfill his potential. After 41 seasons of waiting, it would be so cool to have a top-tier QB in Chicago.

"Nobody in football should be called a genius. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein." -Joe Theismann

by DaveInSC on Aug 5, 2007 8:00 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

41 Years?

Erik Kramer? He had a borderline MVP season one year :)

by lopey986 on Aug 5, 2007 10:09 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

steal

to me, it's unbelievable that we got Olsen when we did. i saw this guy in one of those espn "nfl prospect showcase" thingies and he was outperforming WR's and RB's in catching and running drills. the minute we got him, i knew that mid-season, writers would be wondering how in the hell a superbowl contender was able to get a guy like this through the draft. it's crazy to think that we can run double-TE sets that can be MORE effective passing than running. it's scary.. ...you know, the good kind of scary.
go bears.

by cookding on Aug 6, 2007 7:53 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs