T-Minus Three Days Until Chicago Bears Training Camp
OK, the story line of today is who will be the biggest surprise for the Chicago Bears this season. There are many players to choose from, so I am going to do this for both sides of the ball.
Offense
Williams showed some signs last season. He was slotted at right tackle when Orlando Pace came to town and moved left tackle when the Bears realized that Pace was toast. Williams played well including a nice game against bigmouth Jared Allen toward the end of the season. If the Bears offensive line finds a way to play better this season, Williams will be the reason why…
Defense
National and local media have written off Urlacher. I am not. He is an amazing football player that has been hurt the last few seasons. Now he is healthy and playing with a lot to prove. He will do so. I am predicting an MVP like season out of Urlacher.
Chicago Bears Position Review…Offensive Line
This is the one area that has Chicago Bears fans cringing with fear. The Chicago Bears offensive line last season was mediocre at best, below average when it was good and crappy most of the time. Jay Cutler must have thought that defenders were teammates with all of the opponents constantly in his face. Very little was done in the off-season to fix this problem with the exception of hiring Mike Tice to take over this group.
On the Bright Side
The captain of the group, Olin Kruetz had ankle surgery to remove a bone spur. This he claims slowed him down last season and he is ready to prove all of his critics wrong. Chris Williams played very well last season. Roberto Garza didn’t really do much, but also wasn’t a problem either.
Now for the problem…
Frank Omiyale was brutal at guard last season, so to make things worse, the Bears have decided to move him to left tackle. Josh Beekman stands to play one of the guard positions, and the Bears always seem to look for excuses not to play him. Kevin Shaffer will also compete with this group for playing time.
This group is not exactly what one would call…the word escapes me…good. These guys are brutal and really going to be a problem. If Kruetz was back to his old form, maybe you could get away with one weak link on the line, but not two. Tice will have his work cut out of him. Now to the Chicago Bears credit, the added Brandon Manumaleuna as a tight end, and he is an excellent blocker. This will help on the weaker side of the line, and certainly buy time for Cutler. However, it will give Cutler one less target.
The Verdict…
Get ready for some interesting games. The Chicago Bears will need to rely on a weak group upfront to protect a franchise quarterback with not exactly a top group of receivers. If the Bears are to show us anything offensively, it will take some mighty good coaching. It seems from this seat that the Bears have some good coaches in place, but talent wins in this league. Here’s hoping that the Bears have enough of it.
Orton’s go-to guy(s), Lloyd and Forte?
After three weeks, wide receiver Brandon Lloyd appears to be the Bears, or at least Kyle Ortons, go-to wide out. The six foot receive leads all bears receivers in yards and yards per catch with 216 and 16.6. respectively. Lloyd’s ability to adjust to deep passes by not necessarily running by guys has been a great option to Orton, whose deep ball is not always on target. Ron Turner, coach of Lloyd at the University of Illinois, always new he had great talent and was not afraid to bring him to Chicago during the off-season despite a poor 2007 season in which Lloyd caught only two balls and caused several problems within the locker room.
After three weeks, rookie running back Matt Forte leads all NFL running backs in carries with 73 touches. Forte has carried the load for Chicago early in the season, which should cause teams to bring more men into the box opening up the passing game. Forte’s 304 rushing yards ranks him fourth in the league, and he ranks second in yards from scrimmage behind Frank Gore with 405 total yards. And Lovie Smith says his work load isn’t going to decrease anytime soon, “He’s young right now with a lot of energy. Whenever Matt isn’t on the field, it isn’t really good for us.”
First round draft pick Chris Williams returned to practice for the first time Wednesday since his surgery. Williams put the pads on and everything, but was limited to individual and conditioning drills. No time table is set for Williams return, and Run Turner believes it will take a while for the rookie to get into full team practice as he had no training camp or pre-season.
In other news around the division, the Detroit Lions have finally let go of general manager Matt Millen. During Millen’s tenure with the Lions, the team finished has more loses than any other team.
