It makes no sense to talk about draft until we see what he gets out of free agency. Poles lets other GMs get the blue-chip free agents and goes for second-tier guys at center and guard. If he does that again and thinks “problem solved” we will have same problems in 2025. If we thinks he’s getting them for depth, then we need to draft a center and at least one guard, depending on what happens with Jenkins. I am OK with the tackles at least until the middle of the line is solid. I am still toying with the idea of moving Wright to RG and Amegadjie at RT, if he can handle it —TBD.
First, Kiran has to get his ass off the trainer's table. Dude has been hurt quite literally all year. Great pick for the 3rd round there.
Man I hated that decision.
He had a calf injury in Commanders game, so missed last 3 games. I want to see more of him before season ends. The draft reports say he has the physical attributes to be a good starter but needs coaching on technique.We need a good offensive line coach when Flus &Co. are gone.
First, Kiran has to get his ass off the trainer's table. Dude has been hurt quite literally all year. Great pick for the 3rd round there.
Man I hated that decision.
He had a calf injury in Commanders game, so missed last 3 games. I want to see more of him before season ends. The draft reports say he has the physical attributes to be a good starter but needs coaching on technique.We need a good offensive line coach when Flus &Co. are gone.
It's a long way to go for a small school prospect who has essentially been redshirted his whole rookie year.
Guy was hurt, missed all of camp & PS, missed multiple games in the RS, then played like 2 games, then has been hurt again since. Not good at all. Again, this is a 3rd round pick we are talking about here--#75 overall. Poor usage of resources IMO.
But as an undersized center he got put on his ass as much as Sam Mustipher. Fiery or not.
You kept my attention until I got to that comment. Olin Kreutz is a 6x Pro Bowl C on the NFL All-Decade Team. He was a brilliant technician at center as well as being one powerful dude. I always thought part of his skill set was developed from being a state heavyweight champion in high school.
He was one of the best centers I've watched in over 60 years of NFL ball.
Sam Mustipher has bounced around the league as a practice squad or backup C his entire NFL career (and I followed him in college too... I'm a Notre Dame fan, and have been since I was a young boy). There is a world of difference between Olin Kreutz and Sam Mustipher.
The point I was making was that Olin has been deified by Bear fans and while he was good wasn't Creed Humphrey or the "absolute best C" in the league like I'm seeing folks insist is necessary. He was just really good for a long time. Bear fans really exaggerate things around the past and current OL good and bad, and it is understandable because it has been a while since the team had a OL fans could be confident about. It is my opinion is Bear fans sometimes want to throw the baby out with the bathwater in hopes of perfection. Where Brax and Wright are up for consideration for replacement, and an ascending Shelton is automatically not a consideration to return so Poles can focus on getting two stud Gs which IS a desperate priority (although maybe they should give Bill Murray more of a look, IMO).
I grew up a big ND fan an all my childhood pictures are plastered with ND and Irish. But I got over it. I grew up a die-hard ND fan and live near Ann Arbor. But I cheer for Illinois or Sparty because that's where me and my kids went.
You kept my attention until I got to that comment. Olin Kreutz is a 6x Pro Bowl C on the NFL All-Decade Team. He was a brilliant technician at center as well as being one powerful dude. I always thought part of his skill set was developed from being a state heavyweight champion in high school.
He was one of the best centers I've watched in over 60 years of NFL ball.
Sam Mustipher has bounced around the league as a practice squad or backup C his entire NFL career (and I followed him in college too... I'm a Notre Dame fan, and have been since I was a young boy). There is a world of difference between Olin Kreutz and Sam Mustipher.
The point I was making was that Olin has been deified by Bear fans and while he was good wasn't Creed Humphrey or the "absolute best C" in the league like I'm seeing folks insist is necessary. He was just really good for a long time. Bear fans really exaggerate things around the past and current OL good and bad, and it is understandable because it has been a while since the team had a OL fans could be confident about. It is my opinion is Bear fans sometimes want to throw the baby out with the bathwater in hopes of perfection. Where Brax and Wright are up for consideration for replacement, and an ascending Shelton is automatically not a consideration to return so Poles can focus on getting two stud Gs which IS a desperate priority (although maybe they should give Bill Murray more of a look, IMO).
I grew up a big ND fan an all my childhood pictures are plastered with ND and Irish. But I got over it. I grew up a die-hard ND fan and live near Ann Arbor. But I cheer for Illinois or Sparty because that's where me and my kids went.
In my admittedly simply mind it comes down to the quality of the OL that sets the ceiling for the offense - so that the skill players can fully reach their potential. The better the OL is, the higher that ceiling is raised for the rest of the offense. Obviously, great skill players can overcome a bad OL to some degree. But they are not playing to their ceiling. Personally, I hope the Bears can provide the best opportunity for our present QB to succeed. I really don't care about other teams/QBs who have done more with less. I figure this is the Bears who need all the help they can get to finally get the QB right - and a great offense built here. I think the team is really close to getting it done here, but need 2025 to put the final pieces in place for this offense. I admit there are different ways to approach the OL upgrade. LOL, the center thing is my own biased view (I do like to watch a good center work). One final point I'd toss out, is that once this OL is sorted out next year, my hope is that the OL unit continues to be maintained so that the team always has a solid unit there. Then it makes perfect sense to always have a few projects - especially on the practice squad. Don't wait until the unit is in crisis mode and a season is screwed. Never let it deteriorate to that point.
Post by illinoiseric on Nov 22, 2024 12:25:52 GMT -6
Totally agree on C being really most important, and I'm "born again" over the past 5-6 years in terms of the C being key to a well-functioning offense. With the James Daniels experience and the Sam Mustipher experience, I do lean towards (IF the decision is necessary, or weighing the importance) having a mentally great center over a physically great one. Daniels could play C physically but mentally couldn't do it. Mustipher was the opposite, and couldn't even be average physically - and that is too bad because he knows how to play C.
Anyway, my basic hope is that Shelton can continue to get better and get re-signed for another year or two & then assuming Poles only has a couple of spots to prioritize does it at G through FA. It would be AWESOME if they could draft a great C with a 2nd rounder to work in behind Shelton. I don't necessarily want to risk a rookie C with Caleb. If they want to pay a C that's fine but man... then G would still be at risk and that is so important as well.
I just can't take seriously the folks who would prioritize replacing the young OTs when they're still developing when they have so much ahead of them.
He had a calf injury in Commanders game, so missed last 3 games. I want to see more of him before season ends. The draft reports say he has the physical attributes to be a good starter but needs coaching on technique.We need a good offensive line coach when Flus &Co. are gone.
It's a long way to go for a small school prospect who has essentially been redshirted his whole rookie year.
Guy was hurt, missed all of camp & PS, missed multiple games in the RS, then played like 2 games, then has been hurt again since. Not good at all. Again, this is a 3rd round pick we are talking about here--#75 overall. Poor usage of resources IMO.
He’s here now. We need to know more about what we’ve got heading into the off-season. He could be anything from “total bust” to “the answer.”
Drafting him in third round was a risk — too say the least. Obviously, the scouts/Poles have a hunch about him.
I grew up a big ND fan an all my childhood pictures are plastered with ND and Irish. But I got over it. I grew up a die-hard ND fan and live near Ann Arbor. But I cheer for Illinois or Sparty because that's where me and my kids went.
I can relate. My mom and dad were both die hard ND fans so I grew up with that. Now I'm more into watching the college games to appreciate good football no matter where the teams are from. I have watched Oregon for several years since my wife has family out there, and used to live there before we were married. They can be fun to watch (not just this season but in past seasons). And, like you, I do cheer for Illinois. My son teaches at University of Houston so I follow them a bit too - and went to a game when Tank Dell was still playing there.
I mostly just like watching good football at any level, even local high school ball. I've been a Bears fan my whole life and haven't seen a lot of good football from them though. I think (seriously) I could handle the losses over the years if the losses were not so butt-ugly affairs. It really is hard to watch the game of football played so badly by this team. A lot of times they beat themselves. LOL, oh well, there's always "next season" for Bears fans. It's the way we manage to cope.
